Developing a Critical Interventions Framework for advancing equity in Australian higher education

This report presents for discussion a Critical Interventions Framework designed to assist in advancing equity in higher education. The report summarises the patterns of access and participation for key equity target groups in the period following the 2008 Review of Australian Higher Education; reviews the national and international literature in search of available evidence in support of the effectiveness of specific initiatives and programs implemented to advance equity; presents a possible typology of equity initiatives, styled as a Critical Interventions Framework, to assist in conceptualising policy and practice and informing research and evaluation; presents a summary of the plausibility and apparent evidence base for the types of initiatives described in the Critical Interventions Framework; and presents a broad summary of the national patterns of equity initiatives drawn from an analysis of the institutional reports provided to the Commonwealth as part of the Higher Education Participation and Partnerships program (HEPPP), again against the Critical Interventions Framework. The report’s emphasis is on low socioeconomic status (SES) access and participation given the importance that has been attached to this group in public policy.

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