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Australian Mobility Report Cards: Which Universities Admit the Most Disadvantaged Students?
Author(s) -
Leigh Andrew
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
australian economic review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.308
H-Index - 29
eISSN - 1467-8462
pISSN - 0004-9018
DOI - 10.1111/1467-8462.12430
Subject(s) - disadvantaged , disadvantage , neighbourhood (mathematics) , proxy (statistics) , higher education , social mobility , sociology , public relations , political science , demographic economics , economic growth , social science , economics , computer science , mathematical analysis , mathematics , machine learning , law
Tertiary education has a vital role to play in fostering social mobility. To assess the extent to which Australian universities enrol disadvantaged students, I use two measures of disadvantage: neighbourhood characteristics and individual characteristics, and compare higher education institutions. Neighbourhood metrics appear to be a poor proxy for individual disadvantage. Yet even so, some institutions stand out as more effective pathways for disadvantaged students. I conclude with some recommendations for improving data quality, education policy and evaluation in order to make Australian universities more effective engines of social mobility .