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The right to higher education: neoliberalism, gender and professional mis/recognitions

Despite the political commitment expressed through numerous international and national policies to widen educational access and participation, we are living in a time of increased and widening social and economic inequalities. Although we have largely moved from an elite to a mass higher education system in England and in many other countries, those benefitting the most from policies to expand higher education are those with relative social, economic and cultural advantages. Suffering from a recession and financial crisis, the Coalition came into government in Britain with the promise to make ‘tough decisions’, referring to significant funding cuts to the public sector. This has had serious implications for widening participation (WP), with universities increasingly becoming sites of selectivity, marketisation and competitiveness. The decentralisation of WP has relocated the responsibility of widening access and participation to universities themselves, putting increasing levels of responsibility on WP professionals and units. This study draws on research on WP professional subjectivities and practices to examine the current impossibilities of WP and to consider possibilities for sustaining a commitment to social justice and equity in higher education participation.