Widening Student Participation – again

Posted on by academiclandc

Recently, the Universities Accord final report was released. This is the government’s new guiding document for higher education in Australia. It includes key targets for participation in tertiary education, including increasing the proportion of Australians aged between 24 to 35 with a university degree from 45% to 55% by 2050. When I first started my doctorate, the Review of Higher Education Report, more commonly known as the Bradley Review, was the current guiding document at the time. Released in 2008, it recommended that the percentage of the Australian population aged between 24 to 35 years old holding a Bachelor degree should rise to 40% by 2020, compared to 29% at the time of writing the report, and that 20% of these degree holders should be from low socio-economic status (SES) backgrounds. The Universities Accord builds on and echoes this. It aims to achieve what it terms ‘participation parity’ by 2050 through encouraging people form disadvantaged backgrounds to attend university. I completely support this as an ideal. Everyone deserves the opportunity to attend university no matter what their background is. Yet, too often, I have heard university academics complaining that widening student participation makes their work harder and dumbs down standards. The vital aspect here is that the students from disadvantaged backgrounds – be they first-in-family, low SES, rural and remote, or from society’s marginalised groups – are fully equipped to succeed and thrive in the university environment. The participation of students from disadvantaged backgrounds like these must be celebrated!

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Concerning statistics about university student wellbeing

Posted on by academiclandc

Almost 25% of students who enrol in university leave without completing a degree

“Of the students who first started a bachelor degree in Australia in 2013, 24.6 per cent left without completing a degree in the following nine years. Of the others, 4.8 per cent were still enrolled, and the remaining 70.5 per cent had completed a degree (not necessarily the one they started)” – Norton, A. 2023 Mapping Australian Higher Education.

In 2022, 19% of all undergraduate students were thinking about leaving. The most prominent reason was health or stress.

“Undergraduate students considering early departure from higher education by citizenship – All 19%, Domestic 20%, International 14%” ; “Reasons for considering early departure from current institution as given by undergraduate students who considered leaving (2021) % – Health or stress 50%” – QILT Student Experience Survey 2022.

More than 1 in 2 students don’t feel a sense of belonging at their university

“The Learner Engagement focus area relates to students’ experiences interacting with their peers in and outside of study requirements, as well as their sense of belonging to their institution. Had a sense of belonging to your institution – 46.5%. Worked with other students as part of your study – 60.6%. Interacted with students outside study requirements – 35%” – QILT Student Experience Survey 2022.

We need to do better by our young people. They enter university with all their hopes and dreams, and years of effort behind them. These students are our future, and these figures show that many are struggling at university.

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Norton, A. (2023). Mapping Australian Higher Education. ANU Centre for Social Research and Methods. https://csrm.cass.anu.edu.au/research/publications/mapping-australian-higher-education-2023
Quality Indicators for Teaching and Learning (QILT). (2023). 2022 Student Experience Survey: The Higher Education Student Experience. https://www.qilt.edu.au/surveys/student-experience-survey-(ses)

Transition from school to university is not what students expect

Posted on by academiclandc

I have just been re-reading the final report for an Australian Government Office for Learning and Teaching supported project – A collaborative multi-faceted approach to address the gaps between student expectation and experience at university (SSEE).

I first heard about this project during its dissemination phase when project team members presented findings through a workshop held at ECU in Western Australia. Over 16,000 students participated in the project via survey responses.

The findings are concerning and confirm what I have observed through my own teaching of students in their first year – that many struggled to adjust to university life. The project identified that this struggle may be related to students’ expectations of university not matching up with their actual experience after commencing their studies.

To me, some of the most interesting insights yielded by the study include:

  • 70-80% of students reported that the standard of university work is different or extremely different to school work and less than 50% of students believed that secondary education adequately prepared them for university.
  • There is a major discrepancy between expectations and reality in terms of formative feedback, with 94% of students expecting to be given feedback on drafts but only 24% receiving it.
  • 80% of new students indicated that having a supportive group of friends at university was important but many found it difficult to establish friendships.
  • Promoting awareness of the differences between school and university in senior secondary school could help students be better prepared for the transition.
  • Some differences were found in the responses of students from public, Catholic, and Independent schools. For example, more students from public schools experienced the amount and standard of work at university as different to school, whereas Catholic school students were more likely to experience the level of independent learning as different. (Brinkworth et al, 2013)

This project took place between 2010 to 2012. Has the situation improved? I am now working to update my knowledge of this area through more recent literature. 

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Office of Teaching and Learning. (2013). Student and staff expectations and experiences: Final report of the project A collaborative multi-faceted approach to address the gaps between student expectation and experience at university. Retrieved from http://fyhe.com.au/expectations/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/CG9-1158_Adelaide_Brinkworth_Final-report_2013.pdf