Attitudes and Mindsets

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• Attitudes and Mindsets
• HEIs Opportunity to Combat Social Exclusion
• Michael Cooper
• European Access Network

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• Two views regarding widening access to HE

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• Two views regarding widening access to HE
• - Access has a positive effect on quality

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• Two views regarding widening access to HE
• - Access has a positive effect on quality
• - Access has a negative effect on quality

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• What do we mean by access?

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• What do we mean by access?
• - Providing an opportunity for all groups to
  complete appropriate and relevant higher
  education

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• Why access?
• Three arguments
• - Intellectual diversity of ideas
• - Moral - the idea of an egalitarian society
• - Pragmatic good for business

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• What do we mean by quality?

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• What do we mean by quality?
• - Quality is always relative to something.
• Students, staff, curricula, institutions are
• always measured against a norm.
• Thus quality involves standards, either
• perceived or imagined. Sometimes it is
• simply in the eye of the beholder.

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• Why do some claim that access and quality
• are incompatible?

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• Why do some claim that access and quality
• are incompatible?
• - Access means alterative admission requirements,
  lower standards, more academic support, longer
  study periods

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• Result
• - Perception of an erosion of quality
• - Reputation suffers
• - Ranking level drops
• - Institution attracts fewer students
• - Institution loses income

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• Is this true?

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• Is this true?
• - Quality becomes ranking
• - Reputation becomes a stand-in for excellence
• - The ranking system becomes the standard

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• Two false assumptions
• - There is no distinction between entry quality
  and exit quality
• - One ranking system fits all.

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• What then is needed to change this?

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• What then is needed to change this?
• - Primarily a shift in the attitudes and
• mindsets of academics, politicians, the
• community and the market

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• What then is needed to change this?
• - Primarily a shift in the attitudes and
• mindsets of academics, politicians, the
• community and the market
• - Resources

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• HEIs need to
• - Develop and maintain a proactive approach to
  the community

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• HEIs need to
• - Develop and maintain a proactive approach to
  the community
• - Change the culture of the campus and
  institution

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• HEIs need to
• - Develop and maintain a proactive approach to
  the community
• - Change the culture of the campus and
  institution
• - Provide academic and social services adapted
  to the needs of the students

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• HEIs need to
• - Develop and maintain a proactive approach to
  the community
• - Change the culture of the campus and
  institution
• - Provide academic and social services adapted
  to the needs of the students
• - Provide students with the guidance needed to
  access the labour market

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• In other words, we need to change the
• mission of the institution to incorporate a
• social dimension in everything it does in
• recruitment, teaching, student support,
• research, cooperation with the community,
• career guidance etc.

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• For further information
• www.edu-ean.org
• Michael.Cooper_at_telia.com

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• Thank you