Aspirations, Access and Attainment: International perspectives on widening participation and an agenda for change

216 Pages·2013·2.18 MB·English

by  Neil Murray

Aspirations, Access
and Attainment
It is perhaps ironic that as the global fi nancial crisis has, in some cases, led
governments and institutions to pull back from and/or set more modest goals
and associated funding around widening participation, there is an ever-growing
sense that the ideals buttressing the widening participation movement are
becoming more universally acknowledged by educators across the globe. That
acknowledgement has translated into action on the ground via such means as
policy formulation, strategic planning and target setting – each of which often
refl ects local contexts and manifests a regional ‘fl avour’. There is also, however,
an increasing realisation that there are commonalities in the challenges involved
with national or regional initiatives to increase the participation of non-traditional
groups in Higher Education and that the drivers of such initiatives – and ultimately
the cohorts they target – stand to benefi t considerably from an open exchange of
ideas and sharing of experience.
Aspirations, Access and Attainment brings together current regional perspectives
on widening participation as presented by prominent academics, researchers,
policymakers and students from across the globe. It will create for policymakers,
institutions and individuals interested in enabling access, a useful and informative
resource that will introduce, formulate, shape and reinforce the ideas and aims of
the World Congresses on widening access.
As the contributors maintain, in an increasingly globalised market economy
and in the face of recent seismic economic, political and social change around the
world, it is imperative to both secure existing talent within our populations and
uncover and nurture new sources of talent. The series of essays featured in this
book explore, anticipate and highlight themes underpinning a global movement
towards a step-change in thinking, strategies and policies – one that places youth
and students from around the world at its heart.
Neil Murray is Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics at the University of
Warwick, Centre for Applied Linguistics, UK.
Christopher M. Klinger is Senior Lecturer at the School of Communication,
International Studies and Languages at the University of South Australia.
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Aspirations, Access
and Attainment
International perspectives
on widening participation
and an agenda for change
Edited by
Neil Murray and
Christopher M. Klinger
First published 2014
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa
business
© 2014 N. Murray and C.M. Klinger
The right of the editors to be identified as the authors of the
editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters,
has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic,
mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from
the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British
Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested
ISBN: 978-0-415-82877-2 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-415-82878-9 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-88294-9 (ebk)
Typeset in Galliard
by Saxon Graphics Ltd, Derby
Contents
List of fi gures vii
List of tables ix
List of contributors x
Preface and acknowledgements xviii
Introduction 1
NEIL MURRAY AND CHRISTOPHER M. KLINGER
1 Connecting the unconnected: Towards a global access movement 7
STUART BILLINGHAM
2 Regressive social policy and its consequences for opportunity
for Higher Education in the United States, 1980 to present 20
TOM MORTENSON
3 Meeting the US demand for talent: The imperative of
increasing attainment for underserved populations 41
JAMIE P. MERISOTIS
4 Inequality as the key obstacle to widening successful
participation in South Africa. Why Higher Education
is obliged to redress it 54
IAN SCOTT
5 Society, economy and access to post-secondary studies
in Québec 67
NICOLAS BASTIEN, PIERRE CHENARD, PIERRE DORAY
AND BENOÎT LAPLANTE
vi Contents
6 Challenges for adult access in Europe 82
MICHAEL OSBORNE, SIMON BROEK AND BERT-JAN BUISKOOL
7 Widening participation in UK Higher Education:
The institutional performance 97
MALCOLM TIGHT
8 Student engagement to improve belonging, retention and success 109
LIZ THOMAS
9 Autonomy, legitimacy and confi dence: Using mainstream
curriculum to successfully widen participation 123
LIZ MARR, GEORGE CURRY AND JOHN ROSE-ADAMS
10 ‘I thought I knew this stuff, but apparently I don’t’:
Understanding the transition into university-level thinking 136
ROBERT CANTWELL, JILL SCEVAK AND ERIKA SPRAY
11 An argument concerning overcoming inequalities in
Higher Education 150
STEPHEN GORARD
12 Students as experts: Refl ections on the ‘student voice’ 159
NEIL MURRAY AND CHRISTOPHER M. KLINGER
13 Student voices: Student union perspectives on access,
inclusion and policy-making in Higher Education 173
13.1 Australian student voice infl uences on wider participation
policy and practice through a student union lens 174
DONHERRA WALMSLEY
13.2 The student voice in widening access to Higher Education
in England: The case of the access agreement 177
DEBBIE McVITTY
13.3 Social Dimension: A step towards a more inclusive
Higher Education Area 182
FLORIAN KAISER AND TAINA MOISANDER
Index 187
Figures
2.1 Distribution of revenue sources for fi nancing Higher Education,
1952–2011. 21
2.2 Median family income by educational attainment of householder,
1956–2011. 22
2.3 National school lunch program approval rate, 1989–2011. 23
2.4 Tertiary type-A degree attainment rates for 25- to 34-year-olds
in OECD countries, 2009. 24
2.5 Change in tertiary type-A degree attainment rates for
25- to 34-year-olds in OECD countries, 2000–09. 25
2.6 College continuation rates for recent high school graduates,
1960–2011. 29
2.7 State fi scal support for Higher Education per $1000 of
personal income, FY1961–2012. 29
2.8 National average resident undergraduate tuition and required
fees in public institutions, FY1973–2010. 30
2.9 High school graduation rates by family income quartiles for
dependent 18- to 24-year-olds, 1970–2011. 32
2.10 College continuation rates by family income quartiles for
dependent 18- to 24-year-old high school graduates, 1970–2011. 33
2.11 Estimated bachelor’s degree completion rates by age 24
by family income quartiles for dependent college students
who began college, 1970–2011. 34
2.12 Estimated baccalaureate degree attainment by age 24
by family income quartiles, 1970–2011. 35
2.13 Financial resources and barriers of dependent undergraduate
students, 2007–08. 37
5.1 Population aged 18 to 29 by province, 1966–2009:
University enrolment, Québec and Ontario, 1966–2009. 69
5.2 Enrolment in university by birth cohort
(Québec French-speaking, Ontario English-speaking). 74
5.3 Enrolment in university by birth cohort
(Québec English-speaking, Ontario French-speaking). 75
viii Figures
5.4 Enrolment in university by birth cohort
(Québec other, Ontario other). 75
8.1 What Works? model of student retention and success. 114
10.1 Developmental expectations associated with secondary
school-level learning and university-level learning. 139
10.2 Cohort means for each of the MSLQ scales. 142
10.3 Cluster differences across MSLQ scales. 144
Tables
5.1 Effects of cohort, social origin and immigration on
university enrolment. 77
7.1 Overall national participation rates and institutional range. 99
9.1 Student numbers and module performance for Openings modules,
2005/06–2010/11. 129
9.2 Numbers and module performance of students in receipt of
fi nancial assistance for Openings modules, 2005/06–2010/11. 129
9.3 Numbers of students by previous educational qualifi cation
for Openings modules 2005/06–2010/11. 130
9.4 First undergraduate programme module performance of
Openings students compared with students registering directly
onto the undergraduate programme, by highest educational
qualifi cation on entry. 131
10.1 Descriptive statistics associated with cluster groups for MSLQ scales. 143
10.2 Epistemology and agency among high, moderate and low
achieving students in the fi rst year Educational Psychology course. 145