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JAPP: Editorial

Volume 3, Number 2, Summer 2006

Mary Stuart
University of Sussex

There is an international flavour to this edition, and it is increasingly vital that we see issues of widening participation in HE as part of a set of global social policies. These issues are central to the arguments put forward by the Labour government in the UK: indeed, each country in the UK has targets for widening participation. However, applications to higher education institutions are down in England and in Australia. Commentators are blaming this fall on increases in fees in both countries. Of course these are raw numbers – the impact on people from lower socio-economic groups is not yet known. However, it is noticeable that in the USA fewer people from lower socio-economic groups apply to study as federal and state aid is reduced and fees increase. This issue is obviously enormously important to access to HE, but we know that access is not merely a function of funding and debt.

This edition of JAPP looks at a variety of issues connected with access and success for students from under represented groups in HE. Tate et al examine the importance of appropriate guidance for students from backgrounds where there is no experience of HE, while, from the USA, Ebert examines issues relating to ‘preparedness’ for study. O’Doherty looks at new curriculum developments around the short-cycle foundation degrees developed in the UK, similar to the 2-year programmes offered by community colleges in the USA. Stuart examines the importance of social networks in enabling success for first generation students in HE and Simpson looks at systems and structures which either enable or produce barriers for part-time learners. In the ‘Debates and discussion’ section Duke examines policy formation particularly in the context of lifelong learning through the lens of different countries.

As those of us in England move into a new fee regime, we need to remember that there are many barriers for people from lower socio-economic groups to accessing HE and there is still a need to address these fundamental issues to create a great social mix within the sector.