News
Paper announcement: 鈥淭he Role of Higher Education Institutions and Faculty Members in Higher Education Outreach in India鈥�
Drawing on the findings from the first FCF funded project 鈥淎 fair chance for Education鈥� ( ) and the further research being undertaken currently via the second FCF funded project 鈥淲idening Access to Higher Education in
India鈥� ( ) , members of the current WAHEI project team have published a paper which delves into aspects of higher education outreach activities in rural and semi-rural areas of India.
Higher education (HE) in India is currently in the massification stage, which means that many young people from families and communities that have historically not completed schooling are now considering applying for HE. Although enrolment rates have increased, there are still social disparities in HE access, and there are also social variations in the choice of courses and institutions. It is crucial to consider HE choice in addition to HE access because many inequalities are known to occur during the choice phase.
鈥淭he Role of Higher Education Institutions and Faculty Members in Higher Education Outreach in India鈥� highlights the crucial role of rural-serving state universities and government colleges as knowledge hubs for spreading information about higher education to rural communities. It argues that faculty members within higher education institutions are vital sources of college knowledge in rural and semi-urban areas, but their potential is currently underutilised in these settings. Emerging evidence internationally and at the national level indicates that contact with faculty members is valuable for students from disadvantaged groups, both in the early stages of accessing HE and during the transition into it.
This paper discusses various global outreach policies aimed at enhancing educational participation among marginalised groups and provides significant examples of institutional strategies with the involvement of faculty members in HE outreach. The authors argue for the need to understand how institutional support structures, institutional culture, and policy frameworks impact HE outreach and faculty participation. The paper thus contributes to the discussion on the landscape of HE outreach policy and the adoption of a socially just and gender-sensitive framework to shape the future of HE outreach initiatives in India.
The paper is published in the Centre for Policy Research in Higher Education鈥檚 (CPRHE) research paper series and can be accessed at:
