Introduction
This chapter explores the contribution of leadership to a whole institution approach (WIA) to WP and student success using empirical evidence from two research studies involving 21 HEPs in the UK. This chapter is based on two key principles. First, increasing student diversity and ensuring that these students are successful in HE and beyond, which equates to a high quality learning experience; and second, ensuring the success of all students, including those from diverse and under-served groups, which requires a WIA. This chapter is structured as follows: an overview of the UK HE context and the relationship between widening access, student success and academic quality; summary details about the two empirical studies; consideration of a WIA and why it is necessary; the introduction of the theoretical framework; a discussion of the evidence about the role of leadership drawing on the framework and the empirical evidence; and concluding points about the practice of leadership for institutional change to promote diversity and success.
The UK Context
The UK has had a longstanding and comparatively successful approach to expanding participation in HE by students from groups who have been traditionally underrepresented. Each of the four nationsâEngland, Scotland, Wales and Northern Irelandâhas over the past 20 years used policies and institutional funding as levers to encourage, incentivise and require HEPs to âwiden accessâ. This focus on entry quickly extended to embrace the retention, completion and longer-term success of these students, with a strong current emphasis on employment outcomes, all of which can be viewed as indicators of the quality of a higher education system. For example, in England the National Strategy makes explicit the lifecycle approach to WP, and all institutions that charge fees above a minimum threshold are required to allocate a proportion of additional fee income to widening access, student retention and success and progression into employment or further study. Annual Access Agreements set out each institutionâs commitments (including spending) and outcome targets, and these must be approved by the Director of Fair Access and subsequently published; progress is monitored annually.
The UK HE System
Higher education in the UK is a responsibility controlled at the level of each of the four nations: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
In England alone there are more than 100 universities, and approximately 350 HEPs in receipt of public sector funding. This is in addition to more than 600 private providers, most of which are comparatively small. In 2012â13 there were 2,340,275 HE students at HE institutions, plus 186,455 HE students at further education colleges in England. The majority of students in the UK are registered for full-time study (79%); and 67% are under 21 when they commence HE study. The young participation rate in England is 38% and in Scotland it is 45%. Participation rates however vary between groups, and in England 51% of young people in the most advantaged quintile participate in HE, while only 20% participate from the most disadvantaged quintile. 43% of students are male, but there are significant differences between subjects. 71% of students identify themselves as âwhiteâ (compared to other ethnic categories) and 82% have no known disability. The student population has been increasing since the system expanded in the early 1990s, and while this has slowed it has not stopped, despite the introduction of student tuition fees (2006) and significantly increased fees (2012/13). The population of part-time students declined significantly in 2012/13 however, and has not yet recovered, but overall student numbers remain intact at the system level. From 2015/16 the recruitment caps were lifted in England, enabling institutions to recruit as many students as they choose, thus reducing some of the challenges for widening participation; while in Scotland student numbers are fixed, with additional places allocated for widening access students from specific areas of disadvantage based on their home postcode (address). In England the non-continuation rate from first to second year of study for young students is around 7% and around 13% for mature students, and the overall completion rate for the sector is 82%.
Diversity and Quality: The Teaching Excellence Framework
Over the past two decades the UK HE system has not only expanded its student numbers and diversity, it has also maintained many of its indicators of quality, including selective admission to HE and high rates of completion. In 2017 the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) was introduced as a method of assessing the quality of learning and teaching, making both the outcomes and the evidence publicly available; although this was not its primary purpose, the TEF demonstrates the UKâs commitment to diversity and quality.
The TEF assesses HEPs in three broad areas: teaching quality, learning environment plus student outcomes and learning gain. Teaching quality takes into account: contact, stimulation, challenge, student engagement; course design, assessment and feedback; developing studentsâ knowledge, skills and understanding; and recognition and reward of excellent teaching. Learning environment includes: libraries, laboratories and studios; work experience, peer interaction and extra-curricular activities; support for learning and independent study; a personalised academic experience to maximise retention, progression and attainment; and links between teaching and learning, and scholarship , research or professional practice. Student outcomes and learning gain looks for positive outcomes such as lifelong learning skills and contribution to society, economy and the environment; progression to further study; and knowledge, skills and attributes to compete for graduate level jobs.
The TEF utilises common metrics available for all providers and combines this with a narrative prepared by each HEP; the first three standardised metrics are derived from the National Student Survey (an annual survey of final year undergraduate studentsâ satisfaction that all HEPs participate in), and relate to teaching on the course, assessment and feedback and academic support. The other metrics are non-continuation data provided by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) based on institutionsâ annual returns, and two employment outcomesâin employment or further study and in highly skilled (graduate) employment or further studyâfrom the Destination of Leavers of HE, a survey conducted with graduates six months after completion. The TEF is concerned with these metrics overall, but also in relation to students from non-traditional and disadvantaged groups, and data are provided in relation to specific groups (socio-economically) disadvantaged, disabled, BME and mature students. Contextual data are also supplied about each provider, such as entry tariffs (the proportion of students entering with low, medium and high entry qualifications), numbers and proportions of students from each of the specific groups named above and additional information, such as the number of local students (based on travel to work areas). The holistic assessment takes into account the differential outcomes as well as the overall outcomes, and indeed the TEF panel includes WP and diversity experts. This all implies that an excellent experience and outcome for all studentsâincluding those from diverse and non-traditional backgroundsâcontributes to overall assessment of excellence within HE in the UK. This is reflected in the comment from the Director of Fair Access to Higher Education:
I welcome the publication of these results. I have always argued that, designed well, the TEF had the potential to improve outcomes for all students. So I am pleased that the metrics have taken studentsâ backgrounds into account, as this will help universities and colleges see where progress is being made for students from disadvantaged backgrounds, and where there are still unexplained gaps in attainment between the most and least advantaged. I look forward to continuing to work with those across the sector to ensure that teaching excellence means excellence for students from all backgrounds. (OFFA 2017)
Empirical Evidence
This chapter is informed by two studies (each led by author): one focusing on improving student retention and success in HE which concluded that a WIA is required, and the second which was commissioned to better understand a WIA to WP (including student success). These are briefly described now.
Study 1: What Works? Student Retention and Success
In 2008 the What Works? Student Retention and Success Programme (WW?1) was launched by the Higher Education Funding Council for Eng...