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Notions of Widening Participation to Higher Education are characterised by perceptions of an inherent "goodness" for (Western) democracy. This is based around a premise that predicates social justice upon access to education to ensure sufficient preparation for successful participation in the Knowledge Economy. This correlation between social justice, Higher Education and the Knowledge Economy can be identified as part of the neoliberal ideology that has underpinned political, economic and subsequent educational policies and practices with a rigorous promotion of the Free Market. This thesis examines Widening Participation as a mechanism through which neoliberal ideology has enabled the development of a market model of Higher Education. To understand this, a range of conceptual apparatus is utilised to reframe the common perceptions of what Widening Participation is and what purpose it has, by establishing Widening Participation as a critical part of the discourse relating to the commodification of Higher Education. The proposition of neoliberal Widening Participation is examined through the lens of Commodity Fetishisation (Marx), Educational Fundamentalism (Alvesson) and Stultification (Rancière). Together, these theories form a framework to understand the narratives surrounding the conceptualisation of Widening Participation within neoliberal ideology. These narratives are argued here to have cultivated expectations for a consumerist student population through the transformation of the perceived benefits of a traditional Higher Education into reified concepts of pedagogical practice. As such, Widening Participation is positioned here as a way in which the saturation of Higher Education was justified as social justice. This Widening Participation positions learners and teachers within a Higher Education that is part of a Debt Economy expressed as a Knowledge Economy. The result is a role for neoliberal Widening Participation in propagating pedagogical myths that Rancière describes as suppressing Intellectual Emancipation even when appearing to be facilitating it.

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This research will be of interest to global higher education policy makers, researchers and practitioners engaged in student retention, widening access and managing strategic interventions to deliver step improvements in performance. Widening access policies continue to have contemporary relevance. Effectively and efficiently reducing student non-continuation rates, without compromising widening access performance, remains a challenge for many HEIs. A new system level Management Model for Improving Student Retention Performance and its supporting performance framework is derived from empirical data gathered from a longitudinal instrumental case study and informed by the literature. They have specific validity for HEIs with strong widening access performances and general applicability to others. The dominant theoretical model informing the research is Tinto's longitudinal model of institutional departure (Tinto, 1993). The Management Model for Improving Student Retention Performance is presented around three primary categories: students, faculty and institution. Each interacts with each other and operates within individual and mutually inclusive environmental systems. There is also a supporting Improving Student Retention KPI Framework and Improving Student Retention Performance Monitoring Information System to provide the mechanisms and tools that influence the effective and efficient application of the model to deliver a step improvement in student retention. Evidence of considerable improvements [50%] in student retention performances1 for widening access students is evidenced by the case institution which is not shared by comparable HEIs in Wales. Two new performance indicators are also derived: the Specific Widening Participation Indicator (SWPi) and the Multiple Widening Participation Index (MWPi). These support a new paradigm for understanding widening access and student non- continuation performances and challenge the algorithm used to calculate institution non-continuation benchmarks. They are included in the new performance framework and inform the third primary research contribution which exposes the significant discrepancies between the funding allocations made by HEFCW, the demands on HEIs relating to widening participation policy and the extent of their MWPi>0 and retention performances. Incongruence between HEFCW funding methodology and Welsh policy is evidenced.

Partnerships between Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and Further Education Colleges (FECs) were a specific recommendation of the 1997 Dearing Review and a major component of New Labour's 'Third Way'. Between 1997 - 2010 one of the key policy drivers was to widen participation in higher education with a target of 50% participation of 18 - 30 year olds by 2010. Funded partnerships were seen as the mechanism to achieve this target. Arguably partnerships between higher education (HE) and further education (FE) were not new. Many of the so-called 'post-92' universities which had previously been polytechnics had achieved growth through partnerships with FECs and considered themselves, perhaps, to be leading the way in widening participation. Among a plethora of policy initiatives, the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) embarked on its own innovative partnership scheme, Lifelong Learning Networks. Drawing heavily from examples in North America, these were conceived as a way of achieving planned progression into higher education for students with vocational qualifications at level three. The response from the higher education sector to the initiative was equivocal at best and the results uneven. This study draws from Bourdieu's early anthropological studies and combines aspects of these with his study of the fields of the arts and higher education to propose a new reading of the policy response and practice of widening participation in higher education through partnerships.

This nested multi-site case study uses data from interviews with thirty underrepresented students to explore how these students experience elite universities. Although greater numbers of underrepresented students are enrolling in university than ever before, those from non-traditional backgrounds are largely excluded from elite universities. Elite universities in the United States, England, and Scotland are all striving for increasingly higher levels of excellence, status, and funding to raise and maintain their global positions as university rankings continue to affect student choice and perception of value. The expansion of higher education during the past several decades has fostered discussions pertaining to the social characteristics of the student body, and whether enough is being done to include individuals traditionally excluded from higher education. Simply developing widening participation initiatives, however, does not eliminate inequality in the university system. This thesis considers discussions relating to higher education expansion, development of widening participation policy, costs associated with higher education, and the social characteristics and constructions of the underrepresented student in the three nations. The four key findings resulting from the student interviews are organised into the three themes of economic, social, and cultural capital. The first finding was that the students who lacked accessible economic capital were unable to participate in social events. The inability to participate produced feelings of exclusion. The second key finding was that students who were most debt averse reported the least amount of debt. This debt aversion meant some students worked nearly full-time or strictly managed their income. The third key finding was that students who were able to minimise their social and cultural differences, such as changing their accent, were more likely to report feelings of belonging. The fourth key finding was that, although the widening participation policy agenda focuses predominately on economic disadvantage and access, very little attention is given to elite universities’ habitus, which perpetuate privilege and complicate feelings of belonging. One of the most pronounced areas for further research that has come out of this study is whether the fear of stigmatisation in identifying widening participation students outweighs the potential benefits in acknowledging and creating a community for those students. Ultimately, the hope of this study is that, by understanding the experiences of such students who gain access to an elite university, we can learn from their experiences and how, moving forward, not only help a greater number of underrepresented students to attend these elite universities, but also support those students throughout their university years.

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yes / Studies of graduate destinations generally report positive outcomes for working-class graduates, particularly professionally validated programmes such as pharmacy or social work, which offer specific career pathways. However, I know of working-class graduates with good degrees from good institutions who are in relatively menial positions in the leisure and retail sector. It is as if such students are unable to move beyond working-class jobs and embrace the middle-class careers that a degree should unlock. / This section of the article 'Can I succeed as a working-class academic?' is reproduced here in line with the publisher's copyright restrictions.

Yes / Plagiarism is a vexed issue for Higher Education, affecting student transition, retention and attainment. This paper reports on two initiatives from the University of Bradford library aimed at reducing student plagiarism. The first initiative is an intensive course for students who have contravened plagiarism regulations. The second course introduces new students to the concepts surrounding plagiarism with the aim to prevent plagiarism breaches. Since the Plagiarism Avoidance for New Students course was introduced there has been a significant drop in students referred to the disciplinary programme. This paper discusses the background to both courses and the challenges of implementation.

The dissertation deals with application of simulated swept paths of vehicles to road designs. Using software which generates simulated swept paths makes new demands on the designer, but Czech regulations do not stipulate the appropriate method of applying swept paths. The theoretical part of the dissertation analyses the theory of how a vehicle moves when passing through a horizontal road curve and a method of calculating a necessary extent of widening the road. The practical part compares swept paths generated by various software programs and differences between them. In order to verify the shapes and dimensions of the swept paths generated, the swept path of a real vehicle was measured. This swept path was then compared with the one generated, and the differences between them were evaluated. One of the software programs was chosen as a reference program, and its output was applied to a road design pursuant to valid regulations. The results obtained within the dissertation were used to develop certified methodology titled: „Methodology of widening road lanes in horizontal curves and of application of vehicles’ swept paths “.