Widening Participation in Higher Education: Casting the Net Wide?

341 Pages·2012·1.45 MB·English

by  Tamsin Hinton-Smith (eds.)

Widening Participation in Higher Education
IssuesinHigherEducation
Titlesinclude:
JürgenEndersandEgbertdeWeert(editors)
THECHANGINGFACEOFACADEMICLIFE
AnalyticalandComparativePerspectives
JohnHarpur
INNOVATION,PROFITANDTHECOMMONGOODINHIGHEREDUCATION
TheNewAlchemy
TamsinHinton-Smith(editor)
WIDENINGPARTICIPATIONINHIGHEREDUCATION
CastingtheNetWide?
V.LynnMeekandCharasSuwanwela(editors)
HIGHEREDUCATION,RESEARCH,ANDKNOWLEDGEINTHE
ASIA-PACIFICREGION
GuyNeave,KjellBlückertandThorstenNybom(editors)
THEEUROPEANRESEARCHUNIVERSITY
AnHistoricalParenthesis?
GuyNeave
THEEVALUATIVESTATE,INSTITUTIONALAUTONOMYANDRE-ENGINEERING
HIGHEREDUCATIONINWESTERNEUROPE
ThePrinceandHisPleasure
MaryAnnDanowitzSagaria(editor)
WOMEN,UNIVERSITIES,ANDCHANGE
GenderEqualityintheEuropeanUnionandtheUnitedStates
SnejanaSlantchevaandDanielLevy(editors)
PRIVATEHIGHEREDUCATIONINPOST-COMMUNISTEUROPE
InSearchofLegitimacy
SverkerSörlinandHebeVessuri(editors)
KNOWLEDGESOCIETYVS.KNOWLEDGEECONOMY
Knowledge,Power,andPolitics
BøjrnStensaker,JussiVälimaa,ClàudiaSarrico(editors)
MANAGINGREFORMINUNIVERSITIES
TheDynamicsofCulture,IdentityandOrganisationalChange
VoldemarTomusk
THEOPENWORLDANDCLOSEDSOCIETIES
EssaysonHigherEducationPolicies“inTransition”
IssuesinHigherEducation
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Widening Participation
in Higher Education
Casting the Net Wide?
Editedby
Tamsin Hinton-Smith
UniversityofSussex,UK
Selectionandeditorialmatter©TamsinHinton-Smith2012
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Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2012 ISBN 978-0-230-30061-3
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Contents
ListofIllustrations viii
Acknowledgements x
NotesonContributors xi
Part I Inclusion,Exclusion:IssuesinWidening
Participation
1 Introduction 3
TamsinHinton-Smith
2 ChangingPolicyDiscoursesonEquityandDiversityinUK
HigherEducation:WhatIstheEvidence? 22
MiriamE.David
3 WideningParticipationinUniversitiesinEnglandand
Wales:IsThereaConnectionwithHonoursDegree
Achievement? 37
MantzYorke
4 WiderandStillWider?AHistoricalLookatthe‘Open-Ness’of
theOpenUniversityoftheUnitedKingdom 51
AlanWoodley
Part II EngagingwithHigherEducationasa
Non-TraditionalStudent:AccessandMotivation
5 GoodStudents,BadPupils:Constructionsof‘Aspiration’,
‘Disadvantage’andSocialClassinUndergraduate-Led
WideningParticipationWork 73
YvetteTaylor
6 MatureWomenStudents,StudyMotivation
andEmployability 91
RuthWoodfield
v
vi Contents
7 LoneParentStudents’MotivationsforandHopes
ofHigherEducationEngagement 108
TamsinHinton-Smith
Part III Non-TraditionalStudents’Experiencesin
HigherEducation
8 ChoosingaStudentLifestyle?QuestionsofTaste,Cultural
CapitalandGainingaGraduateJob 129
MaryStuart,CatherineLidoandJessicaMorgan
9 TransformationorTrauma:TheTransitiontoHigher
EducationofNon-TraditionalStudents 146
LyndaMeasor,PaulaWilcoxandPhilipFrame
10 Non-TraditionalAdultStudents:Access,Dropout,Retention
andDevelopingaLearnerIdentity 163
BarbaraMerrill
11 TheImportanceofSocialSupportStructures
forRetentionandSuccess 178
JohnFieldandNatalieMorgan-Klein
Part IV WideningParticipationinInternational
Contexts
12 WideningParticipationTrendsinSweden:Regulationsand
TheirEffects,IntendedandUnintended 197
CarolineBerggrenandChristinaCliffordson
13 TrendsinWideningParticipationinFrenchHigherEducation 213
Marie-PierreMoreau
14 WideningParticipationinSpanishHigherEducation:
WilltheCurrentReformPromotetheInclusion
ofNon-TraditionalStudents? 228
M.TeresaPadilla-Carmona
15 ExperiencingHigherEducationinGhanaandTanzania:
TheSymbolicPowerofBeingaStudent 245
LouiseMorley
16 WomenandStudentsofColourasNon-TraditionalStudents:
TheDifficultiesofInclusionintheUnitedStates 263
AnneJ.MacLachlan
Contents vii
17 WideningParticipationand‘Elite’OnlineEducation:
TheCaseoftheUniversityofCalifornia 280
SarahEarl-Novell
18 Conclusion:AssessingProgressandPrioritiesinWidening
Participation 295
TamsinHinton-Smith
Index 312
Illustrations
Tables
3.1 Participationofunder-representedgroupsinhigher
education:Youngfull-timefirst-degreeentrants 40
4.1 First-yearundergraduatesbyqualificationaim,modeof
studyandage(2006–2007) 54
4.2 TypesofdisabilityamongHEstudents(2006–2007) 58
4.3 ThepreviouseducationalqualificationsheldbyHEentrants
(2006–2007) 59
4.4 ThelabourmarketstatusofnewOUundergraduates
(2005–2009) 60
4.5 TheoccupationofnewOUundergraduates(1971–1975&
2005–2009) 62
4.6 TheclassofOUstudentsandtheirparentsasperceivedby
thestudents(2005) 64
4.7 Thepercentageofnewstudentswhogainedacoursecredit
onthescienceandsocialsciencesfoundationcourses
analysedbyyearandpreviouseducationalqualifications 65
6.1 Graduates’employmentsuccessbygenderandage(2006&
2009) 95
13.1 Studentsenrolledinhighereducationsince1960
(inthousands) 216
13.2 Socio-economicbackgroundofuniversitystudentsbylevel
ofstudy(2009–2010,inpercent) 217
13.3 Socio-economicbackgroundandtypeofHEtrack
(2009–2010,inpercent) 218
13.4 Proportionofwomenstudentsinuniversities
(inpercent) 219
13.5 ProportionofwomeninClassesPréparatoiresauxGrandes
EcolesandGrandesEcoles(2007–2008,inpercent) 220
13.6 Proportionofwomenbysubject(2007–2008,inpercent) 221
15.1 Percentageofstudentswhomentionedlackofsupport 252
15.2 Numberofstudentswhomentionedunder-resourcing 254
15.3 Equityscorecard:Studentachievementinfourprogrammes,
bygender,ageandsocio-economicstatusataGhanaian
PublicUniversityin2007–2008 255
15.4 Equityscorecard:Studentachievementinfourprogrammes,
bygender,ageandsocio-economicstatusataGhanaian
PrivateUniversityin2007–2008 256
viii
ListofIllustrations ix
15.5 Equityscorecard:Studentachievementinfourprogrammes,
bygender,ageandsocio-economicstatusataTanzanian
PublicUniversityin2007–2008 257
15.6 Equityscorecard:Studentachievementinthreeprogrammes,
bygender,ageandsocio-economicstatusataTanzanian
PrivateUniversityin2007–2008 258
Figures
3.1 Percentageofstudentsfromlowersocio-economicgroups
(y-axis),academicyearsfrom1997–1998to2006–2007
(x-axis),fromuniversitiesinEnglandandWales 40
3.2 Frequencydistributions,byrangeofpercentageofyoung
entrantsfromlowersocio-economicgroups(x-axis),for51
newuniversitiesand44olduniversities(first-degree
programmes,academicyear2006–2007) 41
3.3 Acomparisonofthepercentagesof‘goodhonoursdegrees’
awardedineightsubjectareasbyoldandnewuniversities
(y-axis),academicyears2002–2003to2006–2007(x-axis) 44
4.1 ThepercentageofwomenamongnewOUundergraduates
(1972–2009) 53
4.2 Thepercentageofwomenamongnewundergraduatesatthe
OUandelsewhere(1996–2008) 53
4.3 TheageonentryamongnewOUundergraduates
(1971–2009) 55
4.4 Thepercentageofnewundergraduatesfromblackand
ethnicminorities(1994–2008) 56
4.5 Thepercentageofnewundergraduateswithdisabilities
(1994–2008) 57
4.6 ThepreviouseducationalqualificationsofnewOU
undergraduates(1971–1980&1999–2008) 59
15.1 Students’motivationsforenteringHE 250