Academic Staff Identity in Widening Participation Programs

Academic Staff Identity in Widening Participation Programs

Enabling educators work in sub-bachelor university preparation programs that form part of the Australian response to equity through widening participation for students from groups historically underrepresented in university demographics. Little is known about the experiences and academic identities of enabling educators and, against the backdrop of neoliberal changes in higher education, this lack of research is both problematic and at odds with the growing body of research examining academic identities more broadly. There is, however, a growing interest in research that draws on enabling educators’ own voices and experiences to examine their academic identities. The chapter reviews current research, including the findings of a recent phenomenographic study of variations in enabling academic identity to explore concepts of enabling educators’ academic identity. The review generates a broad description of enabling educators as diverse and marginalized academics, who, as student-focused educators, facilitate student development of academic and non-academic capabilities, improving equity in university participation. Despite these academics’ positive impact on equity, factors inherent in equity programs negatively impact perceptions of enabling educators’ academic identity and productivity, marginalizing these academics and devaluing their contributions to both equity and pedagogy in higher education. This potential for marginalization calls for better acknowledgement of enabling educators’ academic status and work, in particular, consideration of their workload, recognition of the student-centered concepts of pedagogy and curriculum being developed within enabling education, and support for enabling research.

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