Murdoch’s Aspirations and Pathways for University (MAP4U) Project: Developing and supporting low SES students’ aspirations for higher education participation using school-based university outreach programs

Students from low socio-economic status (SES) backgrounds and schools in the southwest corridor of Perth, Australia, are far less likely to enter higher education than those from a high SES background. On-campus university outreach programs have long been the tool of choice to engage with low SES students to raise and support their aspirations for higher education. The Murdoch Aspirations and Pathways for University Project sought to engage with secondary-level students through school-based outreach programs that were developed and offered as long-haul, curriculum-based activities with university and industry professionals as mentors and role models. The project sought to promote and support inclusion and diversity in higher education (HE) and contribute to the literature on HE participation for low SES youth in Western Australia. Twelve hundred and twenty-three students across 23 schools participated in the program. This chapter discusses the effects of the programs on aspirations for higher education participation, how their aspirations were supported by important socialisers at home, school and in the neighbourhood. Students also reported personal changes and stronger social and cultural connections with their parents and carers, teachers and friends; thus providing them with supported strategies to achieve school completion and to realise their expectations for a transition to higher education after school graduation