opening page ornament

The Australian Centre for Student Equity and Success acknowledges Indigenous peoples across Australia as the Traditional Owners of the lands on which the nation’s campuses are situated. With a history spanning more than 60,000 years as the original educators, Indigenous peoples hold a unique place in our nation. We recognise the importance of their knowledge and culture, and reflect the principles of participation, equity, and cultural respect in our work. We pay our respects to Elders past, present, and future, and consider it an honour to learn from our Indigenous colleagues, partners, and friends.

Enter website
Back to Publications
You are reading: Eyes on the future: The impact of a university campus experience day on students from financially disadvantaged backgrounds

Written by Michele J Fleming and Diana M Grace, University of Canberra

ABSTRACT
Students from financially disadvantaged backgrounds, rural areas, non-English speaking backgrounds and those who are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, have traditionally been underrepresented in higher education in Australia. The UC 4 Yourself experience day is an outreach program by the University of Canberra for schools identified as having substantial numbers of students from financially disadvantaged backgrounds. It provides a full day of participation in, and gaining information about, university life. The current article reports on two survey studies (N¼525; N¼183) investigating the effectiveness of this program. Students who participated in the program were more likely to plan to attend university and were better able to imagine themselves as university students after their campus visit. Findings from the two studies suggest that the actual visit, despite its brevity, provides a unique experience by simultaneously establishing a knowledge base and facilitating the psychological transformation necessary to imagine a new future.

Continue reading…

Fleming, M. J. and Grace, D. M. (2014). Eyes on the future: The impact of a university campus experience day on students from financially disadvantaged backgrounds. Australian Journal of Education, 0(0). 1-15. DOI:10.1177/0004944114567689.
General Indigenous International Low SES Regional, rural and remote Journal articles
Eyes on the future: The impact of a university campus experience day on students from financially disadvantaged backgrounds
M Fleming, D Grace, 2015
Featured publications
The Critical Interventions Framework Part 3: Programs and approaches that enable equity in higher education
Anna Bennett, Ryan Naylor, Jo Hanley, Jo Lewis, Cheryl Burgess​ , 2024
The Critical Interventions Framework Part 3 (CIF 3) focuses on evaluative studies which provide details of the impacts of specific interventions on equity groups in relation to access to and success in higher education.
General
Indigenous
Centring equity in data and digital governance: Informing policy to empower practice
B Stephenson​ , 2026
An ACSES Equity Fellowship final report. The project looks at how Australian universities are managing challenges around the governance of equity data, which tracks how students from underrepresented backgrounds enrol, study, and succeed in higher education.
General / all students
Research Reports
Increasing the number of Aboriginal teachers in the Northern Territory: Planning for the future
T Woodroffe​ , 2025
An ACSES First Nations Fellowship final report. This project explored how teaching is perceived as a career by Aboriginal senior secondary students and current Aboriginal teachers, and examined strategies to promote teaching as a viable and appealing profession.
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
Indigenous
Navigating the cultural interface: Indigenous PhD scholars’ experience of working toward equity in health research across Australia, Turtle Island Canada, and Aotearoa New Zealand
S Andrews, T Eastman, E Munro-Harrison, and O Mazel​ , 2025
A Small Grants Research Program final report. The study explored the ways in which Indigenous PhD scholars in Australia, Turtle Island Canada, and Aotearoa New Zealand are championing community-informed and Indigenous-led research at the cultural interface in higher education.
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
Indigenous
More publications
The Critical Interventions Framework Part 3: Programs and approaches that enable equity in higher education
Anna Bennett​ , The University of Newcastle​
The Critical Interventions Framework Part 3 (CIF 3) focuses on evaluative studies which provide details of the impacts of specific interventions on equity groups in relation to access to and success in higher education.
General
Indigenous
Low SES
Regional, rural and remote
Research Reports
Feature article
Centring equity in data and digital governance: Informing policy to empower practice
Tomasz Zając​ , The University of Queensland (UQ)​
An ACSES Equity Fellowship final report. The project looks at how Australian universities are managing challenges around the governance of equity data, which tracks how students from underrepresented backgrounds enrol, study, and succeed in higher education.
General / all students
Research Reports
Increasing the number of Aboriginal teachers in the Northern Territory: Planning for the future
An ACSES First Nations Fellowship final report. This project explored how teaching is perceived as a career by Aboriginal senior secondary students and current Aboriginal teachers, and examined strategies to promote teaching as a viable and appealing profession.
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
Indigenous
Research report
Publications
Fellowship Reports
Navigating the cultural interface: Indigenous PhD scholars’ experience of working toward equity in health research across Australia, Turtle Island Canada, and Aotearoa New Zealand
Tomasz Zając​ , The University of Queensland (UQ)​
A Small Grants Research Program final report. The study explored the ways in which Indigenous PhD scholars in Australia, Turtle Island Canada, and Aotearoa New Zealand are championing community-informed and Indigenous-led research at the cultural interface in higher education.
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
Indigenous
Research Reports