| Summary: | This chapter explores the use of enabling programs by Australian universities to improve participation and success for students historically underrepresented in the nation’s higher education system. It draws on empirical evidence from
a national research project designed to undertake a review of current enabling programs offered by Australian higher education providers and to examine the effectiveness of these programs in increasing access to, participation in, and subsequent
success in undergraduate courses for domestic students from disadvantaged groups.
This chapter firstly outlines the rationale for providing enabling programs, their history of use in Australia against the wider context of higher education disadvantage,
and a review of previous research. Secondly, it provides a typology of enabling
programs in Australia detailing: their design and composition; how they are delivered; their prevalence throughout the sector; how they articulate to tertiary degrees;
the types of students targeted; and numbers of students using them. Specific attention
is on the representation of disadvantaged students throughout. Thirdly, the chapter
provides a statistical analysis of the efficacy of these programs, as defined by retention and success. The fourth section details the findings of a national survey of 980
students who transitioned to higher education studies via an enabling program. This
survey explores student perceptions, their experience of the program and their
reflections on the extent to which it did or did not prepare them for tertiary studies.
Finally, concluding comments are made and suggestions to improve the ongoing
tertiary success of disadvantaged students are proposed.
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