Widening Participation and Social Justice in Higher Education: An International Comparison

Education is often cited as one of the key factors in promoting social justice, and Higher Education (HE) is no exception. However, despite being viewed as a potential solution to addressing inequalities, education systems can themselves reproduce the disparities evident in the rest of society. The massification of HE has created new opportunities, but deep divisions remain. The most advantaged 18 year olds in England are twice as likely to enter HE than those who are disadvantaged, and the more prestigious institutions disproportionately admit more advantaged applicants. The picture is also complex with regards to who succeeds at university, with certain aspects of privilege diminishing, and other inequalities persisting.
This project will investigate the inequalities, policies and student experiences relating to social justice in HE. It will adopt an international comparative approach to examine England and Poland, and utilise the Capabilities Approach as its theoretical lens. HE in England has been subject to significant policy changes, which have continued the implementation of a neoliberal agenda of marketisation, including situating HE as a private investment for student-consumers, and encouraging competition between institutions. Although fair access has been cited as a key aim of the government, it has been argued that present policies are only likely to entrench inequalities. Poland has undergone considerable reforms to its HE sector since the overthrow of communism, with expansion in the participation rate largely due to private providers. Significant inequalities persist in the present system, with the most advantaged students tending to enter free, high-quality full-time state provision and the less advantaged paying for less prestigious opportunities leading to lower status occupations. A plan for the development of HE until 2030 and recently passed legislation are likely to reveal the degree of commitment to issues of social justice.
This project will address four research questions:
RQ1: What have been the patterns of HE participation in England and Poland over the last fifteen years, and what factors underlie any observed socio-economic inequalities?
RQ2: How have national HE policies in England and Poland addressed WP and social justice in the last fifteen years, and what are the likely implications of the most recent legislation?
RQ3: How have national policies influenced institutional practices in relation to WP and social justice?
RQ4: What can be learned from the academic and social experiences of first-in-family students attending high-prestige institutions in both countries?
To address RQ1, quantitative analyses on secondary data will be carried out, including data available from HESA, GUS (Polish Governmental data), EuroStudent and European Social Survey. To answer RQ2, national policies will be analysed to determine their philosophical underpinnings and likely implications. In order to investigate RQ3 and RQ4, four institutions will be selected as case studies in the two countries. Key stakeholders will be interviewed, and documents such as Access Agreements will be sampled and examined. The author will also conduct interviews with students in an effort to understand the extent to which societal and individual factors have shaped their capabilities and life trajectories.
HE is vital to the socio-economic, intellectual, cultural and moral development and wellbeing of countries and their citizens. This project will make an original contribution to knowledge, and will enable the formation of evidence-based recommendations for future policy directions and institutional approaches. It will form a valuable information source for an academic and a practitioner audience at governmental and institutional levels.