2013

This paper reports on a study that sought to articulate the strategies being adopted by selected universities to recruit, teach and retain students from low SES backgrounds. Findings suggest that while these universities have successfully developed initiatives to recruit and support students from low SES backgrounds, less attention is being directed to the teaching and learning challenges and opportunities created by increased student diversity.

This report on VET Providers, Associate and Bachelor Degrees, and Disadvantaged Learners, is derived from research commissioned by the National VET Equity Advisory Council. It is particularly concerned with the impact for disadvantaged learners of associate and bachelor degrees offered by vocational education and training (VET) providers.

Thirty-nine case studies are presented, demonstrating Australian universities’ commitment to improving the access, participation and success in higher education of students from equity groups. The case studies share current practice used by universities to reach prospective university students, help get them into university, and provide the support once the students commence, improving the retention and completion rates of those students.

A multitude of studies has assessed the success of different technology initiatives but rarely has the focus been on special groups. This paper examines whether university students with children and those without have different perceptions of a technology initiative where students were able to acquire university sponsored laptops and were provided with a wireless local area network around campus.

Increasing the participation of people from low socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds in higher education is a key tenet of the Australian Government. Australia is aiming to raise the proportion of undergraduate students who are from a low SES background to 20 percent by 2020. The emphasis on improving access has been well received and is a crucial part of the overall ambition of the Government to increase attainment levels in higher education across Australia.

An increase in students who enter higher education in Australia following their studies in the vocational education and training (VET) sector has led to heightened national interest in the transition experiences of these students. This paper reports on the experiences of students who, as a result of their VET studies, entered a relatively new, large, metropolitan university in 2009 and 2010 in the fields of Business and Law, Early Childhood and Nursing.

This research report identifies the barriers to and facilitators of course completion, as reported by apprenticeship and traineeship graduates. The report is drawn from the first-year survey of a three-year longitudinal study into the social and economic outcomes of apprenticeship and traineeship graduates with disabilities.

This article discusses the call from Melbourne University's Vice Chancellor to the federal government requesting to reform the university funding system nd allow universities to decide their own student profiles within the funding envelope.

This article responds to a spate of articles in the Australian media expressing concerns over the presumed negative effects of lowering university entry ranks, in response to Government’s demand-driven model for Higher Education.

This Good Practice Report reviews 19 completed projects (14) and fellowships (5) funded by the Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC) between 2006 and 2010, and identified by the ALTC as contributing to an understanding of student transition into HE. Five current projects (3) and fellowships (2) are also identified and summarised although, given their in-progress status, they are not analysed in this Report.