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Access campus: an intervention challenging educational disadvantage and widening participation in higher education
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Abstract
Education is important for developing human capabilities, personal, civic, and economic, and is a core objective of public policy in many countries in order to create more inclusive and equal societies. While numerous organisations, policies, and programmes are committed to raising academic achievement, access to education and educational outcomes vary and educational disadvantage is widespread. Of particular concern are the numbers not completing secondary education and progressing to higher education. International and Irish literature shows that educational disadvantage is a consequence of various academic and socio-cultural factors, requiring multifaceted interventions that address all of these factors in a holistic manner. This thesis examines a particular intervention, the AccessCampus Study Club, exploring how it addresses the academic and socio-cultural elements of educational disadvantage identified in the literature. Using a single case study, and drawing on cultural capital theory, in-depth interviews were conducted with former members and parents to explore their experience of mainstream education and the Study Club and to identify examples of good practice in addressing educational disadvantage. The research reveals that while working-class families have appropriated the required embodied cultural capital, their lack of institutionalised cultural capital limits parents’ ability to engage with teachers and also, determines both parents’ and students’ ability to navigate the educational system successfully. Important elements in overcoming the tangible and intangible aspects of educational disadvantage were found to include a positive culture and optimum use of educational resources; tailored academic support in small classes; ongoing aspiration raising, mentoring and career guidance activities; frequent and informal parental involvement and a quiet study environment. The research concludes that supportive educational environments, which recognise and enhance individuals’ cultural capital, providing instruction tailored to students’ needs and mentoring to overcome soft barriers lead to success in improving educational outcomes for disadvantaged students.
Supervisor
Bríd Quinn
Bernadette Connaughton
Bernadette Connaughton
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Costello_2021_Access.pdf
Adobe PDF, 3.08 MB
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Sustainable Development Goals
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Thesis
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https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/