This paper examines topics of equity and access to post-secondary education through exploration of barriers and other dimensions that serve to identify underrepresented groups in BC post-secondary education. The key purpose of the research project is to assess the policies and practices at the BC Transfer System institutions for admitting underrepresented (equity) groups of students, as well as to summarize the data sources available on the underrepresented groups. A review of the (largely Canadian) literature of the last 20-25 years explores the causes and correlates that restrict equity of access to post-secondary education. The literature review clearly reveals aspects and correlates of each groups' participation; and that barriers and participation are rarely singular, but often contextual and conditioned (e.g., ethnic or gender underrepresentation is specific to certain program areas or types of institution). The literature review identifies the magnitudes of participation overall, and in relation to each of the underrepresented groups. This paper also contains an analysis of policies and practices, which forms the main focus of the paper. This analysis initially involved scanning websites and other digital documentation for the thirty-eight institutions of the BC Transfer System, as well as provincial government webpages and other online material. Lastly, the authors illuminate the availability of data sources that support current and future research on underrepresented groups. These include the many past and current Statistics Canada sources including the Census, and other data sets and surveys available through CANSIM, such as PSIS, NGS and the LFS.