This article explores the issue of social mobility in relation to the recent expansion of higher vocational education (HIVE) by non-university providers. The post-school vocational education sector has become the object of policies to widen access to higher education to ensure greater social mobility and provide second chance education to those…

Like other western nations such as the United States and the United Kingdom, Australia's record of education outcomes for marginalized groups is troubling, whether the comparisons are made within the nation or with other OECD nations. Although recent Australian Governments have sought to overhaul funding for schools and universities, on their own,…

The revitalization of Ethiopian higher education (HE) has been underway since the early 2000s. As well as the economic optimism evident in the "knowledge-driven poverty reduction" discourse, social equity goals underscore the reform and expansion of the system. Notwithstanding the widening participation and the equity policy provisions…

This paper reports on a recent study of aspirations for higher education by secondary school students from disadvantaged backgrounds in regional Australia. At the same time, it goes in search of explanations that transcend a Bourdieuian account of aspirations as produced by and reproductive of cultural histories and dominance, given the apparent…

Social inclusion in Australian higher education was high on the agenda of the recent Rudd/Gillard Australian Government. This paper offers an assessment of that agenda, particularly the extent to which it worked in favour of under-represented groups. It argues that the Government's widening and expansion policies and its equity and aspiration…

Primarily developed as an alternative to narrow measures of well-being such as utility and resources, Amartya Sen's capability approach places strong emphasis on people's substantive opportunities. As a broad normative framework, the capability approach has become a valuable tool for understanding and evaluating social arrangements (e.g. education…