Lowe, C. and Lowe, T. 2023. Accessibility to student engagement opportunities: A focus on ‘hard-to-reach’ universities. in: Lowe, T. (ed.) Advancing Student Engagement in Higher Education: Reflection, Critique and Challenge London Taylor & Francis.
| Chapter title | Accessibility to student engagement opportunities: A focus on ‘hard-to-reach’ universities |
|---|---|
| Authors | Lowe, C. and Lowe, T. |
| Editors | Lowe, T. |
| Abstract | Student engagement, in the context of practices which engage students in the development of higher education, continues to spread across the global higher education sector as a means of best practice for educational enhancement. In the period 2015–17, three United Kingdom (UK) universities were funded to explore the accessibility and impact of such opportunities with 16 collaborative partner universities from across the UK. A key component of the project sought to understand which students were engaging in these student engagement development opportunities and whether the demographic characteristics of the students participating in these initiatives reflected the wider university student body and their diversity at each institution. In this vein, the project was part of the wider international sector growth in working with students to enhance their educational experience and focus on understanding which students were engaging and, therefore, whose voices were being heard. These questions led to examining more closely the characteristics of the students engaging in these opportunities in relation to the wider demographic diversity of the institution, in order to understand in what ways race, gender, class, sexuality, age and ability affect students’ access to such opportunities. Importantly, the project sought to explore what interventions can be actioned to begin the process of dismantling barriers to engagement for such students, who often have an intersectional experience of many of these characteristics and can face greater challenges to student engagement opportunities. This chapter will discuss critically the major barriers to engagement and make recommendations for practitioners to improve the accessibility of student engagement in educational development activities, so as to support the development of student engagement initiatives at institutions. |
| Book title | Advancing Student Engagement in Higher Education: Reflection, Critique and Challenge |
| Year | 2023 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis |
| Publication dates | |
| Published | 12 May 2023 |
| Place of publication | London |
| Edition | 1st Edition |
| Series | SEDA Series |
| ISBN | 9781003271789 |
| Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003271789-8 |
| File | File Access Level Controlled (open metadata, closed files) |
| Web address (URL) | https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003271789-8/accessibility-student-engagement-opportunities-cassie-violet-lowe-tom-lowe?context=ubx&refId=e31d4aea-f175-4332-9272-8ad40e9022ff |