Diversity and the European higher education student: policy influencers’ narratives of difference

ABSTRACT

Comparative studies of European social policy have pointed to significant differences with respect to the way in which diversity is valued and understood, contrasting nations that have adopted strongly compulsory and integrationist policies with others that have pursued more voluntary and pluralistic approaches. Within the higher education sector specifically, although there have been numerous European-level initiatives to encourage national governments to take action to widen access to university, we know relatively little about how key policy actors conceptualise diversity with respect to the student population, and the extent to which such understandings are shared across national borders. Drawing on in-depth interviews with a range of ‘policy influencers’ in six European countries and an analysis of relevant policy documents, this article suggests that dimensions of difference are not always valued equally and that, despite policy imperatives promoting higher education homogenisation across the continent, some significant differences between nation-states endure.

KEYWORDS:

• Diversity
• higher education
• Europe
• age
• social class

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank the European Research Council for the award of a Consolidator Grant (reference 681018_EUROSTUDENTS), which funded this research. I am also very grateful to the individuals who gave up their time to be interviewed for this study and the members of the project Advisory Group, who gave advice on the selection of policy documents.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 These various groups are referred to as follows when they are quoted in the discussion: Government official; Union representative; Employer representative; and HEI representative.

2 In Poland, no relevant employer documents were identified. Thus, the Polish sample comprises only 12 documents.

3 This is a German qualification which facilitates entry to higher education. It is taken by students at the end of secondary education.

4 This demographic change has been due to a declining birth rate in Poland and an increase in emigration.

5 Source: Eurydice (2017).

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by a Consolidator Grant from the European Research Council (grant number 681018_EUROSTUDENTS).