Abstract
Despite numerous equity initiatives aimed at increasing participation in higher education, students from regional and remote communities continue to be underrepresented in Australia. This paper presents a scoping review of empirical studies, published between 1991 and 2016, that examined aspirations for higher education of students from regional and remote areas. Analysis of the 65 articles revealed an emphasis on enablers and barriers to participation in higher education including: cost and distance, supportive environments, attachment to home, schooling and academic achievement, knowledge of pathways, and individual characteristics. However, much of the research offers a homogeneous view of regional and remote communities which elides location-specific characteristics that are powerful in shaping educational aspirations. We argue that there is a critical need for greater understanding of the diversity of experiences, influences, and aspirations among students within rural and remote communities to underpin the provision of appropriate infrastructure and support for their higher education aspirations. We identify some key avenues for further research into the aspirations of students in rural and remote communities and the ways in which this research can inform and improve outreach activities.
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Acknowledgements
Data for this analysis came from a Linkage Project funded by the Australian Research Council and the New South Wales Department of Education under Grant LP12100013. The study reported in this paper was funded by the Commonwealth’s Higher Education Participation and Partnerships Programme within the National Priorities Pool scheme and supported by the Teachers and Teaching Research Centre and Centre of Excellence for Equity in Higher Education at the University of Newcastle, Australia. The authors wish to acknowledge the support provided in the preparation of this manuscript by Le Hoang Le, Mikahlia Holmes, and Jodie Ryan.
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Fray, L., Gore, J., Harris, J. et al. Key influences on aspirations for higher education of Australian school students in regional and remote locations: a scoping review of empirical research, 1991–2016. Aust. Educ. Res. 47, 61–93 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13384-019-00332-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13384-019-00332-4