Private for-profit higher education in Australia: widening access,participation and opportunities for public-private collaboration

Private for-profit higher education has grown rapidly in many parts of the world. This growth is attributed to many factors, including a broadening of the student population and the recognition that wider access to higher education will be economically beneficial to individuals, governments and society as a whole. In Australia, the number of students in private for-profit higher education is rising, with dramatic projections for the next 10 years. The Australian government has set a target to increase the participation of students in higher education, with a focus on increasing the access and success of students from disadvantaged backgrounds. It is unclear, however, what role the burgeoning private for-profit institutions will play in meeting the government's targets, and what incentives will be provided for them to increase the access and participation of students from disadvantaged groups. This paper analyses the key drivers of growth in private for-profit higher education in Australia, and discusses issues around quality and standards. It examines the strengths and limitations of the sector, and the extent to which it contributes to diversity, access and the participation of students from disadvantaged backgrounds. It argues that the sector needs clear government directions to improve levels of access, and new government policies to encourage public-private collaborations to help ensure sustainability. The paper also briefly touches on the need for a review into the current structure of Australia's higher education sector as a whole, and whether higher education would benefit from the formation of public community colleges with the explicit aim of widening access for disadvantaged student groups. Further, the paper suggests that encouraging such public-private collaboration may be beneficial to ensure access and participation of students from all walks of life, including disadvantaged groups.     

Access Courses and Students from Minority Ethnic Backgrounds

Abstract

This article describes a study of the uptake of places on ‘access’ to higher education courses in Scottish further education (FE) colleges by students from minority ethnic backgrounds. Colleges surveyed recruited access students from minority ethnic backgrounds in close approximation to the proportions attracted to FE in general, despite the commitment to prioritise under‐represented groups, including students from minority ethnic communities. The study found a general acceptance of the principle of positive action by colleges, but little evidence of strategies likely to prove effective. It is suggested that the government's agenda for widening participation in education can only be accomplished when the FE sector recognises ethnicity as an important issue.     

Outcasts on the Inside: Graduates, Employability and Widening Participation

The drive to widen access and participation in higher education is rapidly transforming the sector. Despite this, through an interplay of social, cultural and gender-related factors, students from ‘widening participation’ backgrounds can all too frequently become, within their own institutions, ‘outcasts on the inside’: formally accepted by the university without ever acquiring, still less embodying, the traditional social and cultural advantages bestowed by HE. Thus, the irony of widening participation would seem to be that by entering higher education an already disadvantaged educational habitus should be reinforced not transformed. Based on a three-year ethnographic study, this paper explores the factors motivating widening participation students to enrol in higher education, the nature of their experiences, and the extent to which higher education represents an attempt at social repositioning.     

The Evolution of Government Policy on Widening Participation

This paper examines the evolution of government policy in England on widening participation. It traces government policy on widening participation in relation to social class from Robbins (1963 ) through Dearing (1997 ) to ‘The Future of Higher Education’ (2003 ) and the passing of the Higher Education Act (2004). The paper concludes that there is a lack of participation in policy formulation by certain key groups, particularly those directly affected by widening participation policy. In addition, although the government's widening participation policy has generally progressed, it has done so within an overly bureaucratic system of control that fails to give higher education institutions the autonomy they need. There are also occasions when aspects of policy seem to be taking backward steps. Moreover, while the government adopts a rhetoric of strategic rationality, policy on widening participation often appears to be ad hoc, piecemeal and lacking a cohesive, evidence‐based rationale. Finally, there are times when New Labour appears to lack the political will to implement radical policies.     

Performance Indicators and Widening Participation in UK Higher Education

We investigate the relationship between the widening participation performance indicators adopted in UK higher education (HE) and the government's objective of increasing overall HE participation rates. We critically assess the development of performance monitoring in HE and identify weaknesses in the current performance indicators from the perspective of the main stakeholders. We suggest the development of internal indicators and benchmarks by HE institutions together with extensions to the current national performance indicators that could improve their usefulness.     

Re-conceptualising sustainable widening participation: evaluation,collaboration and evolution

This article discusses the future of university-based programmes aimed at enabling the access and successful participation of students from traditionally under-represented backgrounds in higher education. It builds a case for adopting three strategies in ensuring the sustainability of widening access and participation work: (1) embedding broad-ranging and reflexive evaluation practices; (2) developing partnerships with industry partners; and (3) evolving the conceptual and strategic framework of widening participation. The article's reflections are contextualised within the framework of current higher education policy and practice in Australia, and its arguments are advanced from a close reflection on a mentorship programme aimed at media students from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds at Macquarie University.     

A Risky Business? Mature Working-class Women Students and Access to Higher Education Correspondence : Diane Reay,Kings College London,UK. E-mail: Diane.reay@kcl.ac.uk

This article looks at the experiences of a small, qualitative sample of 12 working-class women attending an Access course in a large, inner-city further education college. The risks and costs involved in making the transition to higher education were evident in the women's narratives, and both material and cultural factors inhibiting their access to higher education are examined. The desire to 'give something back' which motivated all these women's attempts to move into higher education is discussed. The women were either juggling extensive labour market commitments or childcare and domestic responsibilities with studying. In such circumstances, when any sort of social life is sacrificed, what becomes visible is time poverty, and, in particular, a lack of time for 'care of the self'. Six of the women were lone mothers and it is further argued that complexities of marital status intersect with, and compound, the consequences of class. Beck's thesis of individualisation is used as a backdrop to the women's stories in order to highlight the costs of individualisation for the working classes, but also to problematise the discrepancies and disjunctures between projects of the self and the women's experiences of returning to education. The article concludes with an exploration of the consequences of a policy of widening access and participation for working-class mature women and suggests that, while currently all the change and transformation are seen to be the responsibility of the individual applicant, universities, especially those in the pre-1992 sector, need to change if they are to provide positive experiences for non-traditional students like the women in this study.     

Alternative Pathways to Traditional Destinations: higher education for disadvantaged Australians

In 1985, the Higher Education Equity Program was introduced by the Australian Government to improve the participation of those persons from social groups traditionally under-represented within higher education. In 1990, the program was incorporated within A Fair Chance For All which provided more specific details of the government's desire for a system-wide approach to equity issues. One result has been the proliferation of access and equity programs conducted by universities around the country and aimed at redressing the disadvantage of potential students. The alleged success of these programs is based on greater participation in and graduation from Australian universities by individuals from targeted disadvantaged groups. The research reported here, however, would suggest that such programs are prone to co-opt the language of equity and social justice, dependent as they are on satisfying statistically-orientated program performance indicators in order to receive recurrent government funding. Further, the paper argues that success in achieving equity within Australian higher education will remain limited unless the structural arrangements that work to construct social inequalities in mainstream higher education are addressed.     

Higher education,languages, and the persistence of inequitable structures for working-class women in Pakistan

This paper is based on the findings of a 3-year, qualitative study funded by the Research Consortium on Educational Outcomes for Poverty. It uses Sen's [1985. Well-being agency and freedom. Journal of Philosophy 82, no. 4: 169–221] capability approach and Bourdieu's [1991. Language and symbolic power. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press] critical theory to argue that access participation and the empowering outcomes of higher education are contingent on learners' familiarity with the languages used. If there is a discrepancy between the languages used in higher education and the linguistic capital that learners have acquired during schooling without any appropriate measures to fill the gap, participation is bound to be limited. Findings of this qualitative multiple case study involving eight participants entering higher education from government and private schools in Pakistan reveal that working-class women remain the most marginalised and fail to achieve valued goals within higher education in terms of knowledge construction, participation, and a more empowered sense of identity. This eventually culminates in their delayed elimination from higher education.     

'Bettering Yourself'? Discourses of risk,cost and benefit in ethnically diverse,young working-class non-participants' constructions of higher education

'Widening participation' and increasing student diversity are currently key concerns across the higher education sector, and particular attention has been drawn to the persistent under-representation of working-class students within British universities. It is thought that widening participation in higher education (HE) can result in a number of social and economic benefits, at a national level, for under-represented social groups and for individual participants. Less is known about the viewpoints and understandings of working-class non-participants, such as whether 'official' perceptions regarding the value of HE are shared or contested. Focus group discussions were conducted with 109 non-participant Londoners, aged between 16 and 30 years, from a range of working-class backgrounds. Findings focus upon non-participants' constructions of risks, costs and benefits during application, participation and graduation. These perceptions of 'value' are discussed with relation to widening participation strategies amongst ethnically diverse 'working class' groups.     

Women,Access and Progression: An examination of women's reasons for not continuing in higher education following the completion of the Certificate in Women's Studies

This study is an exploration of the reasons why women who had successfully completed an access course did not progress on to higher education. Following a review of the relevant literature on women as returners to education a number of main themes are identified and discussed. The study is based on in-depth interviews with women who did not continue on to higher education following the successful completion of the Certificate in Women's Studies at the University of Ulster. This research highlights the difficulties faced by women who want to continue with their studies. From the interviews three main obstacles to progressing further with higher education emerged; caring responsibilities, financial constraints and lack of career advice. It is argued that women as mature students face particular difficulties due to their role and position in society. Also the women themselves have been conditioned into putting their own needs after the needs of their families, and their personal development is often not afforded a high priority. Finally it is suggested that government's commitment to widening access to higher education is simply rhetoric if it does not take account of the broader inequalities faced by women. Policies to improve access appear to be somewhat at odds with the removal of the financial support necessary for study at higher education.     

The politics of languages in education: issues of access,social participation and inequality in the multilingual context of Pakistan

This paper, based on some findings of a wider three‐year study, sets forth the issue of languages used and taught in education as a dimension of inequality and highlights its implications for widening participation and access in the multilingual context of Pakistan. The paper takes secondary education in private and government schools in Pakistan as a point of departure, and through themes that emerge from a qualitative multiple‐case studies account of 32 participants (final year graduating students and their same‐sex five‐ to six‐years older siblings) explores issues of inequality with reference to Amertya Sen's capability approach and Pierre Bourdieu's social critical theory. The findings revealed that the concurrent processes of (a) hegemony of English; (b) its discriminatory distribution through schooling; and (c) devaluation of local languages, led by the language policy and mediated through educational institutions, diminished the transformative impact of education in expanding opportunities for widening participation and access. Issues of inequality continue to haunt the underprivileged despite their secondary education. The paper highlights the importance of considering the political economy of languages chosen and taught in formal education as a means of evaluating social justice in educational contexts and considering languages in education decisions with reference to national language policy.     

China’s education policy-making: a policy network perspective

Policy network approach has become a broadly accepted and frequently adopted practice in modern state governance, especially in the public sector. The study utilises a broadly defined policy network conceptual frame and categories of reference to trace the evolution of education policy-making in China. The study uses The Outline of China’s National Plan for Medium and Long-term Education Reform and Development (2010–2020) as an illustrative case study. This study argues that China’s education policy-making has changed, and the three most prominent changes are the transition from a Party-dominant practice to one primarily driven by the central government, the enhanced role of higher education institutions and scholars as ‘professional interest group’ in the Chinese context and the increasing participation of non-governmental actors in the policy-making process. Essentially exploratory in nature, this study hopes to contribute to the understanding of China’s education policy-making and broader education governance while contributing to the mapping of an important sector of the global education network.     

Education,vocationalism and economic recovery: the case against witchcraft1

Abstract

The widening of access to higher education for mature students has been placed on the policy agenda by the government, in part as a response to demographic changes which will reduce the number of young graduates entering the labour market. This article examines the current position of students in the over 30 age group in UK universities with reference to their entrance qualifications, degree attainment and first destinations on leaving university. It compares the experience of men and women in this age group with young students in the conventional undergraduate population and questions whether a university degree is sufficient to overcome the barriers to the labour market experienced by older graduates. Finally it challenges the access model of equal opportunity implicit in the government's White Paper on Higher Education.     

澳大利亚私立高等教育机构监管政策 变迁的历史沿革与特点分析

澳大利亚政府对私立高等教育机构监管政策变迁的历史轨迹与公立高等教育占主导地位的国家有诸多相似之处，都经历过从“排斥”或者说“边缘化”到“被动接受”再到“标准化引领”的过程。该文从历史演进的视角慎思澳大利亚政府对私立高等教育监管政策变迁的动因与导向，进而总结澳大利亚政府监管政策的特点：通过间接管理方式控制私立高等教育机构逐利行为的度；通过诱致性制度强化公私立高等教育机构的竞争与合作；通过分类资助引导私立高等教育机构质量优先发展。     

The past,present and future of widening participation research

The provisions of the Higher Education Act (2004) have renewed interest in widening participation research. Therefore, this paper explores the development of this scholarly field, primarily in the United Kingdom, by examining major trends in the study of higher education. Political debates related to higher education, the prevailing structure of the sector and predominant sociological perspectives have largely shaped the empirical and theoretical concerns of widening participation research. These delimiting factors have resulted in incomplete accounts of the barriers to higher education, which do not fully explore the relationship between students’ social characteristics, learning experiences and university careers. Furthermore, contemporary research runs the risk of reinventing the wheel and replicating the mistakes of the past, since there has been a collective act of forgetfulness with respect to earlier contributions. In contrast, this paper provides guidelines to facilitate a holistic agenda for future widening participation research.     

Policy-Participation Trajectories in English Higher Education

The pattern of expansion that brought mass characteristics to English higher education is very different from that intended to achieve near‐universal access by the end of the present decade. The spectacular growth of the late 1980s and early 1990s was neither projected nor planned, with important consequences for the shape of the English system. By contrast, the policies of renewed expansion and widening participation from the late 1990s represent a radical attempt to change the traditional pattern of demand for English undergraduate education, with future growth focused on the short‐cycle forms of vocational higher education. Although influenced by the example of Scotland in building expansion at levels below the first degree, the policy experiment pursued in England is highly distinctive, including the invention of a new undergraduate qualification and a partnership role for further education colleges.     

The decision-making and changing behavioural dynamics of potential higher education students: the impacts of increasing tuition fees in England

Recent changes in the English tuition fee policies have spurred a debate on the impacts on student choices for higher education. Expectations range from a sharp decrease in participation in higher education to relatively little change in student demand. We surveyed 1549 year 12 sixth-form students from four institutions spread geographically across England. We have broadened the approach to the study of student choice by not only considering the impact of going to higher education or not, but have included in our choice scenarios the consideration of looking for cheaper higher education alternatives and of looking for higher education abroad. This brings our study from a focus on widening participation and access into the realm of the dynamics of increasing choice in a globalised world. The data suggest that financial issues are key influencers. We conclude that the English higher education system may be confronted with significant changes in student choice patterns, given the study’s finding that students show high levels of anxiety and consequently consider a much broader range of study options: within or outside higher education; in publicly funded or for-profit institutions; and in the UK or elsewhere.     

Student Drop-out: A case study in new managerialist policy

Since the incorporation of the further education (FE) sector student drop-out has become an issue for policy makers, and colleges with higher than average rates of non-completion have been penalised. This process, which is consistent with the 'new managerialist' approach described by Randle and Brady (1997) in an earlier volume of this Journal, results in a loss of funding and 'naming and shaming' via inspection reports and performance tables. It is suggested that this policy response to student drop-out represents a mechanistic reaction to the 'standards' agenda and could impede other policy priorities such as widening participation. The paper examines the growing body of research evidence which challenges the view that drop-out is caused by colleges which 'don't care'. Studies of the influence of factors external to colleges, such as financial hardship, feeder schools and the impact of 'habitus' on a student's disposition, illustrate the problem of trying to reduce the complex issue of drop-out to a single, generalisable cause. The paper concludes that the development of a more sophisticated analytical model is necessary if student retention is to be improved.     

Widening participation in nursing through progression agreements between a university and two further education colleges: a case study

The School of Nursing, part of the Faculty of Health and Social Care Sciences within Kingston University/St George's, University of London, has undertaken a number of initiatives to address the widening participation agenda. The student life‐cycle underpins the framework for the university's widening participation strategy and activities. This article provides a case study of the development and implementation of one such initiative, a Progression Agreement project between the School of Nursing and two colleges of further education (FE). The FE colleges provide Access to Nursing/Access to Health and Social Care Professions courses and the university, in partnership with these colleges, has drawn up Progression Agreements to enable successful completers of these access courses to be admitted onto nursing programmes at the university. The article explores the policy issues and literature related to widening participation, how these influenced the development of Progression Agreements, the evaluation of these initiatives and how Progression Agreements have contributed to changes in admission processes for nursing programmes in the university.