1. Equity and Participation in Higher Education Comments from New Zealand Rob McIntosh Deputy Secretary Ministry of Education December 2008

2. Nature of the equity issues  Socio-economic (qualification for university in our lowest SES schools is one third of that in our highest)  Ethnic (Progression of Maori school leavers to degree level study is less than 40% of the rate for the population as a whole)  Gender (Some gaps but not the significant area of focus)

3. Causes?  Family background (not income per se but parental education, expectations etc)  Peer effects  Primary focus needs to be on school attainment … our evidence is that students achieving at the end of school are equally likely to participate in higher education, regardless of background.  However university completion rates for particular student groups are still lower – suggests factors at university important as well

4. What to do?  School engagement and achievement critical (nature of teaching and learning, information on pathways, senior school qualifications).  Social marketing campaigns targeted at expectations and aspirations  University/school links targeted at integrated learning pathways  Creating the right environment in university to support retention and completion