Abstract
Some national reports highlight how particular third-level educational institutions place access central to their ethos, strategies and structures. Institutional strategies must also encompass change to the institutional culture itself through proactive outreach and dynamic ‘inreach’ for socio-economically excluded groups. In reconciling a balance between giving increased force to the imperative of widening access to education for marginalised groups, on the one hand, and university autonomy, on the other hand, the discourse tends to focus on incentives for institutions to improve access. It cannot be assumed that institutions are willing or aware of the need to develop outreach targeting underrepresented groups.
Some of the interviewees’ accounts across different countries recognise the limitations of an informational approach that is neither interpersonal nor tailored to the needs and experiences of the traditionally marginalised groups. More imaginative outreach approaches are discussed. A number of examples are highlighted of universities making their campus facilities available to marginalised groups in the evening and summertime to help break down cultural barriers, though across national reports there is little evidence of national level leadership to progress this issue. Some attitudinal resistance towards opening access to the university building is manifested through an argument for institutional autonomy. Yet these institutions usually receive state funding and many are in state ownership; incentives could be provided to facilitate such opening of access, including through performance agreements with Education Ministries. An emerging dimension to good practice in some national reports is university communication with community leaders. A logical expansion of a systems theory approach emphasising the need to foster transition between subsystems is the need for formal links between universities and NGOs representing marginalised groups. A comprehensive access strategy, which tackles deeply ingrained cultural barriers to participation in third-level education and education generally, requires engagement with cohorts of younger learners, even in primary school classes. With the exceptions of Scotland, Norway and Ireland, there is no evidence that this important structural strategic feature is taking place or planned to take place, based on the national reports. A range of preparatory admission courses are observed in a number of reports.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Similarly in social psychology and in postmodern psychology, Gergen’s (1994) emphasis on clarifying the communicative goals of argument is also to some degree a contextualising of the abstract audience:
‘Is argument being carried out so as to sharpen and elaborate opposing positions, yield victory to one side or another, locate areas of compromise, entertain, develop public support, or for other purposes?…by articulating the relational goals, interlocutors may wish to open alternatives to traditional practices of contentiousness’. (p. 63)
- 2.
Hegel (1830–1831) continues with regard to Rome: ‘For Personality constitutes the fundamental condition of legal Right: it appears chiefly in the category of Property, but it is indifferent to the concrete characteristics of the living spirit with whom individuality is concerned’ (p. 279).
- 3.
He refers to the Roma (Balogh et al. 2010).
References
Balogh, A., Józan, A., Szöllősi, A., & Róbert, P. (2010). The institutional aspects of adult education in Hungary. Budapest: TARKI Social Research Centre. National report for comparative report of Subproject 5 of LLL2010, Educational Disadvantage Centre, St. Patrick’s College, Dublin.
Benhabib, S. (1987). The generalized and the concrete other. In S. Benhabib & D. Cornell (Eds.), Feminism as critique (pp. 77–96). Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Botelho, A., Costa Pinto, L., Portela, M., & Silva, A. (2001). The determinants of success in university entrance (Working Papers, No 13). Braga: Núcleo de Investigaçãoem.
Boyadjieva, P., Milenkova, V., Gornev, G., Petkova, K., & Nenkova, D. (2010). The role of Bulgarian educational institutions for the promotion of access of adults to formal education. Sofia: Institute of Sociology. National report for comparative report of Subproject 5 of LLL2010, Educational Disadvantage Centre, St. Patrick’s College, Dublin.
Bruner, J. (1992). Acts of meaning: Four lectures on mind and culture. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Bruner, J. S., & Amsterdam, A. (2000). Minding the law. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Carrigan, J., & Downes, P. (with Byrne, I.). (2009). Is there more than what’s the score? Exploring needs and skills checking for literacy as part of a holistic initial assessment process in a lifelong learning society. Dublin: Educational Disadvantage Centre, St. Patrick’s College.
Commission Staff Working Document. {SEC(2006) 1096}. Accompanying document to the communication to the Commission {COM (2006) 481 final}. Efficiency and equity in European education and training systems.
Commission Staff Working Document. {SEC(2009)1616}. Progress towards the Lisbon objectives in education and training. Indicators and benchmarks 2009.
Commission Staff Working Paper. {SEC (2010)}. Reducing early school leaving. Accompanying document to the Proposal for a Council Recommendation on policies to reduce early school leaving.
Communication from the Commission. (2006). Delivering on the modernisation agenda for universities: Education, research, innovation. COM(2006) 208.
Council Conclusions on investing in education and training – A response to Rethinking Education: Investing in skills for better socio-economic outcomes and the 2013 Annual Growth Survey (15 February 2013).
Delors, J. (1996). Learning: The treasure within: Report to UNESCO of the International Commission on Education for the 21st century. Paris: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation Publishing.
Derrida, J. (1981). Deconstruction and the other. In R. Kearney (Ed.), States of mind: Dialogues with contemporary thinkers in the European mind. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1995.
Dooley, C., Downes, P., Maunsell, C., & McLoughlin, V. (2010). Promoting social inclusion: The access of adults to formal and non-formal education in Ireland. National report for comparative report of Subproject 5 of LLL2010, Educational Disadvantage Centre, St. Patrick’s College, Dublin.
Downes, P. (2004a). Psychological support services for Ballyfermot: Present and future. Commissioned research report. Ballyfermot, Dublin: URBAN.
Downes, P. (2004b). Voices of children: St. Raphael’s Primary School, Ballyfermot. Commissioned research report. Ballyfermot, Dublin: URBAN.
Downes, P. (2009). Prevention of bullying at a systemic level in schools: Movement from cognitive and spatial narratives of diametric opposition to concentric relation. In S. R. Jimerson, S. M. Swearer, & D. L. Espelage (Eds.), Handbook of school bullying: An international perspective (pp. 517–533). New York: Routledge.
Downes, P. (2011). Community based lifelong learning centres: Developing a European strategy informed by international evidence and research. Research paper for European Commission, NESET (Network of Experts on Social Aspects of Education and Training).
Downes, P., & Gilligan, A. L. (2007). Beyond disadvantage: Some conclusions. In P. Downes & A. L. Gilligan (Eds.), Beyond educational disadvantage (pp. 463–491). Dublin: Institute of Public Administration.
Downes, P., & Maunsell, C. (2007). Count us in: Tackling early school leaving in South West Inner City Dublin. An integrated response. Dublin: South Inner City Community Development Association (SICCDA) & South Inner City Drugs Task Force.
Downes, P., Maunsell, C., & Ivers, J. (2006). A holistic approach to early school leaving and school retention in Blanchardstown current issues and future steps for services and schools. Dublin: Blanchardstown Area Partnership.
Ebner, G. (2011, February 8). Respondent to presentation. Maunsell, C., & Downes, P. (2011). LLL2010 Subproject 5. Lifelong learning for all? Policies and practices towards underrepresented and socially excluded groups. LLL2010 conference do three sides always make a triangle? Policy, institutions and learners in lifelong formal learning. University of Leuven, Brussels.
Educational Disadvantage Committee. (2005). Moving beyond educational disadvantage 2002–2005. Dublin: DES.
Engel, L., Holford, J., & Mleczko, A. (2010). The access of adults to formal and non-formal adult education. Nottingham: University of Nottingham. National report for comparative report of Subproject 5 of LLL2010, Educational Disadvantage Centre, St. Patrick’s College, Dublin.
Erikson, E. H. (1968). Identity: Youth and crisis. London: Faber & Faber.
Freire, P. (1972). Pedagogy of the oppressed. London: Penguin.
Gergen, K. J. (1994). The limits of pure critique. In H. W. Simons & M. Billig (Eds.), After postmodernism: Reconstructing ideology critique. London: Sage.
Gilligan, C. (1982). In a different voice. Boston: Harvard University Press.
Gilligan, C. (1990). Preface. In C. Gilligan, N. P. Lyons, & T. J. Hanmer (Eds.), Making connections. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Greene, S. (2003). Psychological development of girls and women: Rethinking change in time. New York: Routledge.
Habermas, J. (1987). The philosophical discourse of modernity: Twelve lectures (F. Lawrence, Trans.). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Hegel, G. W. F. (1830/1831). The philosophy of history. New York: Dover Publications (1956).
Heidegger, M. (1927). Being and time (J. MacQuarrie & E. Robinson, Trans., 1962). Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
Higher Education Authority Ireland. (2010). A study of progression in Irish Higher Education. Dublin: HEA.
Horner, M. S. (1972). Toward an understanding of achievement-related conflicts in women. Journal of Social Issues, 28, 157–176.
Ivančič, A., Mohorčič Špolar, V. A., & Radovan, M. (2010). The case of Slovenia. Access of adults to formal and non-formal education – Policies and priorities. Ljubljana: Slovenian Institute for Adult Education. National report for comparative report of Subproject 5 of LLL2010, Educational Disadvantage Centre, St. Patrick’s College, Dublin.
Ivers, J., & Downes, P. (2012). A phenomenological reinterpretation of Horner’s fear of success in terms of social class. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 27, 369–388.
Jarvis, P. (2007). Globalisation, lifelong learning and the learning society: Sociological perspectives. London: Routledge.
Kozlovskiy, V., Khokhlova, A., & Veits, M. (2010). The role of Russian educational institutions in the promotion of access for adults to formal education. St Petersburg: Department of Sociology, Saint Petersburg State University. National report for comparative report of Subproject 5 of LLL2010, Educational Disadvantage Centre, St. Patrick’s College, Dublin.
Lee, A. T., & Miller, P. W. (2005). Participation in higher education: Equity and access? The Economic Record, 81(253), 152–165.
Levinas, E. (1991). Otherwise than being or beyond essence (A. Lingis, Trans.). Dordrecht/Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Lindemann, E. (1926/1989). The meaning of education. Oklahoma: Norman.
Maunsell, C. (2011, February 8). Lifelong learning for all? Policies and practices towards underrepresented and socially excluded groups. Presentation at LLL 2010 conference. Do three sides always make a triangle? Policy, institutions and learners in lifelong formal learning. Brussels: University of Leuven.
Morgan, M. (2001). Drug use prevention: Overview of research. Dublin: National Advisory Committee on Drugs.
Morgan, M., & Slowey, M. (2009). Higher education in the broader landscape: Widening the perspective on equity and access in Ireland. Journal of Adult and Continuing Education, 15(2), 204–218.
Mulkerrins, D. (2007). The transformational potential of the Home School Community Liaison Scheme. In P. Downes & A. L. Gilligan (Eds.), Beyond educational disadvantage (pp. 133–143). Dublin: Institute of Public Administration.
Ormston, R., Dobbie, F., Cleghorn, N., & Davidson, A. (2007). National Adult Learning Survey (NALS) 2005: Scotland report. Edinburgh: Scottish Executive Social Research.
Rammel, S., & Gottwald, R. (2010). Social inclusion in formal and non formal adult education: Findings from Austrian institutions and government representatives. Krems: Danube University. National report for comparative report of Subproject 5 of LLL2010, Educational Disadvantage Centre, St. Patrick’s College, Dublin.
Russell, B. (1946). History of western philosophy and its connection with political and social circumstances from the earliest times to the present. London: Allen & Unwin.
Savage, M. (2003). Review: A new class paradigm? British Journal of Sociology of Education, 24(4), 535–541.
Spring, N. (2007). Tracing the language of educational disadvantage. In P. Downes & A. L. Gilligan (Eds.), Beyond educational disadvantage (pp. 3–10). Dublin: Institute of Public Administration.
Stensen, O.-A., Ure, O.-B. (2010). The access of adults to formal and non-formal education in Norway. Oslo: Fafo – Institute for Labour and Social Research. National report for comparative report of Subproject 5 of LLL2010, Educational Disadvantage Centre, St. Patrick’s College, Dublin.
Studley, R. (2003). Inequality, student achievement, and college admissions: A remedy for underrepresentation (No 1001). Berkeley: University of California at Berkeley, Centre for Studies in Higher Education, UC Berkeley.
Sutherland, E. H. (1939). Principles of criminology (3rd ed.). Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Company.
Taljunaite, M., Labanauskas, L., Terepaite-Butviliene, J., & Blazeviviene, L. (2010). The access of adults to formal and non-formal adult education. Vilnius: Lithuanian Social Research Centre, Social Research Institute. National report for comparative report of Subproject 5 of LLL2010, Educational Disadvantage Centre, St. Patrick’s College, Dublin.
Tamm, A., & Saar, E. (2010). LLL2010 Subproject 5 Estonia country report. Tallinn: Institute of International and Social Studies/Department of Social Stratification.
Taylor, C. (2007). A secular age. Boston: Harvard University Press.
Tett, L., Munn, P., Blair, A., Kay, H., Martin, I., Martin, J., & Ranson, S. (2001). Collaboration between schools and community education agencies in tackling social exclusion. Research Papers in Education, 16, 3–21.
Vermeersch, L., & Vandenbrouke, A. (2010). The access of adults to formal and non-formal education in Belgium’s Flemish Community Leuven: KatholiekeUniversiteit. National report for comparative report of Subproject 5 of LLL2010, Educational Disadvantage Centre, St. Patrick’s College, Dublin.
Weedon, E., Riddell, S., Purves, R., & Ahlgren, L. (2010). Social inclusion and adult participation in lifelong learning: Officials’, managers’ and teachers’ perspectives. Edinburgh: University of Scotland. National report for comparative report of Subproject 5 of LLL2010, Educational Disadvantage Centre, St. Patrick’s College, Dublin.
Wolf, A., & Cumming, J. (2000). The inside story: The reality of developing an assessment instrument. Studies in Educational Evaluation, 26, 211–229.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Downes, P. (2014). Access to Higher Education for Socio-economically Marginalised Groups: Indicators at Micro-Meso Levels. In: Access to Education in Europe. Lifelong Learning Book Series, vol 21. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-8795-6_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-8795-6_7
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-017-8794-9
Online ISBN: 978-94-017-8795-6
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawEducation (R0)