Pre-tertiary enabling programs have become an increasingly popular pathway to university in Australia in recent years, however little is published about how well enabling students fare once they start university. This paper examines and compares first-year retention and academic outcomes of students that entered Murdoch University between 2014 and…

A growing number of single mothers are seeking entry to higher education via enabling programs; however, these students face unique struggles to make their dream a reality. There is some research on the challenges faced by student-mothers in higher education; however, research specifically on single mothers in enabling education is limited. This…

Studying at university can be a transformative experience; however, it can also be a stressful experience for many students. Research has shown that university students experience rates of psychological distress at higher rates than the general population. However, studies investigating the mental health of students enrolled in enabling programs…

Positive psychology is one of the newest branches of psychology to emerge, and there is a growing research base of scientific study to validate the significance of this psychological approach in people's lives. This research investigates a unit of study that was developed for students entering university through an enabling program in order to…

The benefits of higher education to individuals and to society are acknowledged both in Australia and internationally. Increased access to higher education means that greatly diverse students are beginning their tertiary learning journey. We investigate the experiences of a group of non-traditional students undertaking a tertiary preparation…

The adult cohort of the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS) provides data from six sets of longitudinal data derived from 11,932 German adults. We used the NEPS data to look at the effects of formal education in adulthood and occupational changes on participation in further vocational education and training in order to gain a better…

Australia wide, universities are offering tertiary education to the broader socio-economic cohort; however, alongside this educational reform, there is a concern that students who have been away from the formal education context for many years may not cope with the rigors of university. Consequently, prior to and conditional to admission to…

The expansion of the higher education sector in Australia opened up new pathways into university increasing the diversity of the student population. For non-traditional students, those who did not successfully complete secondary school, barriers to gaining entry into university have been dismantled, however, previous research suggests that…

University-based enabling programs have become an important pathway to university for non-traditional students. There is increasing interest in understanding the mechanisms that facilitate retention and success of enabling pathway students, with the aim of developing effective strategies for maximising opportunities for university access and…