Supporting Demographic Diversity

Increasingly, students entering English-speaking universities come from a range of different social, cultural, linguistic and economic backgrounds, bringing with them different experiences of education and different expectations, aspirations, skills and attributes. While many students enter university after completing high school, many others transition through other entry paths. These may include technical education courses, university preparatory programmes and scholarship programmes for priority courses or disadvantaged communities, to name a few. Differences in age, previous education and employment or disability also add to the diversity in our classrooms. Students from remote or rural regions may have different strengths and have faced different challenges from local students, and those juggling work and family life with study will bring different perspectives to the classroom compared to those entering university straight from school. Students may also find themselves in a first-year classroom studying alongside others from different discipline areas, or taking a subject for the first time along with students who have previously studied it through high school.