Equity
Our focus on equity moves beyond equality by asking what actions or changes would be necessary to enable everyone to be recognised and valued through education across the life course.
We are interested in how this can be delivered through diverse educational routes which are for the good of society and the individual. An equity approach recognises the complexity of individual learners and their contexts, taking account of varying and intersecting biological, social, psychological and cultural influences. This includes the significance of race, ethnicity, religion, class, gender, sexuality, disability, age and location and the structural features of institutions and systems that influence learners’ experiences, prospects and outcomes. Such an approach questions the concept and reality of a meritocratic society.
Higher education futures
We see education and individual biographies as a set of diverse but integrated lifelong experiences. This contrasts with the idea of higher education as a singular, linear engine of social mobility within a fixed system, which requires change from individuals rather than systems and institutions. This requires us to envisage, shape and create education policy, systems, institutions and practice to meet these diverse needs.
Policy, institutions and practice are not fixed and inevitable but constantly becoming. We explore critical and speculative ideas of systems, policy and practice along with evidence-based policy making to (re)imagine, propose and (re)design future education systems and institutions. Futures thinking is not about prediction but embracing complexity, pragmatism, history, context and radical ideas with a plurality of potential futures.
To meet the challenges of the future, many of which are unknown, we need to work with many constituent parties to understand and co-design education systems and institutions for all.
Higher education policy into practice
The imperative for education policy and practice is not to treat every learner or group in the same way, but to enable diverse citizens and communities to flourish and enable a range of positive quality education pathways across the life course.
We draw upon a variety of empirical evidence, theory and practice to understand the interaction between individuals, contexts, institutions and systems, and how these influence access to, experiences in, pathways through and outcomes from education. The deployment of these insights through research, two-way communication and impact engages with the contexts for learning, understanding and addressing structural as well as individual factors to value different pathways and outcomes. Such system thinking is broad and far reaching, looking at, social, economic and education policy, as well as science and innovation, sustainability, public institutions, the economy, industry, innovation and infrastructure and regional, national and international communities.