Policies to promote high participation in Higher Educations (HE) systems aim to deliver social justice and economic development through widening participation of under-represented groups. Degrees of Success provides a critical test of this through examination of participation and success of learners progressing to HE with a vocational background.

Employing an original conceptual framework that combines the ideas of Basil Bernstein and Pierre Bourdieu the authors analyse the various transitional frictions experienced by learners with VET backgrounds on their journeys into and through the HE system. The findings indicate that including students with vocational qualifications does lead to widening participation but that their modes of participation may not provide fair access and outcomes. In part this is due to the epistemic incompatibilities between higher and vocational education which remain unresolved despite constant VET qualification reform.

This book, therefore, extends the debate about widening participation beyond metaphors of barriers to access to consider the epistemic and pedagogical challenges of increasing student heterogeneity in high participation HE systems. The analysis and policy suggestions therefore have relevance for all seeking to support students' HE learning journeys, and policy makers concerned with how best to utilise HE systems as means of furthering social mobility and justice.

About the Author

Geoff Hayward is Professor of Education at the University of Cambridge, a Fellow of Pembroke College, and Research Fellow of the Bundesinstitut fur Berufsbildung.

Eugenia Katartzi is an Assistant Professor at Nottingham University with an expertise in sociology of education and psychosocial studies of childhood, youth and migration.

Hubert Ertl is Vice President and Director of Research at Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training, Bonn and Professor of Vocational Education Research at the University of Paderborn.

Michael Hoelscher is Professor of Higher Education and Research Management at the German University of Administrative Sciences Speyer and Fellow at the German Research Institute for Public Administration.

Book Information
ISBN 9781800431959
Author Geoff Hayward
Format Paperback
Page Count 240
Imprint Emerald Publishing Limited
Publisher Emerald Publishing Limited
Weight(grams) 267g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 129mm * 13mm