HEPPP: The Australian student equity program and institutional change: paradigm shift or business as usual?
A report by NCSEHE Equity Fellow Dr Nadine Zacharias from Deakin University examined how the HEPPP initiative had been implemented by universities and whether it had met government aspirations for achieving student equity in higher education.
This Australian-first comprehensive analysis of the Higher Education Participation and Partnerships Program (HEPPP) has informed recommendations for systemic change in policy and practice in student equity, which complements the current HEPPP review report, and could be a valuable contribution to the forthcoming national evaluation framework.
This research was conducted as part of the 2016 NCSEHE Equity Fellows Programme, and incorporated five interrelated components, including an analysis of HEPPP annual progress reports, three institutional cases studies, and an engagement strategy with the Australian Government Department of Education and Training and key stakeholders across the sector.
The project produced a set of diagnostic tools, an interpretative model and an Equity Initiatives Map, to enable analyses of HEPPP program design and implementation that can assist institutional equity strategy and performance.