Access to Post-Secondary Education: Does Class Still Matter?


Book Description

Defining Access Access to post-secondary education has received more attention in the past few years, with the Canadian Government, in particular, undertaking a number of Recognizing the studies of who does and does not attend post- importance of an secondary institutions. [...] While these are all important factors in understanding access to post-secondary education, this review of the literature will focus primarily on the socio-economic status (or class) of individuals and their families in the attempt to provide a broader understanding of how class relates to post-secondary participation. [...] The body of the review will address three elements of access to post-secondary education: 1) planning to attend a post-secondary institution; 2) socio-economic status and attending a post-secondary institution, including accessing professional degree programmes; and 3) socio-economic status and completing a post-secondary education. [...] By reviewing the literature on access to post-secondary education, it is hoped that it will be possible to understand some of the factors influencing decisions to attend, attendance, and completion of post-secondary education. [...] According to researchers using the 1999 Survey of Approaches to Educational Planning, less than one-fifth of families with incomes of less than $30,000 were saving for the post-secondary education of their children, while about two-thirds of those with incomes of more than $80,000 were doing so (Corak et al, 2003; Junor & Usher, 2002).3 Parents with higher levels of education are more likely both.




European Higher Education Area: The Impact of Past and Future Policies


Book Description

This volume presents the major outcomes of the third edition of the Future of Higher Education – Bologna Process Researchers Conference (FOHE-BPRC 3) which was held on 27-29 November 2017. It acknowledges the importance of a continued dialogue between researchers and decision-makers and benefits from the experience already acquired, this way enabling the higher education community to bring its input into the 2018-2020 European Higher Education Area (EHEA) priorities. The Future of Higher Education – Bologna Process Researchers Conference (FOHE-BPRC) has already established itself as a landmark in the European higher education environment. The two previous editions (17-19 October 2011, 24-26 November 2014), with approximately 200 European and international participants each, covering more than 50 countries each, were organized prior to the Ministerial Conferences, thus encouraging a consistent dialogue between researchers and policy makers. The main conclusions of the FOHE Conferences were presented at the EHEA Ministerial Conferences (2012 and 2015), in order to make the voice of researchers better heard by European policy and decision makers. This volume is dedicated to continuing the collection of evidence and research-based policymaking and further narrowing the gap between policy and research within the EHEA and broader global contexts. It aims to identify the research areas that require more attention prior to the anniversary 2020 EHEA Ministerial Conference, with an emphasis on the new issues on rise in the academic and educational community. This book gives a platform for discussion on key issues between researchers, various direct higher education actors, decision-makers, and the wider public. This book is published under an open access CC BY license.




The Pursuit of Equality


Book Description

A report on the current status of accessibility to university education in Ontario has several major objectives: to review the social science literature on such concepts as equality of educational opportunity and accessibility, considering the social, political and intellectual climate of the times; to examine parliamentary minutes and reports of commissions and other bodies to show the controversy over goals for university education in the province and to determine which policies have been pursued by government; and to examine social science research documenting patterns of postsecondary education participation. Throughout the study, a social stratification framework was adopted for analysis. Resulting recommendations include these: government implementation of compensatory education programs at the provincial level; institution of summer learning programs aimed at economically disadvantaged elementary school children; use of external consultants to review early socialization effects on postsecondary participation; systematic funding to evaluate programs for economically disadvantaged; staff and administration incentives for encouraging postsecondary participation; changing ethnic stereotypes in texts; encouragement through counseling and role modeling for students; continuous government monitoring of accessibility trends; extension of census practices to include adolescents; research on factors influencing postsecondary participation; options for voluntary educational savings accounts for welfare recipients; and an income tax deduction for higher education savings. A bibliography is included. (MSE)




Access to Higher Education


Book Description

This book is the first systematic attempt to examine one of the biggest challenges facing universities and society in the 21st century: how do we create opportunities to allow people from all social backgrounds to benefit from higher education? It examines how policymakers, higher education institutions and civil society organisations are meeting this challenge across the globe. Each chapter focuses on one of 12 countries, including the economically powerful US and Germany, developing nations from Africa and South America and the new higher education 'superpowers' of China and India. Access to Higher Education shows that across these different nations inequalities in higher education participation are common, but their nature differs. It argues for a new, 'nationhood' based approach to understanding why these differences exist.




Post-secondary Distance Education in Canada


Book Description

Following a foreword (Ross Paul) and an introduction (Robert Sweet), three sections on instituting postsecondary distance learning systems across Canada are presented: access and student support, educational technology, and institutional response. The first section contains the following: "Women in Distance Education: Towards a Feminist Perspective" (Rebecca Coulter); "Building Bridges: Northern Native Teacher Training" (Robert Paulet); "Le Tuteur et le Support a l'Etudiant en Enseignement a Distance" (Celine Lebel, Bernard Michaud); and "Provision of Student Support Services in Distance Education: Do We Know What They Need?" (Gordon Thompson). Papers in the second section are as follows: "La Formation a Distance: Des Choix Technologiques et des Valeurs" (France Henri, Therese Lamy); "Third Generation Course Design in Distance Education" (David Kaufman); "Contradictory Directions for Distance: Cultural Miscegenation, or Cultural Symbiosis?" (Gary Boyd); "A Philosophy of Distance Education: Perceptivism" (Charles Brauner); "La Technologie Educative dans l'Enseignement a Distance, Son Role et Sa Place" (Louise Sauve et al.); and "Distance Learning using Communications Technologies in Canada" (Barbara Helm). The third section contains the following: "Diversity or Chaos in Canadian Distance Education? A View from Overseas" (Anthony Bates); "Canada's Open Universities: Issues and Prospectives" (Ross Paul); "Involvement with Distance Education: Issues for the University" (Margaret Haughey); "Distance Education and Accessibility to Canada's Community Colleges" (John Dennison); "Being Responsible to the Adult Distance Learner: A Secondary School Example" (Norman McKinnon); "Canadian Private Sector Distance Education: A Preliminary Analysis of Organizational Structure and Governance Issues" (Kenneth Slade, Robert Sweet); "Collaboration in Distance Education" (Abram Conrad, James Small); "Collaboration in Distance Education: British Columbia's Open Learning Agency" (Ian Mugridge); and "Collaboration in Distance Education: Ontario's Contact North/Contac Nord" (Terry Anderson, Connie Nelson). (NLA)




Student Affairs


Book Description

Who has access to higher education today? At what financial and personal cost? Based on what conditions and criteria? How do students describe and interpret their experiences? And how can institutions facilitate and constrain successful participation and completion? These research studies extend current understandings of what it is to be a student in higher education by embracing the dynamic relationship between students as agents and institutions as living structures which impact on their lives. Focusing on the diverse experiences of today's non-traditional and traditional students, researchers explore how and why institutional rhetoric of inclusion, engagement, gender, and access may or may not be reflected in the reality of students' experiences. Student Affairs moves from theory to application by suggesting realistic strategies for addressing the challenges surrounding the interrelation of students and institutions. Each essay analyzes issues of access and participation in programs ranging from community college development studies to graduate studies. As a whole, this collection is a testament to how much institutional change has occurred in the social organization of postsecondary education, and how much more change is required to meet the challenge of equitable access and inclusion.




Preparing for Post-Secondary Education


Book Description

Most Canadian parents have had to assume a larger share of the financial costs of their children's post-secondary education because of declining government funding and changing loans and bursary programs. Preparing for Post-Secondary Education considers the impact of increased private support and the planning strategies parents use based on information from a 1999 Statistics Canada national survey of 34,000 households. The contributors begin by examining changes to national and international educational funding policies and the relationship between public and private costs. They focus on the role of families in marshaling the necessary resources, demonstrating that access to post-secondary education is also determined by social capital. The authors conclude that new partnerships between parents, the state, and schools are redefining the various players' roles and commitments to the educational futures of Canadian children. Contributors include the late Stephen Bell (York University), Scott Davies (McMaster University), Ross Finnie (Queen's University), George Frempong (York University), Dianne Looker (Acadia University), Nancy Mandell (York University), Sheila Marshall (University of British Columbia), Hans Schuetze (University of British Columbia), Victor Thiessen (Dalhousie University), Jim White (University of British Columbia), and Jamie Wood (University of British Columbia).