EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This report outlines the findings of a project ‘Social Marketing Strategy for low SES Communities Research and Strategy Phase’ which was commissioned and funded as part of the Australian Government Department of Education and Training’s National Priorities Pool 2014 round. The objective of the project was to ‘research and design an appropriate, cost effective national social marketing campaign targeted at low socio-economic status (SES) students and communities that will assist universities to increase awareness of, and raise aspiration to, higher education.’

The specific objectives of the strategy were to:

• increase awareness of and aspiration to attend university amongst low SES students, families and communities
• increase knowledge of pathways to university amongst low SES students, families and communities
• increase numbers of applications to university and university pathways from people from a low SES background.

This national project was undertaken with the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) as the lead university, auspiced by the Queensland Widening Participation Consortium consisting of the state’s eight public universities. The project work was undertaken in 2015 and the first half of 2016. Academic researchers were drawn from three Queensland universities, QUT, James Cook University (JCU) and University of Sunshine Coast (USC), and from the National Centre for Student Equity in Higher Education (NCSEHE).

The project was guided by a national reference group drawn from research and practitioner ranks and including experts and representatives (see Governance Arrangements in Section E, Appendix 1).

View the full report here:
Social Marketing Strategy for Low SES Communities: Research and Strategy Phase (10.5Mb)

Click here to read more about the position paper.

View the full position paper here:
Social Marketing Strategy for Promoting Tertiary Education to Low SES Communities (5Mb)