1. Maynooth University Access Programmes
Grace Edge
5th September 2017

2. HE Participation & Socio-economic Background
Estimated participation in Higher Education by Socio-economic Group (18-20 year olds)
Employers and managers
0.64
Higher professional
1.19
Lower professional
0.48
Non-manual
0.23
Manual skilled
0.51
Semi-skilled, Unskilled Manual, Agricultural Workers
0.26
Own account workers
1.46
Farmer
1.66
Total participation
0.52
“As a society we can acknowledge and celebrate the enormous strides in broadening access to higher education….but an uncomfortable and sobering fact is that deep reservoirs of educational disadvantage, mirroring in large part economic disadvantage, are also part of the Irish higher education story.”

3. HE Participation & Disability
Students with disabilities make up 6% of all new entrants to higher education
43% of people with disabilities have not progressed beyond primary education (this compares to 19% of all adults).
Over one third of young adults (25 to 29 years) with a disability left school before completing second level compared to one in six of young adults with no disability.
People with disabilities are more likely to experience poverty
ESRI 2011
People with Disabilities are more likely to experience poverty 2 :
Families where the head of the household was not at work due to illness or disability had the lowest average annual disposable income in This was €23,900 compared to €56,537 for those at work. Disabled people are twice as likely to live below the poverty line as the rest of the population.
Disabled people experience high levels of consistent poverty (13% compared to 2% of those at work). This means that they have a low income and have difficulty with basic provision such as a meal with meat or fish every second day or the ability to have adequate heating.
Additional costs of disability have been estimated to be a third of average weekly income3 .

4. Participation & Geography
First time undergraduate new entrants aged in the 2011/12 academic year

5. Maynooth University Access Programmes
Outreach
Pathways
HE Transition
Post Entry Support
National & Local Policy
Our vision is to develop a student body in Maynooth that reflects the diversity of Irish society.
We work to improve access to higher education for:
- Student from under-represented socio-economic groups
- Students with disabilities
- Mature students
- Travellers
Maynooth is unique as access has been part of the fabric of the university since its establishment in 1997.

6. How are we doing?
SWD increase from 80 to over 700, HEAR students account or almost one in every 10 new entrants. Mature students account for

7. Students with disabilities at MU
Very complex student profile, 60 students on autistic spectrum, students with MH form large part of the overall body – this is only a fraction of students with on campus. EAS identified that 15% of al new entrants indicate that they have a disability.

8. Maynooth University Student Supports
CAMPUS LIFE
MAP AMBASSADORS
Many supports developed in Access Office have been mainstream and many of these are pioneering flagship programmes, MSC, SBA, Student Central, MAP Academic Advisors. These link and are interlinked with other innovative supports on campus, LIST, Writing Centre, Programme Advisory.
Maynooth University has pioneered inclusive transition and post entry supports
LANGUAGE CENTRE
CRITICAL SKILLS
PROGRAMME ADVISORY
ACADEMIC ADVISORY

9. Benefits of Diversity in MU
The diversity of our student body contributes to our intellectual outlook and the richness of our teaching and learning environment
Institutional policies fostering campus diversity have positive effects on students' critical thinking, cognitive development, satisfaction levels and leadership abilities
Maynooth University has the 2nd lowest non-presence rate among the 7 universities
Academic attainment is at least comparable to the overall student cohort
1. Nemeth, Charlan Jeanne. "Dissent as Driving Cognition, Attitudes, and Judgments." Social
Cognition 13 (1995): &
Astin, Alexander W. "Diversity and multiculturalism on the campus: How are students affected?." Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning 25.2 (1993):
2. HEA report 2017
3. Registry Quality Review 2015

10. How can you support increased HE access?
No one size fits all
Whole school approach
Expectations
Relatable role models
Information (early and frequent)
Parents / guardian’s
Creating a culture of DARE and HEAR
Introducing DARE & HEAR as far back as you can go..
Middle-class young people tend to be more reliant on their parents as a source of information re progressing while working-class students and immigrant groups were more reliant on school-based forms of guidance

11. Questions?