Expansion and equity in Australian higher education: three propositions for new relations

This article outlines three broad propositions for student equity in Australian higher education (HE), arising from the Australian Government's recent policy announcement to expand and widen student participation. The first is that a new relationship between student demand for places and their supply is on the horizon, unlike any other in Australia's history. Specifically, demand will struggle to match the intended supply. Given these new arrangements between government, institution and applicant, the article's second proposition is that governments and universities will need to develop a new regard for the people they seek to attract. And, following on from this, they will need to pay more attention to the nature of HE and its appeal to people who traditionally have not been all that interested. Informing this account are an examination of statistical data, analysis of university outreach programs, and a comparison of current principles of effective teaching in HE. The article concludes that advancing student equity in the current context will require new relations between institutions and students, which include a more sophisticated appreciation for the diversity of students and their communities, and for what they potentially contribute to HE

Creating spaces in higher education for marginalised Australians: principles for socially inclusive pedagogies

The Bradley Review of Australian Higher Education provided a timely reminder of the dismal performance of the nation and its higher education system in terms of the proportional representation of certain groups of Australians within the university student population. While the Australian Government has taken on the challenge of creating more university places for people from low socioeconomic status backgrounds, this article makes the case for creating spaces in higher education for marginalised Australians. Specifically, we argue that the most strategic place to begin this is with the pedagogic work of higher education, because of its positioning as a central message system in education. And it is from the centre that the greatest pedagogic authority is derived. In this paper we conceive of the pedagogic work involved in terms of belief, design and action. From these constitutive elements are derived three principles on which to build a socially inclusive pedagogy and to open up spaces for currently marginalised groups