Factors Influencing Participation and Migration of Regional Higher Education Students
Students of regional origin in Australia continue to experience inferior educational outcomes to the rest of the population and are under-represented in higher education. This under-representation persists despite the introduction of demand driven funding and increased investment in equity programs such as the Higher Education Participation and Partnerships Program and Regional Loading.
Associate Professor Buly Cardak from La Trobe University has been awarded funding by the National Centre for Student Equity in Higher Education (NCSEHE) to improve understanding of the factors affecting regional student university participation and completion.
“Enrolments of students from regional backgrounds and at regional campuses have increased over recent years, but their participation rate and participation ratio is declining,” Associate Professor Cardak said.
“These patterns of participation and completion have long-term consequences for the social and economic development of regional Australia.”
Working with La Trobe colleagues, Mr Matt Brett and Dr Mark Bowden, Associate Professor Cardak’s project will leverage existing work by Cardak and Ryan (2009) and Cardak and Vecci (forthcoming) addressing the question of the role of the costs of higher education and credit constraints in university attendance and graduation/dropout decisions of Australian students using Longitudinal Survey of Australian Youth (LSAY) data.
The project team’s research will make an important contribution to the regional student knowledge base.
Associate Professor Cardak’s project is one of 10 funded via the NCSEHE’s 2016 Student Equity in Higher Education Research Grants Program. The project is scheduled to conclude in late 2016, after which time the final report will be made available here on the NCSEHE website.