Widening Participation

How can you enhance student success and retention?

Good retention of students is important, especially of those students who have entered through a widening participation scheme, an ex-student returning to their community following a bad experience in higher education could put off many potential students. Measures supporting retention need to be delivered sensitively so as not to stigmatise or single out particular students which could cause alienation.

Providing appropriate support can be enormously resource intensive and there is debate as to whether this should be provided at the bioscience department level (if individuals with appropriate skills, knowledge, time and aptitudes are available) or at institutional level through a specialised unit. A variety of measures can help though there is dispute about the resources involved and the effectiveness of some measures. Retention is a crucial long term element, as widening participation will be greatly facilitated if successful, satisfied and employed ambassadors act as champions.

Further issues include:

• Social inclusion measures - Locally organised social inclusion measures such as the provision of student buddies or mentors can help. Inclusion may be an issue as students admitted through widening participation routes may reside at home and attend part-time which does not promote inclusion into the student social scene. There is a great deal of peer support provided in student communities and part time students and those living at home may be less able to access this and feel very isolated.
• Culture shock - Culture shock can be a real problem for new students, both within the academic and social environments. Staff may be unable to relate to student problems or not appreciate the difficulties students face in their communities.
• Academic support - Appropriate, effective, academic support throughout the course is a great help. Students may have very diverse background knowledge and may have surprising gaps in the information they possess. Tailored and sensitive (i.e. not singling out individuals or calling a session 'remedial') remedial support for skills is particularly important as it is in this area deficiencies will be most obvious to peers.
• Financial support - Financial problems are a common cause of drop-out. Support and advice should be available along with information about sources of funding available to students (for example grants, bursaries, loans and hardship funds). Staff also need to be aware of differences in cultural attitudes to debt and to interest payments.
• Personal support - Sensitive and informed personal support is also important (such as pastoral tutors, chaplains and counseling services). For example, relationships can come under considerable stress when one of the partners decides to participate in higher education. The time commitment creates friction and changes in the individual in response to the new experiences can lead to breakdown of relationships.
• Study environment - Consideration needs to be given to the provision of access to a suitable study environment when this may not be available within the student's accommodation. Access to the internet and a computer cannot be assumed particularly if the student is residing at home. Easy access to a quiet room within the institution, for example in the library may compensate for lack of a suitable study area at home.
• Flexible curriculum supporting diverse learning styles - The curriculum needs to be delivered flexibly so as to cope with individual availability and tutors should be prepared to arrange deadlines around individual student needs. The curriculum also needs to recognise that students will have a considerable range of prior experience which can be a significant asset. A wide range of prior knowledge can also be expected and provision needs to be made sensitively for facilities to allow students to catch up in areas where they are less confident.

Further links

Student Progression And Transfer, SPAT, is an FDTL phase 3 project dealing with student progression and transfer. It is aimed primarily at students to help them make informed choices about progression routes and to help them adjust to different institutions and levels in HE.

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