Date: Tuesday 20 March 2025, 1-2pm
Location: Huxley 139
Speaker: Beth Hocking (PhD Student at Imperial College London in the Centre for Higher Education Research and Scholarship (CHERS), supervised by Professor Camille Kandiko Howson and Dr Charlotte Kestner)
Talk Title: Measuring potential
Abstract: Patterns of participation in high tariff undergraduate higher education in England suggest difficulties in widening participation, particularly in STEM. Elite institutions, with high numbers of applicants per place, face the challenge of finding fair and practical approaches to selection. This involves the consideration of a range of philosophical, legal, strategic and cost issues.
Institutional and discipline-specific responses to this evolving challenge vary. Some favour ‘mechanised’ approaches to assessing potential and disadvantage, which prioritise admissions tests and widening participation flags. Both are cost effective and appear objective but hide complexity and interaction. Hence, over-reliance can result in distorted patterns of participation and affect course culture.
In this talk, Beth will discuss interim findings from her study about access to elite Mathematics higher education in England. Her qualitative study focuses on elite Mathematics potential, disadvantage and selection. Interviews with students, school teachers, lecturers and others have shed light on these issues and their impact on different social and gender groups. Findings are relevant to understanding current patterns of participation and reflecting on the role and influence of elite universities in the education system.