Individual-Based Measure of Socio-Economic Disadvantage: Making Identification "Agile"

This project aimed to develop an individual-based measure of socio-economic disadvantage that can assist Australian universities to identify socio-economic disadvantage at the level of the individual student. A mixed-methods design was used. Phase 1 comprised an online questionnaire distributed to staff working in the area of widening participation and student support at each of the 42 universities in Australia (n = 256) and an online questionnaire for undergraduate students at three universities (one a member of the Group of Eight and the other two members of the Innovative Research Universities group" one a multi-campus metropolitan university and one a rural university) (n = 4,114). In Phase 2, five focus groups were conducted with staff and six with students to further explore the issues raised in Phase 1. Phase 3 consisted of a desk audit of university websites to provide data on the information publicly available to students experiencing socio-economic disadvantage. In the final phase, Phase 4, a possible approach to measuring disadvantage was evaluated through its presentation to students at two universities which had been part of Phase 1 (n = 91). The following factors were found to be indicators of socio-economic disadvantage. Whether the student: provides financially for their family; is the first in family to attend university; is experiencing financial hardship; and/or is in receipt of Youth Allowance, Austudy or ABSTUDY during Years 11 and/or 12 (or another Centrelink income and asset-tested entitlement) for a period of at least three months during Years 11 and/or 12 or equivalent. These were found to be questions that students were willing to answer and which would lead to effective and efficient identification.