Unleashing parent ambassadors

When parents deliver parent engagement sessions

Quality education and better career prospects for their children are aspirations for almost all parents, regardless of socio-economic status.

However parents from low SES backgrounds are often unable to access the information and resources they need to effectively support their children’s education, broaden their career pathways and navigate the changing future of work.

This matters for the individuals who end up with a narrowed spectrum of opportunities ahead of them, as they are starting out their careers and adult lives. It matters because a just society does not deny opportunities to people based on their background. But it also matters for the valuable perspectives, creativity, innovation and insight that comes from including varied viewpoints.

What policy overlooks

Numerous policy documents over the past few decades have highlighted the benefits of increasing low SES student enrolments in higher education in Australia.

A fair chance for all: national and institutional planning for equity in higher education, released in 1990, was the first major investigation into equity in education in Australia. The paper talked about ‘the achievement of a fairer and more just society’, and offered recommendations on achieving this through widening access. Almost twenty years on, the Bradley Report, released in 2008, pointed out that Australia was ‘losing ground’ in OECD rankings for the percentage of the population who have higher education qualifications.

But what both of these policy documents lacked was clear guidelines on parental engagement.

Parents in the pilot seat

UTS Centre for Social Justice and Inclusion is piloting a Parent Ambassador program to assist parents from low SES backgrounds to support their children’s higher education and career aspirations.

The program uses best practice principles and the National Centre for Student Equity in Higher Education (NCSEHE) ‘guide for partnerships’, embedding the principles within existing widening participation activities in UTS.

The guide was developed with research from a literature review, desktop audit, focus groups and interviews, as part of the NCSEHE project ‘Higher education career advice for low SES students’, led by University of Wollongong.

The U@Uni Academy is a two-year program for senior high school students of 20 U@Uni partner schools in South West Sydney. Beginning at the end of Year 10, the Academy introduces students to the university experience, with tutoring and additional support to develop skills to succeed at university and beyond. Students who successfully complete the program will be offered a place at UTS.

In July 2020, the trial at UTS will involve embedding careers workshops into the U@Uni Academy delivered as ‘Careers Breakfast’ sessions for parents and carers. Sessions will be delivered by Parent Ambassadors – parents of our current UTS student ambassadors who are from equity backgrounds, and are currently engaged in delivering our U@Uni programs.

The workshops will be delivered in conjunction with local tertiary providers. Parents will be involved as guest speakers and active participants of a dialogue where parents, students (including alumni) and teachers will share career stories.

Career goals

No pilot program would be complete without rigorous evaluation, measured against explicit goals. Through this trial, we seek to:

• help broaden educational and occupational aspirations of parents and carers
• increase parents’ and carers’ understanding of the diversity of pathways into tertiary education
• raise parents’ and carers’ awareness of education and training opportunities

The trial will be underpinned by a mixed methods evaluation framework that could include further focus groups and surveys to evaluate the impact of the approach and mature the principles and guide for national application.

Interventions in the pre-university stages of a student’s educational journey are essential to put all students on an equal playing field. Parents of students from low SES backgrounds are key allies in achieving this, who have been overlooked for too long.

We look forward to reporting back on this program. Even more so, we look forward to welcoming the students who are currently completing Year 11 while participating in the U@Uni Academy, into our university community as students of our courses when they graduate from high school. We know they will be an exceptional addition to our cohort, and we are lucky to be a part of their journey.