Rights statement: © Johnson, 2018. The definitive, peer reviewed and edited version of this article is published in Widening Participation and Lifelong Learning, 20, 1, 123-145, 2018, 10.5456/WPLL.20.1.123
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Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Widening Participation
T2 - Developing ‘Academic’ Programmes in Light of Recruitment Pressure
AU - Johnson, Matthew Thomas
AU - Mutton, Rosie
N1 - © Johnson, 2018. The definitive, peer reviewed and edited version of this article is published in Widening Participation and Lifelong Learning, 20, 1, 123-145, 2018, 10.5456/WPLL.20.1.123
PY - 2018/1/1
Y1 - 2018/1/1
N2 - The emergence of the 'Widening Participation' (WP) agenda in English Higher Education (HE) has been intensified by the shift to tuition fees of ?9000 or more. Now, universities have an obligation to devote funds to encouraging participation of students from a range of groups identified by the Office for Fair Access as being under-represented and disadvantaged. For a discipline like Politics/International Relations, with implicit concerns for the examination of concepts such as social justice, there is both prima facie reason and intellectual capacity for engagement in WP programmes. In this article, we explore the tension between 'intrinsic' 'professional' WP and 'instrumental' 'academic' WP, arguing that a number of pressures need to be navigated in order for academics to engage successfully in such work. We advance an approach to maximising the value of WP programmes for academics by way of illustrating the considerations, costs and benefits of engaging with the agenda. While the article draws on experience in England, the implications are relevant to the profession in most industrialised countries, since growing inequality and the rising cost of HE study mean that WP is an agenda which will only expand.
AB - The emergence of the 'Widening Participation' (WP) agenda in English Higher Education (HE) has been intensified by the shift to tuition fees of ?9000 or more. Now, universities have an obligation to devote funds to encouraging participation of students from a range of groups identified by the Office for Fair Access as being under-represented and disadvantaged. For a discipline like Politics/International Relations, with implicit concerns for the examination of concepts such as social justice, there is both prima facie reason and intellectual capacity for engagement in WP programmes. In this article, we explore the tension between 'intrinsic' 'professional' WP and 'instrumental' 'academic' WP, arguing that a number of pressures need to be navigated in order for academics to engage successfully in such work. We advance an approach to maximising the value of WP programmes for academics by way of illustrating the considerations, costs and benefits of engaging with the agenda. While the article draws on experience in England, the implications are relevant to the profession in most industrialised countries, since growing inequality and the rising cost of HE study mean that WP is an agenda which will only expand.
KW - NORTH EAST OF ENGLAND
KW - OUTREACH
KW - POLITICS
KW - RECRUITMENT
KW - WIDENING PARTICIPATION
U2 - 10.5456/WPLL.20.1.123
DO - 10.5456/WPLL.20.1.123
M3 - Journal article
VL - 20
SP - 123
EP - 145
JO - Widening Participation and Lifelong Learning
JF - Widening Participation and Lifelong Learning
SN - 1466-6529
IS - 1
ER -