BrilleBristol Centre for Research in Education and Lifelong Learning

Constructing identities in new forms of higher education: student transitions in the context of ‘dual sector’ institutions

Ann-Marie Bathmaker, UWE Bristol

Seminar for the SRHE HE-FE network

13 May 2008SRHE, London

AcknowledgementsThis presentation is based on work contributing to an ESRC TLRP project entitled Universal access and dual regimes of further and higher education.The research team comprises:Diane Burns, Anne Thompson, Val Thompson, Cate Goodlad (University fieldwork research team)Andy Roberts; David Dale; Will Thomas; Liz Halford (Institution based researchers)Ann-Marie Bathmaker (BRILLE, UWE), Greg Brooks, Gareth Parry (University of Sheffield), David Smith (University of Leeds) (Project directors)Karen Kitchen (Project administrator)

Overview

The context: WP in HE and dual sector institutions

The FurtherHigher (FH) Project What is a dual sector institution? Identity work in the context of dual

sector HE institutions Concluding comments

The context for WP in HE and dual sector institutions

Policy imperative to widen participation in HE in context of ‘knowledge economy’

PSA target (towards 50% participation by 2010 by 18-30 year olds)

2 tertiary sectors in England:LSC/FE sector and HE sector

‘Dual sector’ FE/HE institutions

The FurtherHigher project

Research questions Why do we have two ‘sectors’ providing

higher education in England? What impact does this have on

widening participation in HE? How do students experience transitions

between further and higher education, and between different stages of undergraduate study (level 5/6)?

FH project fieldwork Fieldwork in 4 dual sector institutions Transition between level 3 (FE) and level 4

(HE) AND between level 5 (2 yr HE) and level 6 (final year UG degree)

Interviews with students, tutors, institutional, managersdocumentary analysiscollection of fieldwork observation recordsphotographs of space and place

Identity work

Constructing the ‘dual sector’ ‘FurtherHigher’ institution

Constructing the ‘FurtherHigher’ student

What is a dual sector institution?

A relational understanding - ‘dual sector’ institutions need to be understood in relation to other parts of HE system in England:

‘elite’ universities Post-1992 universities FE colleges

Role of dual sector institutions

Enabling WP and transition to HE through: Alternative routes Second chance opportunities Increased variety and geographical

spread (local and regional) Foundation degree provision: widening

participation in HE, a progression route to Honours

‘Seamless’ transition WITHIN single FE/HE institutions

What is a dual sector institution?

Northgreen Federal College East Heath College Central HE College Southleigh University What makes them dual? What makes them dual sector? All are in transition, undergoing change,

but not in the same direction

Teaching room at Daiston Campus site of Northgreen Federal College

Wall display in teaching room at Daiston Campus site of Northgreen Federal College

College notice at Tultry College site of Northgreen Federal College

FurtherHigher education

What is the scale of activity? How important is transition

between level 3 and level 4 (FE to HE) and between level 5 and level 6 (short cycle HE to final year Bachelor degree) for institutions that are ‘dual sector’ or in FE/HE partnerships?

Student progression in 4 case study institutions: studying within institution, studying at another institution, not continuing to study

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SUMMARY TABLE 2

OVERALL INTERNAL TRANSFER FROM FE LEVEL 3 TO HE COURSES AT CITYGATE COLLEGE

2003/2004TOTAL TRANSFER TO FOUNDATION DEGREE TRANSFER TO BATCHELOR DEGREE TOTAL %

867 76 57 133 15.34%

2004/2005TOTAL TRANSFER TO FOUNDATION DEGREE TRANSFER TO BATCHELOR DEGREE TOTAL

973 74 63 137 14%

2005/2006TOTAL TRANSFER TO FOUNDATION DEGREE TRANSFER TO BATCHELOR DEGREE TOTAL

1209 54 29 83 6.86%

Total numbers in column B were arrived at by deleting all first/ second year entries for all multiple yearprogrammes.

All internal transfers from FE level 3 to HE courses at Citygate College from 2003/04 to 2005/06

Note: Even though Citygate College is a dual sector institution with approximately 60% HE / 40% FE provision, FE/HE transfer #s are small

Internal transfers from HE level 5 (Fd degree, HND) to Bachelor degree final year at Citygate HE College from 2003/04 to 2005/06

????????No data collected at present

(Not a key management concern or priority?)

FurtherHigher institutions Positioning the institution in the HE

market is important Internal transitions between FE and HE

provision are not currently a major driver HE student transitions are linked to

understandings of stratified system and two types of WP: access to prestigious courses/institutions (transition out)access to some form of HE (transition in)

Students’ experience of transitions: a site study example

Sports Therapy at Citygate College Citygate College is an HE sector

institution with substantial FE The College offers:

BTEC National Diploma in Sport (Sport Development and Fitness)FdSc in Sports TherapyBSc in Sports Therapy

Constructing the ‘FurtherHigher’ student

Not encouraged at school Not expected to continue to higher

education by school Diverse post-16 experience, not

smooth progression Stories of HE study as hard Imagined futures: hoping for a

chance

Student transitions and progression

How do students get on to and progress through a Foundation degree and a BSc in Sports Therapy?

Getting in Getting on Moving up Getting a BSc

Getting in to a Foundation degree – using official sources 40 degrees in Sports Therapy are listed

on the UCAS website (BSc and FdSc) 10 institutions offer FdSc in Sports

Therapy Only 7 listed on the Foundation degree

forward website On the UCAS website, Sports Therapy

search under Foundation Degree and Bachelor degree listings brings up NO courses. Sports Therapy courses can only be found by keying Sports Therapy into the general SEARCH menu option.

University College Birmingham

Link: Univ of Birmingham

UCAS pointsFdSc: 100 BSc: 200

Progression routes offered 3rd year of BSc in Sports Therapy at the college

Milton Keynes College

Link: Univ of Bedfordshire

UCAS points: 80-120BSc at Univ of Bedfordshire: 160+

Progression routes offered 3rd year of BSc in Sports Therapy at the University of Bedfordshire

Truro College Link: Univ of Plymouth

UCAS points: 60-80

Progression routes offered BSc (Hons) Performance and Coaching, offered by the University of Plymouth at Truro College

Selection of Sports Therapy Foundation Degrees offered for 2008 start (1)

North East Surrey College of Technology (NESCOT)

Link: Univ of Kent UCAS points: not specifiedBSc at Univ of Kent: 200-300BSc at Univ of Bedfordshire: 160+

Progression routes offered Links with Univ of Kent and Univ of Luton (the Univ of Luton is now the Univ of Bedfordshire, but appears as Univ of Luton on NESCOT website). Both run BSc degrees in Sports Therapy

City College Plymouth

Link: Univ of Plymouth

UCAS points: 80

Progression routes offered Subject to specific requirements, you may progress to:• the final year of the BSc (Hons) Health and Fitness degree at the University of Plymouth • the final year of the BSc (Hons) Sports Therapy degree at the University College of St. Mark & St. John• the final year of the BSc (Hons) Fitness and Coaching degree at the University College of St. Mark & St. John• final year health and fitness degree programmes at a range of universities• a wide range of careers in the health, fitness and sports therapy industries.

Selection of Sports Therapy Foundation Degrees offered for 2008 start (2)

No. of Students

Y2 BTEC National2003-04

8

Internal transfer to FdSc Sports Therapy

3

Internal transfer to BSc Sports Therapy

1

Getting in to a Foundation degree: internal progression

Total numbers taking BTEC National Diploma in Sport in 2003-04 at Citygate College

No. of Students

Y1 2004-05

39

Y2 2005-06

30

Completed FdSc

27

Getting on: moving through the Foundation degree (internal progression)

Total numbers taking FdSc in Sports Therapy at

Citygate College starting 2004-2005

Final year BSc students

No of students

From FdSc Sports Therapy

22

From Y2 BSc Sports Therapy

41

From Y3 BSc Sports Therapy (repeat year)

1

Total students 64

Moving on to the BSc: internal progression

Students in Y3 of BSc Sports Therapy at Citygate College in 2006/07

Degreeclassification

FdSc/BSc students BSc/BSc students

# % # %

1st 0 0 4 11

2.1 6 30 15 41

2.2 8 40 14 38

3 6 30 4 11

Total 20 100 37 100

Completion of BSc: Final outcomes of students in Sports Therapy at Citygate College in 2006/07

Student transitions and progression: issues

Students are expected to have and often have lower levels of prior achievement

Students may not complete courses. On the FdSc there was attrition between start and completion (from 39 to 27). Progression to BSc was high, (22 out of 27) but 5 students did not continue.

Bachelor degree outcomes may be lower. Degree results for BSc/BSc students were comparable to national HEI benchmarks. They were lower when the FdSc/BSc students were included.

What makes a ‘higher education’ student?

Someone who has to cope with: A lot more work More intense work Stricter deadlines Harvard referencing Writing 2000 words The DISSERTATION

What makes a ‘higher education’ student?

Someone who is more independent and can cope with:

Independent study and self-direction No ‘spoon-feeding’ More independent research Using the library Less individual support

Stories of HE study as hardSarah:

I had this one essay and it was 100% in a report. I’m not the best essay writer and it was 2,000 words but the content was so in-depth that it was impossible to do in 2,000 words. And it was one of those essays where I just wanted to bury it. I wanted to cry, I was like “no, I can’t do it, it’s too hard”. It was a subject that I’ve never done before and I thought if I don’t pass this – no! Because I worked so hard on it and it took me months - when I say months, pure research, pure writing, writing, writing, writing, re-writing, editing, it took me ages. And I thought if I’ve worked that hard on something and it turned out that I just couldn’t pass it even with all that effort, I just thought “what’s the point”. (011/1: 104:20)

Stories of pro-active orientation to learning

Rosemary:“We all got given tutors about 3 weeks ago if you hadn’t already got them, whereas I went to see the tutor that I’d wanted before the summer. I phoned him up and then basically I’ve been seeing him a couple of times throughout the summer and then mainly every week now since we’ve been back, so he’s keeping me on track. He’ll just set me little things up, get so many words done by the following week, so it keeps it constant.”

Stories of passive orientation to learningTanya:

I mean I’d started doing stuff in sort of August thinking I’d better start hurrying up and getting on with something. Having said that, since then I’ve done very little. I’m not very impressed with myself. I was cross with myself because I thought if I can do that many hours a day, surely 2 hours a day of study - what’s that really, it’s nothing, but I haven’t been doing it. I think if I had been a lot better prepared and I’d have been sort of ahead of the game, I’d have done that. (01/2: 106)

Imagined futures

With the build up to the 2012 London Olympics, and concern over the health of the nation, Sport is playing an increasingly important role in society and in people’s leisure times. There is increasing demand for the skills provided by this new qualification. From Newcastle College’s website: http://www.ncl-coll.ac.uk/courseinfo/courseinfo.asp?courseid=4517 Accessed 25 April 2008.

Imagined futures

Yvonne Tainton (programme leader):Sports therapists primarily will be self-employed initially. You know, this is an industry whereby there is a lot of work but not a lot of jobs. If you’re asking me “are there a load of jobs?” as in being employed…. if you look at any of your papers you won’t find a big section for sports therapy jobs, it’s too new. However, the potential of work is huge, absolutely huge. (AYS001: 1)

Imagined futuresCarol:

A guy came in last week from the Society of Sports Therapists and he said trying to get in with a football team is horrendous, he said there’s 40,000 clients registered with the FA ... that’s a lot but they’re not all of them going to be willing to pay us money and that’s what we want. So his response really wasn’t that great with regards to looking for a job. And I think the basic thing is we need to get basic skills, you know, we need to go and do different courses on top of our degree which isn’t very helpful when you’re in lots of debt and have got to pay hundreds of pounds to go on a two day course. (09/3: 29)

Is there a ‘FurtherHigher’ student?

The story that could be constructed out of the project data:

Lower prior achievement on entry Needs HE courses which are progressively

harder, with Y1 of FdSc not too big a jump, particularly from level 3 vocational courses

Needs support with study from the institution (cannot depend on cultural capital)

Seeks out closer relationships with some course tutors – evidence that students seek out someone they trust to help them

Concluding comments

‘Aspiring’ institutions

‘Aspiring’ students

Constructing ‘aspiring’ institutions

Conscious positioning in relation to HEDo not wish to retain their own students at any cost: internal progression is not a prime motivatorOn the move (in process of transition)

Redefining the field

Changing the configuration of the landscape of HE

Increasing diversity Increasing complexity Increasing stratification

Constructing ‘aspiring’ selves

‘In the middle’, ‘ordinary students’: not ‘standing out’ nor ‘failing’

Stories of hard work, and working to be a ‘good’ student

Imagined future as a ‘better’ future

HE is not the golden elixir

Complex picture of student experience and interaction with HE opportunities

Access, progression, outcomes and futures are not straightforward, smooth and seamless

Future is risky

The FurtherHigher Projecthttp://www.shef.ac.uk/furtherhigher/

Ann-Marie BathmakerAnn-Marie.bathmaker@uwe.ac.uk

brilleBristol Centre for Research in Education and Lifelong Learning