Achieving Social Inclusion and Universal Participation: Towards New Conceptions of Higher Education

Abstract

The 2008 Review of Australian Higher Education established ambitious goals for widening university participation. This article analyses the challenges involved in transforming the Australian higher education system to achieve universal participation, including current patterns of educational disadvantage and the underlying causes for the persistent under-representation in universities of certain groups of Australians. The paper proposes a set of conditions needed for universal participation, and outlines the obstacles to embedding these in national and institutional policy and practice. While the analysis is framed within the present Australian political and social context, the conclusions are likely to be relevant for other national systems making the transition from mass to universal higher education.