A presentation from the HEA's Research Conference: Promoting Equity in Higher Education 2010.
This paper takes as its focus the contradictory discourse of widening participation and shows how definitions of WP are not only contested in public policy and by social theorists but also by practitioners. In the light of these debates it would seem unsurprising if staff in HEIs hold contradictory views and that institutions send out contradictory messages. However while there is research into the diverse experiences of students little research has looked beyond the discursive framings of WP to how staff in institutions define and understand 'widening participation'.
The session will start by drawing on participants own definitions of and philosophical commitment to widening participation and how this influences their own practice. The authors will then report on an institutional case study exploring how academic and non-academic staff were making sense of their practice in the light of the multiple discourses within the field. We will conclude by discussing with participants how this lack of clarity and the contested language of widening participation may mean that WP practice will remain both the preserve of committed individuals and largely incapable of having a sustained impact on broader institutional cultures and discourse.
