What is Widening Participation in Higher Education?
When we talk about widening participation in higher education we are referring to increasing the access of students who currently are less likely to attend higher education. Students from low socio-economic backgrounds, students from regional areas and Indigenous students are the focus of the current federal government. Other examples we might consider are students with a disability; students from non-English speaking backgrounds, recently arrived migrants/refugees and mature age students (non-school leavers). When we talk about widening participation in higher education we are usually talking about students who would be the first in their family to attend higher education, they may not know anyone else in their community or social circle that has attended higher education.
To achieve the goal of widening participation in higher education there is work to be done in schools, higher education institutions and the community.