Widening Participation and Academic Literary Practices

Abstract

In this chapter we focus on another and different group of students; those from ‘non-standard’ backgrounds either full- or part-time, and therefore, when they became participants in our study, were in either their study year or their first study year across a range of courses on a Master’s programme at a British university. Widening access to and participation in higher education has become a central policy theme nationally and globally. In England, Widening Participation policies have attempted to address the under-representation of certain social groups in higher education (DfES, 2003). The landscape of higher education has undergone change and transformation partly as a result of the diversification of higher education, with new student constituencies and identities emerging and posing specific challenges for higher education practices. However, persistent patterns of under-representation continue to perplex policy-makers and practitioners, raising questions about current strategies, policies and approaches to widening participation.