Advancing inclusive practices in higher education: possibilities and limitations of a social justice professional development course

Abstract

Research on widening the participation of historically underrepresented university students tends to focus on student preparation and the structural adjustments needed to attract and retain them. Few studies have examined how to prepare university staff for the diversity of students that comes with such widening participation programmes. This paper contributes to this gap by discussing the impact that a professional development course on practising inclusion in higher education had on academic and professional staff participants’ understanding of equitable and inclusive practices. Using interview data, we found that participants developed a more nuanced and sensitive practice and greater confidence to act for change as they acquired new skills and knowledge associated with social inclusion practices, reflected on their professional identity changes, and gained critical insights into their roles. These findings support the need for this type of professional development to prepare all higher education staff to genuinely support university students from underrepresented groups. They also highlight the need for these professional development offerings to foster greater reflexivity about taken-for-granted assumptions, a deeper understanding of structural power and inequity in higher education, and higher education staff members’ capacity to enact change within these structures.