| Abstract: | The proportion of students enrolled at university from the lowest quartile of socio-economic position has remained static
at around 15% for at least the past 15 years (DEEWR, Transforming Australia’s higher education system, 2009). This paper argues that the apparent lack of progress towards equity of access has been exacerbated due to how socio-economic
position (SEP) is measured within higher education. Three major methodological issues are identified: (a) the use of socio-economic
indicator for areas (SEIFA) at an inappropriate unit of geographic area (postcode), (b) an inappropriate choice of index (education
and occupation), and (c) using the index of education and occupation as the sole indicator of SEP thereby increasing the risk
of misclassification of individuals through the operation of ecological fallacy. This paper argues that to address these methodological
deficiencies, alternative methods of determining SEP are required at both the aggregate and individual level. Possible options
are proposed for use as replacements for the geographic area (postcode) and index (education and occupation) as well as additional
measures at the individual or household level. |
