In this paper, we explore the critical praxis approach of an equity initiative with students who have left care. We contend that 'praxis' ("International Studies in Widening Participation," 2018, 5: 10-20) -- understood here as the close, dialogic and iterative relationship between research and practice, can be a powerful tool for…

This critical interpretive paper deploys Walter Mignolo's geopolitics of knowledge concept to examine higher education internationalisation in Kazakhstan. Amidst growing concerns about economic and environmental sustainability, elitism and cognitive justice, among other critical issues, internationalisation remains a vital government policy. By…

Research on inequality in higher education (HE) is often dominated by class-based assumptions about traditional and non-traditional students. This binary distinction emphasising students' socio-economic status tends to oversimplify the complexity of educational inequality, neglecting crucial factors which affect the perception of social position.…

International student mobility contributes to a knowledge-based economy and forms an important component of a highly educated migration. This paper aims to identify how far political factors--including political discrimination, restrictions, freedom, UK migration policies and social cultural norms and policies--enhance or inhibit individuals'…

The unwillingness of the Somali community to finance higher education has largely gone unnoticed within the academic literature and government policy documents. This study explores the role of religion and the influence of Shari'ah scholars on the use of interest-bearing student loans within the Somali community. In the absence of any theoretical…

This paper presents and discusses the relationship between the generation of research income and the REF2021 results for universities who submitted a return to Unit of Assessment 23--Education. Research Excellence Framework exercises tend to be time intensive and come with income streams of Government Quality Research funding as well as…

Considering the rising tide of international student return mobility, the UK needs to pay attention to the long-term circulation and development of international student returnees. This study analyses the mobility, variations and pathways of the transnational in-between identity of Chinese student returnees from the UK, an under-researched group…

Creating and disseminating knowledge through research and teaching has long been regarded as the hallmark of the modern university. However, new university business models have called into question the 'bundling' of teaching and research, and sustained research on the relationship between teaching and research has found little evidence of an…

This paper considers queer feminist interruptions as a way to halt, reverse and rethink internationalisation in UK higher education (HE). These points of intervention are situated within the queer development studies literature, which provides a framework for understanding internationalisation practices alongside other strategies of Western…

Inclusion is seen as an ethical obligation, grounded in notions of equity and social justice for all groups and at all stages of education, with higher education (HE) representing a distinctive space where the inclusion agenda is becoming more influential. However, inclusion is also increasingly recognised as an ambiguous concept that might have…

Over the last decades, various policies at national and local levels have been implemented to widen participation in higher education (HE) in Scotland and more widely in the UK. Despite this, the acquisition of a HE qualification is still largely determined by the family in which individuals are born. Our study provides new evidence on the extent…

Globally, access to higher education has increased, but inequalities by socio-economic background remain. This article explores the relationship between early schooling opportunities (and learning) and progression into higher education in four low and middle-income countries. We analyse data from the Young Lives longitudinal study, following…

At a time when interventions in widening access to, and participation in, higher education aim to maximise impact by engaging with schools located in the most deprived communities, school pupils in rural communities, and who experience deprivation, are, in practice, less likely to benefit. Using statistics available from the Scottish government,…

The populist turn has produced contrasting conceptions of education. Research has suggested that individuals educated to university level are unlikely to support populist discourses. Meanwhile, populism is often understood as a social illness or disease that needs to be cured through education. This article argues that both populist and…

There is a strong rationale for people seeking asylum and refugees given temporary protection to be key beneficiaries of Australian higher education equity practices. However, despite the extreme precarity they face, this group remains among the most educationally disadvantaged populations in Australia. Here, we use critical discourse analysis to…