Inequality In Higher Education Research Articles

Feminist Pedagogy in Women’s Studies Classrooms: Some Critical Reflections

Based on a study of five women’s studies degree programmes, this article attempts to discuss pedagogical issues that are surfacing in higher education on account of the changing social composition of students since the implementation of reservations for Other Backward Classes in higher education. Critical pedagogy has not found much space in discussions on higher education in the Indian context. The exception has been reflections on feminist pedagogy that primarily draw on Freirian thought and the scholarship of bell hooks. Against this background, the article brings out how the epistemic principles of critical disciplines like women’s studies generate ethical expectations of the feminist teacher, particularly in relation to caste in this case. It goes on to discuss the limits imposed on these ideas of feminist pedagogy by the institutional and structural inequalities in higher education and how the dominant social composition of teachers necessarily limits possibilities of feminist pedagogy.

Breaking barriers: Reducing inequality in higher education by understanding and addressing diverse student needs

AbstractThe purpose of this research is to explore the differences in perceived opportunities and potential barriers leading to inequality in our higher education system. To do this, we examine differences in satisfaction and expectations that exist among college students based on three key heterogeneous characteristics – gender identity (male vs. female), major declaration (decided vs. undecided) and generation (first generation vs. non‐first generation). Six hundred twenty‐five students completed a survey about the level of importance and satisfaction with educational services at their institutions. A mixed method design including analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to test differences between students. At a time where universities are working arduously to increase enrolment numbers, adjusting the strategy to cater to the unique needs of students may prove to be part of the solution and more importantly, help remove barriers to lessen the current inequalities and improve access to education for all types of students.

Spatial inequality in higher education: a growing urban–rural educational gap?

Abstract Scholars have consistently found that inequalities in educational attainment are most pronounced along social origin and gender dimensions, but urban–rural inequalities have also been evident in recent years. A spatial gradient in educational attainment reflects how rural students are consistently less likely to gain higher education (HE) credentials than their urban peers. By drawing on full-population administrative data on the Norwegian birth cohorts from 1965 to 1989 (n = 1,419,406), followed from age 16 to 30, this article analyses how urban–rural differences in HE have changed over the last 25 years, and furthermore, whether urban–rural disparities have developed in distinct ways based on students’ social origin and gender. The results show that urban–rural disparities in higher educational attainment have become more pronounced for recent birth cohorts and particularly evident for post-1980 cohorts. This applies to students originating from both privileged and less privileged families. However, urban–rural inequalities are more evident for men than women, which over time has led gender differences to become considerably greater in rural areas. The results demonstrate that spatial inequality requires further attention in educational and stratification research, as the outcomes suggest that the urban–rural educational gap is not necessarily consistent over time.

Strategies for Preparing Future Public Health Leaders: Learning from Trailblazing Women in Health Education

Many female health education pioneers made seminal contributions to public health and social justice, yet these examples are not well documented in textbooks or integrated into public health curricula as pedagogical learning opportunities. Providing biographies and lessons learned from the past leaders within undergraduate health education curricula can help develop students’ skills as future leaders and address gender inequities in the field. Gender inequities in higher education as well as many public health practice settings result in lower salaries, slower career advancement opportunities, fewer supervisory positions, increased work-life conflicts, and heavier workloads. Developing women’s competencies in leadership and professionalism early in their careers is critical to meeting public health challenges such as COVID-19. We present four female health education trailblazers from different historical eras and various workforce sectors who exemplify leadership attributes (i.e., courage/risk taking, vision, advocacy, mentorship) and can be highlighted as a part of future health education curriculum. Innovative methods and approaches are provided for integrating these leadership lessons into undergraduate public health courses, in alignment with the HESPA II 2020 competencies. Learning from the past to inform the future is critical to inspiring and shaping the careers of emerging health educators.

Unwilling trust: Unpacking the assumption of trust between sexual misconduct reporters and their institutions in UK higher education

AbstractThis article explores trust in organisations by analysing interview data from students and staff who have disclosed or reported gender‐based violence and harassment (GBVH) to their higher education institution in the UK since 2016. GBVH contributes to gender inequality in higher education (HE), and increased reporting of it may not only help prevent GBVH, but also improve gender equality by helping to retain women and gender minorities within HE. Around half of the interviewees in this study (n = 12) expressed distrust in their institution, yet despite this they still reported or disclosed their experiences to their institution. Existing literature in this area, particularly the concept of institutional betrayal, assumes that survivors of GBVH trust their institutions—including HE institutions—because they are dependent upon said institutions. Our data challenges this assumption, and in this article, we analyse participants' trust orientations in the context of their reasons for reporting. We argue that dependence on and trust in institutions are separate phenomena, in that members of an organisation may be dependent upon the organisation in various ways, but their trust in the organisation reflects their structural positioning within it. To develop the theorisation of trust in institutional betrayal, we draw on and extend Luhmann's concept of ‘system trust’ as well as other sociological theories of trust. Finally, the article introduces the concept of ‘unwilling trust’—a contradiction between an individual acting in trusting ways despite feeling a lack of trust—to explain this disconnect between dispositions and actions.

Gender and social class inequalities in higher education: intersectional reflections on a workshop experience.

Research about the experiences of underrepresented groups in higher education (HE) demonstrates the persistence of challenges, despite policies and institutional strategies to promote inclusion. Diversity and inclusion policies have been part of the HE agenda for several decades, yet most policies and interventions focus on (a) a given, isolated identity experience (e.g., based solely on gender, social class, or ethnicity) rather than more intersectional approaches to identity; and (b) top-down interventions that do not include participants insights in their design. In this paper, we report a case study of a workshop with students at an elite university that drew on an intersectional approach to social identities (IASI), specifically, looking at gender and social class. We explore three key themes: (a) the importance of group processes, (b) the use of visual techniques, and (c) the institutional tensions and the (de)politicisation of social psychology research. Reflecting on this case study we argue that approaches to identity and inclusion in HE can benefit from intersectionality beyond the use of multi and overlapping identity and social group categories. We argue that research in this space is not neutral and needs to acknowledge researchers' position about (a) inclusion and diversity, (b) perceptions of participants in research, and (c) the motivation and aims of institutions where the research is conducted. Finally, we discuss the theoretical and practical implications of integrating an intersectional approach within social identity research in HE when focusing on underrepresented groups.

Shifting Tides: The Evolution of Racial Inequality in Higher Education from the 1980s through the 2010s.

Amid the proliferation of state-level bans on race-based affirmative action in higher education, the U.S. Supreme Court's decision on June 29, 2023, dismantled race-conscious college admission policies, intensifying concerns about the persistence and potential increase of racial inequality in higher education. The authors analyze four restricted-use national survey datasets to investigate racial disparities in college attendance outcomes from the 1980s through the 2010s. Although college entrance rates increased for all racial groups, Black and Hispanic youth became increasingly less likely than their White peers to attend four-year selective colleges. In the 2010s cohort, Black and Hispanic youth were 8 and 7 percentage points, respectively, less likely than their White counterparts to secure admission to four-year selective colleges, even after controlling for parents' income, education, and other family background variables. The findings underscore the urgent need for proactive policy interventions to address the widening racial inequality in attending selective postsecondary institutions.

The impact of open educational resources on student achievement: A meta-analysis

The cost of course materials has continued to increase over time. Consequently, the use of Open Education Resources (OER) have become increasingly popular among instructors and institutions as a method of reducing college costs. Furthermore, using OER also reduces inequity in higher education by increasing the accessibility of course materials to all students. The present study investigated the efficacy of courses that used OER compared to those that did not on student achievement. Twenty-six articles were included in this meta-analysis. In OER courses, there was a higher completion rate with students earning at least a C (k = 12; d = 0.29) or at least a D (k = 6; d = 0.61). Furthermore, OER courses were associated with a higher course grade (k = 26; d = 0.17). These findings suggest that adopting OER can be a scalable, cost-effective, powerful, and successful method for educators and institutions to reduce the cost of attending college while bolstering student success.

Teachers on the Move: Understanding the New Model of Virtual Mobility Through the Case Study of a Russian University

Virtual mobility has emerged as a new tool for the internationalization of higher education with the advent of information and communication technology in the current scenario. With the outbreak of COVID-19, the landscape of global higher education has altered significantly. In that situation, when physical academic mobility became impossible, the Higher School of Economics, one of the leading universities in Russia, ran a unique digital internship programme for teaching staff from regional universities. In the logic of the digital identity model and push–pull model, the present research has analysed the profiles and motivation letters of 398 teachers from 73 Russian universities which took part in 15 internship programmes since March 2020. The present study fills a gap in the literature by examining how motivation and reasons for participation in virtual mobility may trigger the reduction of inequality in higher education. The findings of the present study revealed that the main reasons highlighted by the teachers for taking part in virtual internship programmes are mostly external and connected with the current tasks imposed by the Ministry of Higher Education and University management. Internal reasons are true mostly for teaching track when teachers are the agents of creating modern pedagogical methods for their courses. Thus, university teaching staff do not feel themselves as the drivers of change. The environment at the higher education level is not ready yet for significant changes.

Gender Inequalities in Higher Education in Tanzania: Investigating the Influence of Parents’ Socioeconomic Status

This study investigated the extent to which gender inequality manifests in higher education in Tanzania. Furthermore, through a gendered lens, the study investigated the influence of parents’ socioeconomic status on gender inequality among students who major in STEM and teacher education programmes. The study used a sample of 1714 students across four higher education institutions. It was found that gender is an aspect that forms inequality. For instance, the study revealed that gender differences were reflected in our sample, where female students were underrepresented in both STEM majors and teacher education majors. Also, parents’ education, occupation, educational background (in STEM), and income are some of the socioeconomic statuses that reinforce gender inequality. Finally, the implications for future research and policy are discussed.

Sunflowers, hidden disabilities and power inequities in higher education: Some critical considerations and implications for disability-inclusive education policy reforms

The article discusses recent Higher Education (HE) initiatives to introduce the Sunflower Scheme, which enables students with hidden disabilities to ‘discreetly’ indicate the existence of a disability to access support. A significant problem related to persons with hidden disabilities lies in their frequent reluctance to disclose their disabilities because of discriminatory attitudes that arise not only due to the dominance of arbitrary fabrications of ‘normalcy’ – aligned with elitist and human capital HE discourses – but also due to the lack of recognition of the existence of hidden disabilities. Even though the Scheme has been touted as a method that recognises hidden disabilities in HE, it, nevertheless, reinforces discourses of ‘misrecognition’ that create power inequities and project subordinated identities. The article argues that introducing the Scheme in HE constitutes another manifestation of disability-related initiatives that reinforce individual pathology and paternalistic discourses of dependency. The article contributes to a policy dialogue on the need to introduce alternative forms of provision to foster disability-inclusive practices in HE and makes a case to empirically capture the ‘lived experience’ of the Scheme in the context of Disability Equality policies in HE.

Diversifying curricula: how are people of colour represented in lecture slide images?

ABSTRACT Diversifying higher education curricula has been called for as one way to reduce racial inequalities in higher education. This study makes an original contribution by focusing on images of people in lecture slides. We explored how people of colour versus white individuals were portrayed in images (n = 250) used in lecture slides in four first-year core social sciences modules and whether the images were likely to be ‘inspiring’ to racially minoritised students. Drawing on visual content analysis used in textbook studies and thematic analysis, we developed a novel method of analysing lecture slide images. Only 12% of the images presented people of colour in positive, non-stereotyped and active roles that could be described as inspiring. People of colour were less likely to be presented and less likely to be featured exclusively in an image than white people. By applying a Critical Race Theory framework, we discuss implications for curricular reform.

Gender Inequality in Higher Education and Research

Significant economic and social differences in the living and working conditions of men and women, structural changes in society actualize the need to research the prerequisites and consequences of the existence of gender inequality in the country. The purpose of the paper is to investigate the causes and nature of gender inequality in the long term. The object of the research is the sphere of education and science of certain countries of Europe and America, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and North Africa. The main hypothesis of the study is the assumption of a relationship between gender inequality in the field of education and indicators of the country’s social development (Human Development Index and level of education). Methodological tools of the conducted research are methods of trend and structural analysis. The information base of the research is data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the World Economic Forum, and the United Nations, the research period is 1950-2021. The results of the analysis of the Gender Equality Index during 1950-2000 in terms of its four dimensions (health, socio-economic resources, gender disparity in households and gender disparity in politics) proved the presence of a significant gender gap in some countries of the world: the countries of Eastern and Western Europe are more developed compared to other regions of the world (South and Southeast Asia, the Middle East and North Africa). According to the results of empirical calculations, the dependence between the level of human development and gender inequality has been proven: the higher the level of human development of the country, the lower the inequality in education. The study of gender inequality in the field of scientific research was carried out based on the analysis of publications in 50 international journals, book collections of Bengal Economic Association, Indian Economic Association and other professors of reputed institutions in India and abroad. Based on the results of the analysis, it was concluded that the publishing activity of women is lower than that of men: only 22.07% of publications in national and international journals, 23.65% of volumes of book collections and 27.90% of book chapters were published by women. The reasons for the low activity of women in the field of scientific research include: low opportunities for visiting the sites of scientific research institutions, field surveys or laboratory work; limited opportunities for training and advanced training at seminars and classes; lack of time to carry out research activities; discrimination based on personal interests and gender bias; much less interest in regular research due to social, psychological and physical reasons; excessive family load, etc.

“We are disposable”: precarity, mobility, and inequity in higher education’s gig academy

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic amplified inequities for contingent scholars in the neoliberal gig academy. In this article, we document the struggles of three early career scholars, all contingent instructors, researchers, or both, working at multiple institutions in higher education (HE). Through critical collaborative autoethnography we follow our experiences through the pandemic with a focus on the ‘return to campus’ semester in fall 2021. We forge a critique and activist stance against the structural problem of precarity in HE using our dialogues and vignettes to highlight our experiences around precarity, mobility, and systemic inequities.

There are Winners and Losers: ‘Wokery’ and Racial Inequality in UK Higher Education

This article discusses how initiatives to tackle racial inequality in higher education (HE) in the United Kingdom (UK) have been viewed as ‘wokery’, a challenge to academic freedoms and free speech at universities, or a step too far towards ‘political correctness’. Nevertheless, the evidence suggests that racial inequality continues to pervade HE. Despite shortcomings in their implementation, equality frameworks and action plans offer universities a supplementary structure to shape and maintain their diversity and inclusion initiatives, without which the sector would be retracting on its commitment to diversify its structures and be more inclusive. Yet, there are concerns that such frameworks are little more than a manoeuvre for indoctrination and censorship, engineering the corporate view of HE. The question this paper considers is: Should efforts to tackle racial inequality in UK HE be viewed as expressions of ‘wokery’, and therefore as signs of excessive sensitivity, or as legitimate attempts to address a real problem?

Online Graduate Social Work Education and Critical Feminist Perspectives: An Educational Framework

ABSTRACT Studies highlight online education’s effectiveness; however, few examine theoretical frameworks for guiding pedagogy in online MSW programs. Patriarchal systems create policy and program inequities in higher education, hindering student achievement. Confronting these inequities is essential in designing successful online MSW programs. This conceptual paper asserts that utilizing a critical feminist perspective promotes nontraditional and minoritized students’ unique needs. Educators can prioritize student success by examining systems of oppression and the intersectionality of gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality, religion, and disabilities in online environments. Utilizing critical feminist perspectives enhances student experiences by operationalizing inclusivity and and should be measured as student success and engagement in an online graduate course.

Addressing Linguistic Inequality in Higher Education: A Proactive Model

Abstract Although most institutions of higher education in the United States have now developed diversity, equity, and inclusion centers, programs, and initiatives, language equality tends to be excluded from the typical “canon of diversity.” Language remains an overlooked or dismissed issue in higher education while it insidiously serves as an active agent for promoting inequality in campus life. Based on two empirical studies, one of students from Southern Appalachia attending a large urban university in the South, and one of tenured faculty at the same university, I establish the need for the awareness of language inequality in higher education. I then describe a proactive “campus-infusion” program that includes activities and resources for student affairs, academic affairs, human resources, faculty affairs, and offices of institutional equity and diversity. As an interdisciplinary team from different administrative and disciplinary programs within the university, we used a variety of venues, resources, and techniques to educate the faculty, students, and staff about the significance of language inequality on campus that has had an ongoing effect on higher education.

Factors Affecting the Educational Achievement of Chinese College Students

China has achieved tremendous economic success over the past three decades. Meanwhile, privatisation and marketisation policies and corresponding implementations also greatly legitimise educational inequality in higher education, namely College Entrance Examinations (CEE), the extra-score policy and the recommendations system. This article comprehensively investigates the causes behind educational underachievement in China’s higher education. This article aims to understand the relationship between social stratification and educational inequality. It surveyed 120 Chinese undergraduate students through an online questionnaire with 15 questions related to the students’ basic information. The results show that urban-rural distinction in household registration and annual income, housing conditions, educational expectations and teacher professionalism are the main factors affecting educational achievement and enrolment in universities. The above issues are worthy of consideration in education policymaking, and the widening gap between advantaged and disadvantaged groups of students still exists. In general, middle-class, and urban students benefit the most in their educational experiences.

Curricular and Extracurricular Learning among Students with Resilience Potential. Social Inequalities in Higher Education

Does resilience potential in higher education mature into success or does it remain merely a promise of success due to rising social inequality? We studied curricular and extracurricular learning of students with outstanding academic achievement who entered higher education despite their disadvantage of social background (= students with resilience potential). A student survey database compiled in the research project “Higher Education for Social Cohesion – Cooperative Research and Development in a Cross-border Area” (HERD) (HURO/0901/253/2.2.2.) in 2012 was analyzed. Students of three Eastern Hungarian higher education institutions were surveyed (N = 1205). Students with resilience potential were identified in the intersection of two groups of variables: social background and input academic achievement. We have conducted a cluster analysis, which has resulted in the identification of students with resilience potential and other researched groups: drifters (low social background and low input academic achievement), beneficiaries (high social background and high academic achievement) and indifferent prodigals (high social background and low academic achievement). To sum up our results, the students with resilience potential only use higher education to fulfill curricular requirements, and hit a ceiling, compared to the beneficiaries, when it comes to the student year mining, meaningful extracurricular activities. Thus social inequalities crawl through these invisible channels into higher education and beyond.

Educational Trajectories of First-Generation Students as a Case of Inequality in Higher Education

Today educational trajectories of First-Generation College Students (hereinafter referred to as FGS) can be considered as a key subject of international research on inequality. The study of FGS has both conceptual and practical implications: holding a consistently vulnerable position within the higher education institutions, FGS constitute a vivid case that illustrates the mechanisms of inequality reproduction, as well as demonstrates its multidimensional and rigid nature. While there is a well-developed tradition of research on this issue in the West, the FGS category has not yet received much attention in the Russian academic field, which leaves invisible many aspects of inequality within Russian education.
 This article is devoted to the review of international studies of First-Generation Students – people who were the first in their family to find themselves studying in higher education institutions. Two groups of sources are analyzed: empirical educational strategies of FGS, as well as theoretical works aimed at conceptualizing this category and explaining the vulnerability of its representatives in the education system. Two areas of empirical work on FGS could be distinguished: the first one is devoted to the study of educational choice and admission to universities, while the second one considers the process of studying at a university. The concepts of habitus and forms of capital by P. Bourdieu, the integration model by V. Tinto and the role theory by G.H. Mead are considered as the dominant theoretical directions of understanding FGS. The article concludes with the discussion of potential and limitations of studying FGS in the Russian context in terms of both specifics of national educational system and the stratification model of Russian society.