SHAH, MAHSOOD / BENNETT, ANNA / SOUTHGATE, ERICA
Governments have introduced policies to widen the participation of disadvantaged students in higher education. Widening participation policies are also introduced to ensure that higher education contributes to the social and economic outcomes. Widening Higher Education Participation has engaged academics and scholars from different countries on a wide range of topics. The book focuses on government policies, institutional structures to support disadvantaged students, and the social and economic benefits of widening participation. This book has engaged 23 leading scholars from 11 countries. While widening participation policies and outcomes in developed countries are known, there is limited attempt to learn and disseminate the policies, achievements, and challenges in other countries such as Brazil, China, Indonesia, South Africa, Palestine and others. The ‘untold stories’ of policies and outcomes of widening participation is a key aspect of this book. The book has chapters which are aligned to three key themes. They include national and transnational case studies on the history of widening participation and current policies; widening participation, inclusive learning and academic outcomes; and socioeconomic structures, concepts and theories.