This webinar draws on three pieces of research to look at the transitions of students with equivalent qualifications to, and through higher education. It will, on the one hand, look at who the students taking Business and Technology Education Council qualifications (BTEC) are, discussing their rates of university access and progression. On the other hand, the webinar will discuss inclusive learning and teaching cultures, the importance of belonging, and the diversity of transitions as mediated by pedagogical regimes.
10.00-10.10 Welcome & Introduction
10.10-10.40 Does prior qualification affect degree outcomes? (5 minutes of Q&A)
10.40-11.10 ‘But you did this in A-level’: The impact of learning and teaching cultures on BTEC holders’
11.10-11.15 Break
11.15-11.45 Reframing Higher Education transitions: The role of capitals, knowledge and pedagogy (5 minutes of Q&A)
11.45-12.00 Summary and Q&A
Dr Pallavi Banerjee - University of Exeter
Does prior qualification affect degree outcomes?
Successive research reports have flagged differential patterns of progression and outcomes for students based on background indicators such as social class, ethnicity, type of school attended, age etc. In this talk I will focus on the trajectories of students with vocational qualifications, principally the Business and Technology Education Council qualifications (BTEC). Which students take up vocational routes? What does access, attainment, continuation and progression of these students in undergraduate courses look like and how does it compare with their peers from other entry qualification routes?
Business and Technology Education Council (BTEC) qualifications holders have been contributing to an expanding HE population in England (Katartzi and Hayward, 2019). Yet, studies have highlighted a relationship between vocational education backgrounds and lower rates of retention (Ertl et al. 2010). This extends to institution type, with BTEC students having the lowest degree completion rates in research intensive institutions (Kelly, 2017; Shields and Masardo, 2017). Drawing on findings from a qualitative case study exploring the academic experiences of students holding BTEC qualifications at a research intensive institution, this paper will illustrate and discuss how departmental cultures and epistemic assumptions can exert a pronounced influence on students’ perceptions of their own academic abilities and sense of belonging throughout their journeys into, and through, HE. This highlights the power of inclusive learning and teaching cultures in having the potential to ensure more equitable academic experiences for these students, and in making a contribution towards a reduction in the reproduction of inequalities in the HE landscape more broadly.
Event Fee(s) | |
Guest Price | £0.00 |
Member Price | £0.00 |
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