“…While 'aspiration' has become a ubiquitous term within educational policy in multiple contexts internationally (Gale & Parker, 2015;Harrison & Waller, 2018;Spohrer, 2011), it is often confined to discussions of school aged children and the perception that they need to raise their aspirations both in terms of future employment goals and, relatedly, their goals for participation in higher education (Abrahams, 2018;Allen, 2016;Grim, Moore-Vissing, & Mountford-Zimdars, 2019). The perceived locus of aspiration deficit is, therefore, primary and secondary education, while higher education is offered as the solution.…”