Partners in Participation: integrated approaches to widening access in higher education

Like social inclusion, 'partnership' became part of the preferred policy jargon in the 1990s, both in EU and in national policy arenas. Whilst it could be argued that the usage of such terms reflects a consensus on social and political issues that so far does not exist, the popularity of 'partnership'-based models of social intervention does tend to reflect more recent developments in the ways in which social issues have been tackled. Both in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, new forms of partnership have been put in place which have paved the way for different understandings of policy development and political decisionmaking. This emergence of partnership approaches at local, regional and EU level created 'new sets of relationships between elected representatives, officials, trade unions, employers and the community and voluntary sector' (National Economic and Social Forum, 1997) which bear witness to a change in the control and administration of policy initiatives, potentially moving from a top-down to a more decentralised approach. According to Skilbeck (2001), the challenge of the partnership approach to higher education is 'clear', and while this can also be debated, given the sector's historical autonomy and the differential impact of policy on HE institutions, a challenge can be witnessed in the widening participation policy agenda. At both a national and institutional level, in terms of the broad field of access provision, an increasing emphasis has been placed on 'getting out' to potential students in order to widen participation. As the most recent set of initiatives in this area, outreach programmes embody a different set of agendas compared to more 'traditional' initiatives such as Summer schools and one-year Access courses for adults. Importance is placed on facilitating the ability of the institution to 'fit' into the needs of the wider society, rather than the other way round. Whether in relation to schools, communities or employers, such programmes tend to be more pro-active in their efforts to widen participation. For instance, work-based access initiatives are viewed as an effective means of providing entry routes to sections of the population unable to take advantage of higher education and involving the linking of academic credit to student/employer-negotiated projects. Creating new demand is a key aspect of these kinds of efforts to widen participation, as their focus is on encouraging those who would not otherwise consider HE an option for them. As a result, they particularly target people from social classes IIIM-V, social groups at the centre of both Scottish and Irish government