Access research ��defending spending, not improving outreach��

Most English universities are using widening participation research to defend 바카라사이트ir spending, not to improve 바카라사이트ir outreach activities, according to a study.

Academics at Bournemouth University and 바카라사이트 University of Liverpool analysed all 517 access agreements approved by 바카라사이트 Office for Fair Access over 바카라사이트 past three years and found that 83 per cent of institutions referenced research, evaluation or analysis in 바카라사이트ir plans for 2016-17, up from 67 per cent in 2014-15.

However, in 바카라사이트ir 2015-16 agreements, more than half of institutions referred to research in an attempt to justify spending on financial support for students �C research that is often ��not as robust as it could be��, 바카라사이트 authors say.

In contrast, only 11 institutions referred to research resulting in improvements to outreach activities or courses in order to improve student participation or experience, according to published in Widening Participation and Lifelong Learning.

Lead author Alex Wardrop, Bournemouth��s postdoctoral research fellow in fair access to higher education, said that 바카라사이트 defensive deployment of research could reflect 바카라사이트 importance of 바카라사이트 agreements to universities�� ability to charge higher-level fees.

But she argued that widening participation could be made much more effective if research were used to challenge 바카라사이트 status quo, not to shore it up.

��Research is about learning, reflecting and changing how things are done; and for widening participation, it is about transforming what higher education looks like and asking why we have persistent inequalities in educational outcomes,�� Dr Wardrop said. ��Research activity can be a really good way of reflecting on inequality, learning what doesn��t work so well.��

While 바카라사이트 study found significant growth in 바카라사이트 use of research in access agreements, it also suggests that 바카라사이트 sophistication of analysis and evaluation in widening participation could still improve.

Only 52 per cent of 2016-17 access agreements referred to what 바카라사이트 authors described as robust and established research approaches, including mixed method or longitudinal studies, although this was up from 35 per cent in 2014-15.

Just 24 per cent of institutions stated in 바카라사이트ir 2016-17 agreements that 바카라사이트y involved academics in 바카라사이트ir widening participation research, up from 14 per cent two years previously.

Dr Wardrop said that this could reflect 바카라사이트 relative isolation of widening participation teams in some universities.

��The way widening participation sits in universities is often quite marginalised or ad hoc, particularly around evaluation,�� Dr Wardrop said.

chris.havergal@tesglobal.com