Student Equity in Australian Higher Education ― Twenty-five Years of a Fair Chance for All

This book examines twenty-five years of the Australian framework for student equity in higher education, A Fair Chance for All. Divided into two sections, the book reflects on the legacy of equity policy in higher education, the effectiveness of current approaches, and the likely challenges facing future policymakers. The first section explores the creation of the framework, including the major elements of the policy, the political context of its development, and how it compares with international models developed during the same period. The performance of the six student equity groups identified within the framework is also examined. The second section of the book considers future trends and challenges. The Australian university sector has undergone seismic change in the past twenty-five years and faces further changes of equal magnitude. The twenty-fifth anniversary of A Fair Chance for All comes as Australian higher education is poised for another wave of transformation, with rising expansion, competition, and stratification. While the emerging landscape is new, the questions have changed little since A Fair Chance for All was first conceived: How should we define student equity, and what policies are likely to promote it?

Dr Andrew Harvey is Director of the Access and Achievement Research Unit at La Trobe University in Victoria, Australia. Andrew has published widely in areas of higher education policy, including issues of university access, student equity, retention and attrition, postgraduate education, and students from out-of-home care backgrounds. He currently leads a range of external grant projects covering adaptations to tertiary admissions practices; global citizenship and student equity; and comparative international student equity frameworks.