Overcoming the Barriers to Higher Education

In 2004, HEFCE commissioned Professor Stephen Gorard and a team of authors to independently review the existing relevant evidence on widening participation in Higher Education. This text presents a compelling summary of the evidence exploring the social and familial patterns that can be interrupted via educational interventions.

Gorard’s report makes a significant contribution to the evidence base on widening participation in HE and raises serious inequalities in participation relating to socio-economic status, gender, ethnicity and other characteristics – factors that emerge as significant variables in the post-compulsory education sector but are exacerbated in the HE sector. The book is fundamentally sub-divided into three core parts – 1) Establishing the nature of the problem, 2) Leading up to HE, and 3) Experiencing HE. Overcoming the Barriers to Higher Education also raises challenging questions about the clarity of the term ‘widening participation’ and furthermore, whether existing strategies to meet the agenda have made much headway, stating that ‘it is not clear what the problem addressed by [widening participation] actually is nor whether it is getting better or worse over time’ (p.119). This undoubtedly will not sit well with some members of the ‘widening participation’ community.

The authors have collectively reviewed a wealth of research focusing on the relative robustness and shortcomings of the evidence base. The text highlights one of the key issues with the existing research in that much of the discussion focuses on the data held in the widening participation field, that is data from full-time, young, first degree applicants. The information needed to form widening participation policies and agendas that is data from mature, part-time students tends to be excluded from this evidence.

The book presents a useful and impressive range of data sets which are helpful to the reader. There is also a comprehensive glossary and bibliography for those interested in the field further. The book is essential reading for all policy-makers and academics interested in researching and addressing educational inequality. Being very thought-provoking of the issues and research why some individuals, or indeed groups of individuals, do not pursue or aspire to higher education routes, the text also makes excellent reading for students interested in grasping the educational and psycho-social background to the field.
    
Dr Ruth Hewston is a Senior Lecturer in Education Studies within the Institute of Education at the University of Worcester.

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