Engaged outreach: using community engagement to facilitate access to higher education for people from low socio‐economic backgrounds

Abstract

Despite ongoing equity initiatives, there is still a clear discrepancy in regards to access to higher education for potential students from socially disadvantaged backgrounds. This paper reports on an action research initiative that has developed a model of engaged outreach as an alternative approach to traditional university outreach. Engaged outreach uses the principles of higher education community engagement to develop stronger relationships between universities and their local communities for the purposes of increasing aspiration and access to higher education. The project was designed using a reflective, collaborative process with local Pacific Island immigrant communities living in an area of high social deprivation in southeast Queensland, Australia. Research progressed in three key stages, which together form the basis of the proposed model of engaged outreach. While it is acknowledged that the success of engaged outreach will depend on its implementation as a long‐term strategy, preliminary results from this pilot project suggest that it demonstrates real potential to address this important but seemingly entrenched issue in Australian higher education.

Keywords:

• community engagement
• equity
• higher education access
• outreach
• socio‐economic disadvantage

Acknowledgements

This research was funded by Commonwealth Higher Education Equity Support Program funding.

Notes

1. The term ‘Pacific Island’ is used in the reporting of this research, and is broadly used to refer to Polynesian countries, particularly Samoa and Tonga.

2. Non‐English speaking background has been generally replaced by the use of culturally and linguistically diverse background, which includes immigrants from non‐English speaking countries and refugees. Indigenous populations are not included.

3. Stakeholders are broadly defined to include individuals and agencies with an interest in or who are potentially impacted by an issue.

4. Many of these contextual factors are not unique to Pacific Island communities and may potentially affect other immigrant communities.

5. Detailed discussion on these contextual factors will be published separately.