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POLICY BRIEF article

Front. Educ.
Sec. Higher Education
Volume 9 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/feduc.2024.1493708
This article is part of the Research Topic Advancing Equity: Exploring EDI in Higher Education Institutes View all articles

Why a 'whack-a-mole' approach to widening participation won't work -and what to do about it: a policy brief

Provisionally accepted
Elisabeth Moores Elisabeth Moores 1*Julian Crockford Julian Crockford 2Liz Austen Liz Austen 3Lizzy Woodfield Lizzy Woodfield 1
  • 1 Aston University, Birmingham, United Kingdom
  • 2 Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield, England, United Kingdom
  • 3 College of Social Sciences and Arts, Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield, United Kingdom

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Despite increasing access to higher education (HE) over the past two decades, students from disadvantaged backgrounds remain less likely to enter the most selective institutions, and less likely to achieve good outcomes.• In England, providers that charge more than £6,000 a year tuition fees must have an Access and Participation Plan (APP) approved by the Office for Students (OfS). Plans aim to improve equality in student access, success, and progression. • APPs typically focus on snapshots of equality gaps, inputs over outcomes, and individual institutions over collaborative efforts. These limitations encourage a 'whack-a-mole' approach, reducing effectiveness of interventions. • A more nuanced approach to evaluation is needed, together with increased and organised sector-wide collaboration, and acknowledgment of the dynamic operating context.

    Keywords: policy, What works, widening access and participation, access and participation plan, Evaluation, Whole institution approach

    Received: 09 Sep 2024; Accepted: 16 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Moores, Crockford, Austen and Woodfield. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Elisabeth Moores, Aston University, Birmingham, United Kingdom

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.