Equalizing and Widening Access to Higher Education During a Pandemic: Lessons Learned from a Multi-University Perspective

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic caused a rapid and unprecedented shift of widening participation and outreach activities to online and remote delivery. The impact of this went beyond practitioners and the university sector; positive and negative implications are felt by stakeholders and the broader community. This shift online is discussed through the lens of a multi-university perspective, using four case studies from university outreach programs in one Australian state. The article provides a holistic view of the lessons learned and discoveries made, informing future program design and delivery. These programs include primary and secondary students, teachers, parents, guardians and carers, and work within a range of low socioeconomic and regional, rural and remote contexts. We argue that the fundamentally necessary shift online created a profound legacy and bears potential to increase accessibility (via diversity and scale), but, simultaneously, that care must be applied if substituting face-to-face engagement with that online. While this article primarily focuses on issues of value to practitioners, it also discusses important implications for academics, support staff, and university executive regarding the access and participation of underrepresented cohorts during times of mass change.

Partnership building for student access in online spaces: an evaluative exploration of the Higher Education Progression Partnership South Yorkshire

“…The encouragement of collaboration that breaks down barriers needs to be a priority for all future work (Dodd et al, 2021). Partnership building should develop understanding of challenges and opportunities and enable collective decision-making which is essential for impact.…”

“…It is contended that decisions should be primarily guided by the underlying rationale, with a firm grounding of theory and evidence, the creation of appropriate objectives and outcomes, and engagement in partnership working by listening to those who are affected by the activities (Raven, 2020). Using a case study approach covering four university outreach programmes in Australia, Dodd et al (2021) provided an evidence base to inform the design of online widening participation and outreach programmes. These authors emphasised the 'importance of personalized contact for online cohorts' and 'teacher presence, through positive and constructive communication' (Dodd et al, 2021, p. 10-11) for helping to build a sense of belonging, but this was not dependent on the use of specific technology.…”

‘Kindness and empathy beyond all else’: Challenges to professional identities of Higher Education teachers during COVID-19 times

“…Globally there has been a steady increase in online delivery in HE (Morris et al, 2020) partly due to physical campuses constrained in their ability to grow, but also due to increased equity of access to education for a wider range of learners (Dodd, 2021;Stone et al, 2016). At the same time, there has been a purposeful move towards student-centred learning (Ryan et al, 2022), and a focus on active and problem-based learning strategies (Chernikova et al, 2020;Lee et al, 2014).…”