Influence of policy discourse on student choice in Australian higher education

To address social inequality, many western governments have sought to pursue principles of 'widening participation' as a key policy response in higher education. Though originally intended to complement social justice policy agendas, alignment of education policies with broader neoliberal policy frameworks has led policymakers, such as those in Australia, to focus instead on the potential for widening participation to foster social mobility through higher education. Resultant policy discourse focusing on mobility outcomes signals to students that the doxic utility of higher education studies is to pursue an occupation which enables social mobility. This study seeks to explore whether there is evidence that such shifts in policy discourse result in closer alignment with doxic aspirations amongst students from low-socioeconomic status (SES) and non-metropolitan backgrounds than privileged students. This study assessed applications data across fields of education (FoE) for Australian university applicants in 2018, disaggregated across two demographic characteristics (SES and location), to determine the proportionality of applications within and between each demographic sub-classification, as well as between and within each FoE. Through analysing student applications to courses of study at university, it was determined that there are significant differences in the manner in which students from disadvantaged backgrounds actuate their aspirations.