Changing lives: improving care leaver access to higher education

ABSTRACT

Australian and international research documents the limited access of young people transitioning from out-of-home care (OOHC) to further and higher education. This paper examines the processes, outcomes, and key findings of the Raising Expectations project, a collaborative university and industry approach to promote higher education among care leavers at two Australian universities. That approach was informed by the co-authors' previous research, including interviews with enrolled care-leaver students. The paper highlights the relevance of that research in the design and implementation of Raising Expectations. Our findings reiterate the importance of policy and practice reforms informed by rigorous research, particularly involving the voices and agency of care leavers. We outline strategies adopted by the participating universities resulting in a fourfold increase in enrolments, growth in school outreach activities, and significantly improved retention rates. The paper also highlights barriers to higher education access and success, through care-leaver student interviews and policy analysis. These interviews revealed the need for better university outreach and information to prospective care-leaver students, improved support for enrolled care-leaver students, and better capturing of data by universities and governments. The paper also highlights policy barriers to the greater expansion of care-leavers at university, especially in the absence of extended state care.

KEYWORDS:

• Care leavers
• higher education policy
• transitioning from out-of-home care
• access to higher education

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Not her real name. This and all subsequent care-leaver names used here are pseudonyms to protect their privacy.

2. VTAC is the section of the state government Department of Education and Training responsible for handling applications for undergraduate degree courses and other full-time higher education courses.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Department of Education and Training Victoria; Sidney Myer Large Grants Fund.

Notes on contributors

Jacqueline Z. Wilson

Jacqueline Z. Wilson is an Associate Professor in the Centre for Collaborative Research in Australian History at Federation University Australia. She is a graduate of La Trobe University, where she was awarded the David Myer University Medal, and Monash University (PhD History). She has authored over 50 scholarly publications and is the sole author, editor, and/or co-editor of five books, with research interests that broadly focus on Australia’s welfare and justice systems. Jacqueline is a former state ward of Victoria and experienced poverty, homelessness, orphanage placements, foster care, and other forms of state care. This underpins much of her interest in reform and reparations for children abused in institutional care and welfare reform. Jacqueline is currently a chief investigator on several collaborative and interdisciplinary research projects, including projects funded by the Sidney Myer Fund, and the Australian Research Council Discovery Awards. She is a reviewer for the European Research Council Awards and holds several editorial board positions.

Andrew Harvey

Andrew Harvey, Associate Professor, is Director of the Centre for Higher Education Equity and Diversity Research. He has a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) and PhD in Politics, both from the University of Melbourne. Andrew has published widely in areas of higher education policy, including student equity, admissions, retention, and globalisation. He is lead editor of Student Equity in Australian Higher Education: Twenty-five years of A Fair Chance for All (Springer).

Philip Mendes

Philip Mendes, Associate Professor, teaches Social Policy and Community Development, and is the Director of the Social Inclusion and Social Policy Research Unit in the Department of Social Work. His key research areas include young people transitioning from out-of-home care, income security including compulsory income management, social workers and policy practice, illicit drugs policy, and Indigenous social policy. He is the author or editor of 11 books, and the author of more than 100 peer-reviewed academic journal articles and book chapters. His latest book is Empowerment and Control in the Australian Welfare State: A Critical Analysis of Australian Social Policy since 1972 (Routledge).