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After decades of initiatives aimed at addressing inequitable rates of participation in higher education, people from low socio-economic backgrounds remain underrepresented. A growing body of work suggests that family attitudes are the dominant influence on young people's academic success and aspirations for higher education. This research asks whether it is possible to intervene in the construction of young people's aspirations. Specifically, it evaluates the impact of an intervention program on young people's knowledge of, beliefs about and aspirations for higher education.

Drawing on theories of social and cultural capital, this study posits two central propositions. First, that a young person's bonding social capital plays a significant role in shaping their embodied cultural capital; and second, that it is possible to intervene in the process of the accumulation of bridging social capital and embodied cultural capital and to raise aspirations. Through in-depth interviews with university students and school students from Years 8 to 12 (n = 19), and a pre- and post-intervention survey of Year 8 to Year 10 school students (n = 94), the research explores young people's pre-existing knowledge of, beliefs about and aspirations for university, and identifies the key influences thereon. It then evaluates the impact of the intervention on participants' habitus.

While bonding social capital emerges as the key influence on the construction of a young person's habitus, the intervention demonstrably altered this habitus and raised expectations. The causes of these phenomena were multiple and interconnected, with interaction with academically successful role models, access to accurate information and experience of university life all having an encouraging effect. Based on these findings, the thesis presents a model for intervention programs comprising (a) ongoing partnerships between universities and school/s; (b) early intervention; (c) accurate information; (d) interaction with university students; and (e) experience of university life. Finally, the study outlines the implications of the research findings for student equity in higher education at the levels of research, policy and practice.

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Despite two decades of Federal policy rhetoric and funding practice promoting equity in higher education, marked inequities persist. The causes of these inequities are multiple and complex, however family ‘attitudes’ have often been blamed. This paper examines the problematic nature of the construct of ‘attitudes’ in terms of the lack of definition of the term and in terms of the negative connotations associated with its use. It explores the impact of parental ‘attitudes’ on young people’s beliefs about the relevance and accessibility of university and asks whether it is possible to intervene in the construction of these beliefs. This exploration takes place within the context of a study of a school-university project - ACULink - which aims to improve rates of transition among young people from targeted schools in Sydney’s outer west. The study employed in-depth interviews of nineteen school students and four university students. Data was analysed using Strauss and Corbin’s (1990) three-stage approach to analysis. The central finding is that it appears to be possible to intervene in the construction of young people’s beliefs and that participation in the ACULink program materially altered the young people’s perceptions of university.

Published abstract reprinted by permission of the copyright owner.

Individual papers from the conference are indexed from TD/TNC 94.97 to TD/TNC 94.100 and from TD/TNC 94.301 to TD/TNC 94.319. Show less