Reconceptualizing the ‘problem’ of widening participation in higher education in England

Iain Jones

doi:10.14324/lre.19.1.02

Abstract

This article critically analyses national and institutional forms of policy and different conceptions of widening participation in higher education in England by contrasting representations of ‘it’ as a ‘problem’ to be managed, compared with complex and recurring dilemmas in practice. Building on Bacchi’s (2012a) strategy, the article asks, ‘What’s the Problem Represented to be?’ (WPR), and how the ‘problem’ of widening participation was constructed in specific contexts, by examining tensions between constructions of policy in texts and representations of widening participation in semi-structured interviews with national and institutional policy actors. Policy actors did not share a single voice, and various proposals embodied different representations of the ‘problem’. These do not reduce practice to distinct or static categories limited by available policy options. Instead, contemporary representations, interpretations and translations of policy and practice make visible both limitations and possibilities for widening participation in higher education in the future.

Highlights

In the construction of ‘access’ into higher education in England, the underrepresentation of individuals and groups, and an emphasis on entry, has been combined with particular notions of ‘participation’ (BIS, 2014; OfS, 2018)
This example relates to the significance of the representation of a policy ‘problem’ and processes of ‘problematization’ (Bacchi, 2012b), the frustrations Barry felt, and his imagination in ‘piecing together’ a specific response: Really good things happen but they happen in the spaces
As Gale and Parker (2014) emphasize, the dilemma is not whether individuals or groups adapt to institutions, or are incorporated into the culture of an institution, but whether spaces for different forms of transformation in teaching practices and curriculum within the institution are opened up and nurtured

Summary

Introduction

In the construction of ‘access’ into higher education in England, the underrepresentation of individuals and groups, and an emphasis on entry, has been combined with particular notions of ‘participation’ (BIS, 2014; OfS, 2018). Barry highlighted a further specific contemporary issue, emphasizing ‘othering’ and a struggle with a marginalization of participation (Burke, 2012; Burke et al, 2017) – not the interpretation of a national policy text, or institutional policy, but of how institutional practices were translated into work with first-generation migrant students and the diversity of their language needs This example relates to the significance of the representation of a policy ‘problem’ and processes of ‘problematization’ (Bacchi, 2012b), the frustrations Barry felt, and his imagination in ‘piecing together’ a specific response: Really good things happen but they happen in the spaces. Further spaces may be found for students to ‘become’ co-creators of teaching approaches, course design and curricula

Conclusion

Notes on the contributor