Equity and STEM in elite contexts: challenging institutional assumptions and critiquing student support

ABSTRACT

While there has been a sustained focus on widening participation in higher education internationally, there are few empirical accounts of the experiences and perceptions of ‘equity’ students in STEM subjects, and even less that examines this in the elite university context. Reporting from the Australian higher education context, this article outlines findings from an exploratory, mixed-method study of students enrolled in a Science Faculty in a ‘prestigious’ research-intensive university. The study involved a faculty-wide survey of students, collecting demographic data and perceptions of equity, and follow-up focus groups focusing on students’ perceptions of equity and their experiences of studying STEM in the elite context. The findings provide new insights into the composition of the Science student cohort and their lived experiences of feeling like outsiders in the elite context. This article reflects on how structural barriers, institutional assumptions, navigational experiences and staff engagement impact on equity students’ engagement and sense of belonging. We argue that supports must be visible, accessible and targeted, rather than limited to centralised services. We conclude by foregrounding the perceived importance of ‘care’ from Faculty staff and argue for more Faculty-embedded supports if we are to create a more diverse STEM student cohort and workforce.

KEYWORDS:

• Equity
• higher education
• elite institutions
• STEM
• student support
• care

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 We acknowledge arguments that such categorisations are reductive and deny the complexity of the intersecting challenges that many students face.

2 We note that the homogeneity insinuated by the labels has been strongly problematised (for example, Reay, Crozier, and Clayton 2010).

3 The five university groupings reported in Koshy (2019) include Go8, Australian Technology Network, Innovative Research Universities, Regional Universities Network and an ‘unaffiliated’ grouping.

4 Compared with university grouping averages of 17.74% (WINTA), 3.26% (NESB) and 7.86% (SwD).

5 For example, BBU Engineering students are not required to study Advanced Maths to gain entry.

6 Student support advisors at BBU provide holistic care to students to enable their success.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Tierney Marey

Tierney Marey is a Doctoral candidate in the School of Education at the University of New South Wales (UNSW). She works fulltime at UNSW as an equity practitioner and her research interests include higher education, equity, feminist and queer studies and embodiment theory.

Sally Baker

Dr Sally Baker is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Education at The University of New South Wales. Her teaching and research interests centre on language, literacies, transition and equity in higher education.

Lisa A. Williams

Dr Lisa A. Williams is an Associate Professor in the School of Psychology at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. Her research interests surround the dynamics between emotional experience and social behavior, with a particular focus on positive emotions.

Kallie Tzelios

Kallie Tzelios is a Research Assistant in the School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. She is interested in processes that sit at the intersection of emotion, social cognition, and prosocial behavior.