Higher Education Equity in Australia: An International Perspective from an Evaluation Manager

I have been working at the University of Wollongong (UOW) since June 2023, in my role as Senior Manager in Evaluation and Reporting (Student Equity Programs)

Whilst this sounds like a fairly normal undertaking, for me it was an exciting and at times daunting transition into the higher education equity landscape of Australia. I’m British and moved over to Australia in August 2022, (heavily pregnant and with a toddler in tow!) so this was not a normal career transition for me but my first role in a new country, a new organisation and in an unfamiliar equity environment.

Over the past 9 months I have been navigating Australia’s take on equity in higher education and after a long chat over coffee in a Sydney Café with Dr Lien Pham, she kindly invited me to write a blog post for the Equity Hub to pass on my perspective from a fresh international lens.

The UK has a well-established widening participation, equity and access sector. In my previous role at UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) I had the pleasure of working with national programs in “STEM Inspiration” to promote STEM subjects to children and young people through programs such as STEM Ambassadors, British Science week and Nuffield Research Placements. Coming from an equity background myself (Black Caribbean) and being a scientist, equity and access to higher education always has been an interest of mine, as a living and breathing example of the opportunities higher education can give those from underrepresented backgrounds.

So, coming to Australia I was nervous about finding my way in an alien country. However, I have discovered that those nerves were unfounded as there are as many similarities as there are differences to the UK. Similarly, the sector is rich with dedicated and passionate professionals trying to embed best-practice and promote evidence-based evaluation.

The University of Wollongong has been a shining example of the rich programs in equity and dedicated practitioners who want to genuinely improve the lives of students. Programs spanning from pre-access to transition and attainment provide a breadth of support to ensure equitable experiences for those from underrepresented backgrounds. To pick a few I have been particularly impressed with the work from the Woolyungah Indigenous Centre whose Ambassador Program provides a feedback loop of equity support throughout the student lifecycle, ensuring both local aspiring Indigenous children and current Indigenous UOW students continue to be empowered and inspired.

In addition to this, the team working in Outreach and Future Students work tirelessly to build community connection and promote access to UOW for those from underrepresented backgrounds. UOW leadership in this space is also dedicated to Equity and Student Success and continues to support these programs and pilot new initiatives such as in retention, moving with pace and taking risks to trial new approaches for the greater student good, a position not to be taken for granted.

This work has been supported by Higher Education Participation and Partnerships Program (HEPPP) funding which provides the resources required to deliver these activities: a central government pot for this type of activity provides equity across the universities in Australia and is a gap of direct funding to Universities for Equity work not currently seen in the UK.  However, further than this, I was impressed by a nationwide tool to help demonstrate impact in these programs and activities in the Student Equity in Higher Education Evaluation Framework (SEHEEF).

In my last role at UKRI we commissioned a rapid review on how to improve the evaluation of youth engagement with STEM and part of the recommendations were around using evaluation evidence to improve practice rather than accountability and investing in the development of evaluation resources and training, so its fantastic to see these developments happen for Australian higher education institutions supported at a federal level.

Overall, thus far my experience in higher education equity in Australia has been great, but there is always room for improvement… I see a lot of “tried and tested” models of delivery, so I would love to see more funding and dedicated time to pilot “risky” projects that utilise evidence-based practice in a new way to really push the boundaries and test if we can achieve more impactful change by doing things differently.

I also hope that the Equity hub provides a platform for learning and transparency in the sector, highlighting what works and more importantly what doesn’t, both nationally and internationally. That way Australian universities working in this space can make sure they are really focussing on work that makes a difference to the lives that need it the most.