Widening Participation: A Rough Guide for Higher Education Providers

Widening Participation in Higher Education has been a major area of government priority over recent years. One consequence of this has been an increase in policy and practice activity at national, regional and institutional level. Given this volume and range of activity, the need for colleagues in the sector to keep apprised of Widening Participation developments has grown ever greater. This guide has been produced to offer summary information on the main issues and questions relating to Widening Participation. It is a guide to practice rather than an overview of theory and research, although the ‘resources’ section at the end will point you in these directions. The information provided is in summary form giving readers an introduction which can be followed up via reference with further reading. The web version of this guide can be updated and we would welcome reader feedback on both information gaps and shelf-life of the information

Enduring partnerships: the Forum for Access and Continuing Education (FACE)

John Storan and Tony Hudson reflect on ESCalate’s legacy and suggest that this will not be lost

Editorial

This special edition on the theme of lifelong learning is edited by John Storan and Tony Hudson from the University of East Londo

‘There was something about aspiration’: Widening participation policy affects in England and Australia

This paper discusses the emergence of aspiration as a keyword linked to higher education equity policy in England and Australia since 1997. Aspiration serves multiple purposes when constructed as a problematic site in which policy must intervene. For example, it can be understood as a vector for new technologies of governance that operate through the production of entrepreneurial dispositions; as a signifier for groups that have experienced upward social mobility; and as a personality trait that correlates with future earnings and thus can be defined as a dimension of human capital. It has also provided a rallying point for equity work in higher education. Focusing on English and Australian policy contexts, as well as the recent education work of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), we examine the different perspectives of a range of stakeholders on the strategy of ‘raising aspiration’ for higher education and how these have changed over time; the partnership work undertaken in the HE systems of both countries under the aegis of aspiration-raising policies; and recent policy developments in both contexts. In particular, we consider how aspiration-focused policies have affective effects on policy actors and seek to control affects directly by modulating feelings about capacities for action in the future. Two data sets provide the empirical basis for the paper: (a) document analysis of major equity policies in England since 1997 and in Australia since 2008, as well as a review of relevant OECD policy documents; and (b) analysis of nine interviews with equity practitioners and policy personnel in England, Australia, and located within the OECD