Equity and Participation in Higher Education

Comments from New Zealand

Rob McIntosh

Deputy Secretary

Ministry of Education

December 2008

Nature of the equity issues

Socio-economic (qualification for university in our lowest SES schools is one third of that in our highest)

Ethnic (Progression of Maori school leavers to degree level study is less than 40% of the rate for the population as a whole)

Gender (Some gaps but not the significant area of focus)

Causes? Family background (not income per se but parental

education, expectations etc)

Peer effects

Primary focus needs to be on school attainment … our evidence is that students achieving at the end of school are equally likely to participate in higher education, regardless of background.

However university completion rates for particular student groups are still lower – suggests factors at university important as well

What to do?

School engagement and achievement critical (nature of teaching and learning, information on pathways, senior school qualifications).

Social marketing campaigns targeted at expectations and aspirations

University/school links targeted at integrated learning pathways

Creating the right environment in university to support retention and completion