A persistent issue in Australia, and globally, is how to improve participation rates in higher education for students from regional and rural areas. In this paper, we tackle this challenge by exploring the idea of a Community Embedded University (CEU). We draw on empirical data from three participatory co-design workshops with university students…

This paper reports on Indigenous early career researchers' experiences of mentoring in Australian higher education, with data drawn from a longitudinal qualitative study. Interviews were conducted with 30 Indigenous participants. A consistent theme in the findings and contemporary critical literature has been a reaction against institutionalised…

Current social and political arrangements of higher education are inequitable for students from asylum-seeking backgrounds. In many countries, their access to university is limited and if they are accepted, their status as forced migrants puts them at multiple disadvantages. This inequity is in contrast with the universal aim of higher education…

This article focuses on rural Australian students' decisions to pursue higher education, and compares metropolitan and rural higher education statistics, using select qualitative narratives to highlight rural subjectivities. By analysing school students' belonging process, this article begins to uncover the depth of the perceived influence of the…

It has long been recognised that a key element in improving student transition, retention and success in higher education is cross-institutional consistency and unity of action among disparate academic, policy and support units. However, transferring this principle into practice often requires overcoming departmental silos, negotiating shared…

Developing student employability is a key strategy within institutions of higher education, particularly for students in creative industries where labour market supply has outpaced employer demand. Existing literature shows that activities that promote communities of practice offer clear employability benefits for students. However, such…

Realising the full potential for educational technologies to improve the student experience is a challenge for higher education institutions. Although academic resistance is often blamed for poor dissemination of teaching technologies, recent literature has more satisfactorily framed the issue in terms of intransigent organisational culture.…

This paper explores the notion of rurality in Australian tertiary education as part of an investigation into the subtle but distinct differences in participation thinking and patterns among young people in regional, rural and remote communities. Drawing on qualitative data gathered as part of a wider research project for the National Centre for…

This paper engages with challenges of localism, collaboration and reflexivity in thinking about the conceptualisation and development of partnership learning communities between higher education and criminal justice institutions. Grounded in experiences of partnership working in the UK and Australia, our arguments are twofold: First, drawing on…

While higher education (HE) is entrenched as a context for scholarly inquiry in Australian universities, there remains contest about it as a research field. Unlike other forms of 'Education', in Australia there is no undergraduate programme inducting students into HE's key questions, scholars, and inquiry modes. For new doctoral students, learning…

Career studies literature suggests that careers become more boundaryless and more global. Students, the agents of the choice of career, are not a homogeneous cohort anymore. We add to the discussion the students' typology proposition for the career choice to further develop the graduate employability discourse. We make the first attempt to develop…

The capabilities students need for success during and beyond higher education extend far beyond specific discipline skills to include the development of productive mindsets, the management of life circumstances and the way they relate to others and identify with their profession. The provision of support for these capabilities at university can be…

Mentoring and coaching are primarily intended to develop "mentees," net of any benefits for mentors. This paper details the construction of a mentor-coaching model to develop leadership capability in Higher Education Academy Fellowship program mentors at an Australian university. We elaborate developmental benefits for mentors of an…

Australian higher education participation continues to expand, yet in unequal ways. Regional, rural, and remote (RRR) student participation is stubbornly stalled, despite sustained research and policy initiatives to support these cohorts. To address this complex issue, we interviewed 10 RRR principals in Queensland and Victoria to explore specific…

Pathways to higher education can appear opaque and unattainable to rural adults, despite the affordances provided by modern broadband and increasing provision of university online learning options. This paper describes an innovative partnership model that connects rural adults to university and technical and further education pathways through…