Educational Equity in the Access to Post-Secondary Education: A Comparison of Ethnic Minorities in China with Aboriginals in Canada

This study provides insight into equity issues in post-secondary education by exploring and assessing the history, the reality and the potential developments in higher education for minority students in China, in comparison to post-secondary education for aboriginal students in Canada. It highlights access to post-secondary education by these minorities in both countries in terms of educational policy enactment, orientation, and its enforcement. The study examines both commonalties and differences in the educational policies of both countries to shed light on how each country is able to grapple with the issue of equity in their respective post-secondary educational systems in response to the principles of liberty, equity and dignity as outlined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This study employs a historical approach to identify the common trends by examining issues concerning access to post-secondary education for ethnic minorities in China and the aboriginals in Canada. Specifically, the study employs a comparative method analyzing how access and equity are defined, how policies have evolved, and the impact that the policy has on the minority students in China and aboriginal students in Canada. The assessment of the access issues in these two countries not only reveals some common trends in the evolution of access norms in the post-secondary education of both countries, but also identifies certain differences in response to their historical traditions, national cultures, and diverse educational structures. The findings are presented in three sections: growth and gap, equality versus equity, and equity and the difference among the difference.     

大众化进程中高等教育的公平问题与社会流动

促进社会流动,实现社会公平是高等教育的重要社会功能,高等教育的公平问题是实现社会公平的前提。本文探讨了大众化进程中高等教育的政策改革和发展现状,并就如何最大程度地实现高等教育的公平进行了论述。文章着意于高等教育大众化过程中新问题产生的原因分析以及问题解决的途径探讨。     

Increasing and widening access to higher education: a comparative study of policy and provision in Scotland and Australia

The place of access policies within higher education through a comparative approach which examines recent developments in Scotland and Australia is examined. The development of access policies is presented in the context of wider change, which is restructuring higher education in both societies. The importance of factors associated with national economic development in this process is emphasized, and the possible conflict with policies which are designed to encourage equity is explored. The impact of these policies both on the structure of the higher education systems, and on participation rates is examined. While there are major differences between these two societies, in terms of geography, history and political agendas, this paper emphasizes important areas of similarity, which are helping reshape higher education in these and in other societies.     

Equity,justice and standards: assessment decision making in higher education

Recent concerns about ‘fairness’ in university entrance have highlighted the need to review existing practices in admissions processes. The agendas for equity and social inclusion, however, must also apply to the processes and outcomes of higher education, where considerations of ‘standards’ are additionally crucial. As principles underpinning the assessment process, ‘equity’ and ‘justice’ and ‘academic standards’ are part of taken‐for‐granted cultures and practices which impact on decisions about progression, eligibility for awards and degree classification for individual students. Changing discourses of academic standards have given rise to contrasting decision‐making processes rooted in the role and operation of assessment boards. Contrasting models of assessment board cultures are developed to highlight how practices are beset by conceptual confusions about what is being assessed and the basis for judgements about success and failure in higher education. There is a strong case, not only for critical review of assessment processes, but also for monitoring outcomes for different social groups.     

Equity in Spanish higher education

The most outstanding event in the recent evolution of higher education in developed countries has been the continuously increasing proportion of students entering higher education and, therefore, its extension to more and more inclusive groups. It seems reasonable to assume that the expansion of higher education must have facilitated access of less privileged social classes, but it is important to analyze to what extent this significant increase in higher education participation has reached all social, economic, and cultural groups. This analysis could be useful in designing a policy to help those students who have more difficulty accessing higher education. The goal in this paper is to analyze this subject thoroughly focusing especially on the level of participation of young adults in Spanish higher education controlling for economic level, parental education and occupation, and other environmental characteristics. We present a logistic model which jointly values the influence of different family and social characteristics of the individual on his/her decision to enroll in higher education. The main conclusions of the study are these: (a) There has been improvement in the equity of access to higher education. In spite of this overall improvement, about 30 per cent of the less privileged population is still underrepresented in higher education, (b) Family educational level is the most important factor in the decision to enter higher education. The weight of these educational characteristics exceeds by far the influence of family income level.     

低收费政策能改善教育公平和社会福利吗?——兼论高等教育不同收费政策的效应

Traditionally there has been a theoretical view that raising tuition fees will undermine education equity and social welfare. This study examines the effects of different tuition policies on both these factors. A statistical analysis is made on the theoretical relationship between higher education tuition fees and dropout probability, which leads to the conclusion that the effects of both policies on education equity vary with circumstances. Further, under severe polarization between the rich and the poor in China, low tuition fee policy fails to effectively improve access to higher education and social welfare for low-income groups. On the contrary, high tuition fee policy may have better effectiveness.     

高等教育公平的历史轨迹——云南大学近五十年不同社会阶层子女接受高等教育机会探析

由于高等教育公平是一个动态过程,必须用历史的、全面的、发展的视角来审视它。本研究抽查了1951-2000年间5355份云南大学"学籍登记卡"的家庭出身,结合历史宏观背景,对云南大学近五十年不同社会阶层子女接受高等教育机会进行了研究。结果表明,中国高等教育并非"完全公平",在不同的历史发展时期和阶段,获得高等教育机会的群体各异,由此教育公平也呈现了不同的表现形式。     

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.     

Informational capital and the transition to university: First‐in‐family students' experiences in Austrian higher education

The agenda for widening participation in higher education has led to increasing numbers of students with a broader range of education and family backgrounds. However, transitioning to the university landscape remains a highly complex negotiation process, especially for first‐in‐family students, who cannot draw on previous experience from higher education in their families. Gaining access to informational capital—a combination of cultural and social capital—plays a crucial role in managing education transitions. We draw on rich empirical data obtained from 26 autobiographical narrative interviews with first‐in‐family university students in Austria to investigate how transitions to university are affected by informational capital. We also explore how access to informational capital was influenced by (1) institutional practices, such as initiatives to support students, especially first‐year students; and (2) cultural fit—the extent to which a student's cultural capital corresponded with the dominant cultural capital in the field of their chosen discipline or higher education establishment. Our findings show that gaining access to informational capital was strongly affected by the institutional practices at universities within the different disciplines, thus highlighting the importance of higher education institutions in supporting their students during transition processes. We conclude with policy implications for how higher education institutions can assist first‐in‐family students to succeed at university.     

Widening equity and retaining efficiency: Considerations from the IBSA southern coalface

Access to higher education is a key challenge of the 21st century state. The link between higher education and personal and socio-economic development has intensified the need for ensuring that greater numbers of citizens have expanded access to and have been provided with quality higher education. The article seeks to explore how initiatives for increased access to higher education are experienced in India, Brazil and South Africa. As signatories to the IBSA declaration in the spirit of South–South cooperation, the three countries have publicly declared their commitment to enhance equity by, for example, widening access to higher education. We review the way in which the three countries have implemented key equity initiatives and draw lessons from their practice. Notions of ‘effectiveness’ and ‘efficiency’ are used to understand the extent to which each of the individual systems is responsive to the equity agenda. We find that while there have been notable attempts to implement the equity agenda in the quest for making their systems more ‘socially effective’. This is countervailed by a more pervasive ‘efficiency’ doctrine, underpinned by a market-driven economic paradigm. It is concluded that the innovative practices in each of the countries suggest important strides in the equity agenda but also that much still remains to be done. While the article represents a starting point for the much-vaunted South-South collaboration, tentative findings suggest that a more deliberately articulated policy framework characterized by greater inclusion of those previously excluded is necessary in each of the countries if significant and sustainable development is to be achieved.     

Do educational pathways contribute to equity in tertiary education in Australia?

A key assumption of equity policies in Australia, as in many countries, is that pathways from lower-status, vocationally oriented ‘second’ tiers of tertiary education to ‘first’ tier higher education are able to act as an equity mechanism. This is because students from low socio-economic backgrounds are over-represented in former and underrepresented in the latter. The assumption that pathways support equity is tested in this paper through an analysis of the socio-economic profile and institutional destination of student transfers from vocational education and training to higher education in Australia. It finds that educational pathways deepen participation in education by existing social groups but do not effectively widen participation for groups that do not have equitable access. This is as a consequence of the hierarchical structuring of qualifications within VET as well as in higher education.     

Higher education and equity in Portugal

Abstract

The main topic of this article is to consider the role of the State in providing higher education in Portugal, paying attention to the fact that the privatisation of higher education has been in place since the eighties (Amaral 1999) and also that it is difficult for students and their families to find the monetary resources needed for attendance at university (Cabrito 1999). The discussion focuses on the funding of higher education in a quasi‐market situation (Le Grand et al. 1993), as Portugal hasn't escaped the universal trend towards privatisation of education (Whitty et al. 1998). In the last decade, the relationship between State, universities and students has been changing rapidly (Acherman et al. 1989; Barr et al. 1993; Williams 1990; Henkel et al. 1999), and some arguments are presented that equity in access to higher education must be guaranteed (Mora 1997; UNESCO 1998; Williams 1992). In this connection, the need is argued for free attendance on higher education and State subsidies to students to cover the costs of education. Firstly, the economic and social condition of university students is presented. Using data from two periods, one academic year from the 60s and one from the 90s, the increase in the degree of equity that the university system had known in recent decades can be verified. According to the analysis, the Portuguese population in general is better represented in the university student body nowadays, than in the 60s. Therefore, it is possible to discuss the maintenance of a low degree of equity in the Portuguese university system. For this, the economic and social condition of university students is compared with ‐ that of the Portuguese population in the 90s. Secondly, the expectations of the students of higher education are presented, in order to understand the value attached by them to a university degree, which explains the social demand for education. Finally, the costs of higher education, both private and public, are evaluated. From this evaluation, it is possible to conclude that the principal source of funding of higher education costs is the student and his/her family and to discuss the need for a more interventionist State in higher education financing.     

Implications of financing higher education for access and equity: The case of Syria

This article examines the implications for access and equity of the Syrian government’s efforts to reform higher education in the country over the past decade. In the context of social and economic reforms that are moving the county from a state-controlled to a social market economy, it focuses on adequacy in financing higher education, as well as efficiency and equity. Significant progress has been made in access to higher education. The government has introduced a rich variety of options for accessing higher education, resulting in a doubling of enrolled students over the past 10 years. In terms of equity, the gender gaps in higher education enrollment and completion have all but disappeared nationally, although regional variations persist. The study raises concerns about the system’s internal and external efficiency: despite some improvements, the quality of the curricula and their relevance for the labour market remain serious issues.     

高等教育效率与公平问题研究的回顾与展望

对高等教育效率、高等教育公平和如何处理高等教育效率与公平的关系这三个问题的研究进行了回顾。在此基础上，对高等教育效率与公平问题的研究进行了展望，提出：高等教育效率与公平的概念需要在明确高等教育的定位的基础上，借助社会哲学的价值支持进一步廓清；对高等教育效率与公平的关系问题的探讨需要从高等教育中具体的问题出发，具体问题具体分析；实证研究的方法还需要进一步加强。     

An Australian study of graduate outcomes for disadvantaged students

Whether or not disadvantaged students are realising the same benefits from higher education as their peers is of fundamental importance to equity practitioners and policymakers. Despite this, equity policy has focused on access to higher education and little attention has been paid to graduate outcomes. The Australian study reported here used national data to investigate relationships between disadvantage and graduate outcomes. The study provides critical insights into how access to higher education does, or does not, lead to improvements in post-graduation equity. The study reveals that outcomes are not equal for all students and that higher education disadvantage persists for many students after they have completed their studies. Whilst the specific findings relate to the Australian university sector the broader discussion of the article is relevant to higher education policy more generally, especially in terms of how governments align institutional processes to measure and scrutinise achievement in relation to public policy objectives.     

Explanatory accounts in international and comparative higher education research

Developing plausible explanations rooted in theory and supported by evidence is a challenge for comparative higher education studies. The purpose of this article is to consider how comparative studies in higher education might develop accounts that allow the research community to enhance explanatory power. Higher education studies can advance explanations about what is happening and why, as well as interpret the meaning of occurrences by drawing broadly on realist scholarly traditions. Rather than prioritising a methodology, the field should prioritise essential questions and address them with all appropriate empirical tools. Avenues for explanatory research include bounded case studies, multi‐method investigations into specific phenomena, mechanism‐based approaches and macro‐social analysis.     

Discursive constructions of equity in Australian higher education: Imagined worlds and the case of people seeking asylum

There is a strong rationale for people seeking asylum and refugees given temporary protection to be key beneficiaries of Australian higher education equity practices. However, despite the extreme precarity they face, this group remains among the most educationally disadvantaged populations in Australia. Here, we use critical discourse analysis to examine the publicly available statements of 38 Australian universities to identify discursive representations of equity practices and connections, with our analytic gaze focused through the lens of people seeking asylum. Using a three-part analytic heuristic examining ‘statements’, ‘practices’ and ‘connections’, we offer a critical discourse analysis of how each public university expresses its commitment to the equity agenda in powerful stakeholder-facing documents—such as annual reports, strategic plans and media releases—and we compare this analysis against institutional stated practices with regard to people seeking asylum. In identifying misalignments between equity statements and stated practices, we suggest that institutional equity narratives articulate ‘imagined worlds’, in which all marginalised groups can access higher education. We argue that now is the time to move beyond these ‘imagined worlds’, to enact stated commitments to universal education, by instituting real and effective practices to facilitate equitable access to Australian higher education for people seeking asylum.     

Less inequality through universal access? Socioeconomic background of tertiary entrants in Australia after the expansion of university participation

This article investigates the consequences of an expansion of domestic university places in Australia after 2009 for inequalities in access to tertiary education. I focused on how different individual-level socioeconomic factors were influencing not only the likelihood of continuing education at the tertiary level but also a type of institution one studies at. Thus, I simultaneously analyse vertical and horizontal dimensions of inequalities in access. The expansion has not dramatically changed the differentiated access within different socioeconomic groups. However, the influence of parental education and secondary school context on continuing education has weakened. But those who have benefited the most are young people from upper service class. They not only approach near-universal access faster than other social classes but also improve their relative chances to study at the most prestigious institutions. Controlling for academic ability at the age of 15 showed that socioeconomic background continuous to matter after that age. This means that student-oriented equity policies undertaken closer to the point of transition to tertiary education have a capacity to decrease educational inequalities. Results are discussed against the background of the current higher education policy trends regarding equity in access.     

South Africa: Distance higher education policies for access,social equity,quality, and social and economic responsiveness in a context of the diversity of provision

The principal concern of this paper is the implication of the increasing diversity of higher education provision in South Africa for equity of access and opportunity for historically disadvantaged social groups, high‐quality provision, and social and economic responsiveness in distance higher education. This diversity is signalled by a variety of modes of delivery and learning/teaching methods, and the use of various terms to depict these. The article addresses this concern through an engagement with critical distance higher education policy issues, such as institutional differentiation and roles, the institutional location of distance education provision, the development of expertise and resources, the financing of distance provision and its quality assurance, and the monitoring and evaluation of the performance of distance education providers. In the course of this engagement the article also addresses a number of key themes that recur across the various policy documents produced during the past decade of democracy in South Africa.     

Advancing Elementary and Middle School STEM Education

Navigating the current STEM agendas and debates is complex and challenging. Perspectives on the nature of STEM education and how it should be implemented without losing discipline integrity, approaches to incorporating the arts (STEAM) and how equity in access to STEM education can be increased are just a few of the many issues faced by researchers and educators. There are no straightforward answers. Opinions on how STEM education should be advanced vary across school contexts, curricula and political arenas. This position paper addresses five core issues: (a) perspectives on STEM education, (b) approaches to STEM integration, (c) STEM discipline representation, (d) equity in access to STEM education and (e) extending STEM to STEAM. A number of pedagogical affordances inherent in integrated STEM activities are examined, with the integration of modelling and engineering design presented as an example of how such learning affordances can be capitalized on.