Susan O’shea
Biographic Data
| ID | 318225 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Susan O’shea |
| GIVEN NAMES | Susan |
| FAMILY NAME | O’shea |
| SIGNATURE | O’SHEA S |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Wollongong |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-8988-6674 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 32 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 40 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 32 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2005 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
“We’ve got a bit of a family mantra that you don’t give up”: A cross-national study of first-in-family students’ persistence at university
Numerous studies consider the reasons why students, particularly those from historically underrepresented groups, decide to depart university prior to completing their studies. Much of this attrition research focuses on the problems students encounter during their studies and the ways these issues might curtail their ability to sustain academic engagement. In this paper, we instead focus on the ways in which students, all of whom are first in the…
Spirals and zig zags: Understanding first in family students’ journeys into and through university
This article draws upon a large international study which involved 536 first in family university students who were enrolled in universities in Australia, the UK, Ireland and Austria. This paper focuses on the Australian cohort ( n = 376), all of whom were in the final stages of an undergraduate degree. Adopting a narrative inquiry approach, participants were encouraged to reflect deeply on their passage into and through university, including the…
The politics of student belonging: Identity and purpose
Belonging is considered to be a positive foundation for students’ well-being and success at university; however, in this article, we argue that it is time to think about belonging more critically. This research highlights how students experience and create multiple belongings. Drawing upon empirical data from interviews and video blogs with students in the UK and Australia, we identify how calls for integrated, uniform, approaches to building bel…
A critical exploration of first in family student persistence and the enactment of sisu
This paper extends understandings of persistence by drawing on the innovative framing of ‘sisu’. Sisu is a recently theorised Finnish concept and, whilst not having a direct English translation, articulates an inner fortitude which is activated in adversity. To better understand persistence, we analysed interview and survey data collected in Australia from 376 students who were first in family (FiF) at university. Successful progression through a…
On Dissonant Landscapes: Tore Størvold and Susan O’Shea, in conversation
An interview with Susan O'Shea and Tore Størvold to discuss the recently published book, Dissonant Landscapes: Music, Nature and The Performance of Iceland
How do universities compete
This edited collection brings together sociological ‘thought leaders’ to critically interrogate the intrinsic nature of what is loosely termed ‘competition’ and how competitive practices are variou
Re-Membering Music Worlds: Exhibiting the Rebel Women of Manchester’s Suffragette City
This paper addresses a lack of scholarly focus on intersections of memory, gender, and the popular music archive.To challenge the underrepresentation of women, reparative actions must be collaborative, formative, and future-facing.The Rebel Music project sought to elevate women's and LGBTQ+ people's seldom heard voices involved in Manchester music, and to redevelop a digital archive to better engage users from these groups.Physical and digital ex…
Employability for inclusion: The Urgent Need for a Biopsychosocial Model Perspective
Definitions of disability are changing, shifting from a narrow medical diagnosis to a biopsychosocial model of disability, where disability is conceptualised as a series of relational conditions that can potentially disadvantage individuals within environments. Implications of this new understanding of disability will have significant effects in the higher education sector, where there is increasing participation of disabled students. In this pap…
‘One student might get one opportunity and then the next student won’t get anything like that’: Inequities in Australian career education and recommendations for a fairer future
It was like navigating uncharted waters’: Exposing the hidden capitals and capabilities of the graduate marketplace
Differentials in graduate employment outcomes are pervasive across Australian higher education. Workforce participation is not evenly distributed across student cohorts, and learners disadvantaged by material resources or geographic location remain under-represented in overall employment rates. This inequity demands in-depth and systematic analysis that considers lived experience of navigating the transition between university and the workplace. …
Conceptualising responsibility and hostility within work-integrated learning placements for students with disabilities
The expectation for universities to support students’ employability through work-integrated learning placements demands investigation into how opportunities are inclusive to students from a diversity of backgrounds. In this paper, we explore the experiences of students with disabilities during work placements, drawing on qualitative data collected through six focus groups with students (n = 27). Analysed through the frame of stigma, the results s…
‘I don’t understand it’: First in family graduates recognising and mobilising capitals for employment
Success in a complex labour market requires astute planning, preparation and foresight, particularly within the context of the massification of higher education, increasing graduate competitiveness, and a discourse of employability which places the onus of employment on the individual. A cohort experiencing noticeably weaker graduate employment outcomes are students who are the first in their family to attend university, a group often representin…
‘ Don’t let anyone bring me down again ’: Applying ‘possible selves’ to understanding persistence of mature-age first-in-family students
This article applies the framework of possible selves to the motivation and persistence behaviours of one group of university students. We draw on possible selves to consider how particular goal-focused actions and life experiences may significantly shape movements towards imagined futures. Utilising a narrative approach from longitudinal data, this article considers the ways in which possible selves were articulated by five first-in-family stude…
Vulnerable learners in the age of Covid-19: A scoping review
This scoping review provides an overview of COVID-19 approaches to managing unanticipated school closures and available literature related to young people learning outside-of-school. A range of material has been drawn upon to highlight educational issues of this learning context, including psychosocial and emotional repercussions. Globally, while some countries opted for a mass school shut-down, many schools remained open for students from disadv…
Higher education access, participation and progression: Inequalities of opportunity
“Kids from here don't go to uni”: Considering first in family students' belonging and entitlement within the field of higher education in Australia
Increasingly students from diverse backgrounds are attending university, many from contexts where accessing higher education is the exception rather than the norm. We know that these learners often have a lower sense of belonging when compared to their second or third generation peers but how this is experienced at an individual level remains unclear. This article explores how current and graduated students articulated their belonging within the …
The implications of Covid-19 for student equity in Australian higher education
The COVID-19 pandemic has both widened and exacerbated student equity issues in Australian higher education, just as it has increased economic and social disadvantage in the general population. This article identifies the immediate impacts of the pandemic on existing equity structures, mapping potential areas for research analysis and policy responses. Given the pervasive nature of COVID-19, it is proposed that a whole-of-system approach be used,…
Activate, collaborate, participate: The network revolutions of riot grrrl-affiliated music worlds
Social networks act as a metaphor for discussion about many historical and contemporary music worlds. Much of the literature on feminist music movements like riot grrrl, ladyfest and Girls Rock camps conceptualize collective action and participation in network terms. However, in doing so, the approach is almost exclusively qualitative. Individuals tie movements, collectives and organizations together and help their cultural spread across cities a…
Crossing boundaries: Rethinking the ways that first-in-family students navigate ‘barriers’ to higher education
This article explores how one cohort of first-in-family students narrated their movement into and through university, proposed as a form of boundary crossing. These metaphors emerged from the stories that students told about their persistence, with references ranging from institutional or organisational boundaries through to those imposed by self and others. Applying the sensitizing lens of boundary crossing, an analysis is provided of how learne…
Older, online and first: Recommendations for retention and success
The university student population in Australia contains increasing numbers of older students returning to learning after a significant gap in their educational journey. Many are choosing to enrol online to combine their studies with other time-consuming responsibilities. This article examines the nature of this online student experience with a focus on those aged 25 and over who are the first in their families to embark on university studies. Dra…
My children… think it’s cool that Mum is a uni student: Women with caring responsibilities studying online
Much has been written about the growing influence and reach of online learning in higher education, including the opportunities that this can offer for improving student equity and widening participation. One area of student equity in which online learning has an influence is that of gender equity, particularly for mature-age students. This article explicitly explores how the dual identities of student and family carer are managed by women studyi…
Discourses of betterment and opportunity: Exploring the privileging of university attendance for first-in-family learners
Much of the literature on university access and participation positions people from disadvantaged backgrounds as those who have not ‘traditionally’ attended university. Certain student cohorts are presented as lacking the skills or requisite knowledges to achieve academic success, requiring additional assistance from institutions to address these gaps. Rather than approach such students from a position of ‘lack’, this article problematises the co…
First-in-Family Students, University Experience and Family Life
This book examines the university experiences of first-in-family university students, and how these studentsâ decisions to return to education impact upon their family members and significant others. While it is well known that parental educational background has a substantial impact on the educational levels of family and dependents, it is unclear how attending university as a first-in-family student translates into the family and community of t…
Avoiding the manufacture of ‘sameness’: First-in-family students, cultural capital and the higher education environment
Drawing upon Bourdieu’s theories of social and cultural capital, a number of studies of the higher education environment have indicated that students who are first-in-family to come to university may lack the necessary capitals to enact success. To address this issue, university transition strategies often have the primary objective of ‘filling students up’ with legitimate forms of cultural capital required by the institution. However, this artic…
Shifting the blame in higher education – social inclusion and deficit discourses
The principles of social inclusion have been embraced by institutions across the higher education sector but their translation into practice through pedagogy is not readily apparent. This paper examines perceptions of social inclusion and inclusive pedagogies held by academic staff at an Australian university. Of specific interest were the perceptions of teaching staff with regard to diverse student populations, particularly students from low soc…
Transitions and turning points: Exploring how first-in-family female students story their transition to university and student identity formation
The purpose of this article is to explore how one group of students reflect upon their transition into the higher education environment. This qualitative research project followed one group of female undergraduate students as they moved through the first year of study. All of the participants were the first in their family to consider further education and each participated in four semi-structured interviews over one year. Drawing on the conceptu…
Filling up silences—first in family students, capital and university talk in the home
Internationally, research has indicated that returning to education for older learners provides the means for growth and change, for some students this can translate into a sense of 'empowerment' and control in their personal lives. However, what is not so well researched is how having a significant 'other' present within the university landscape impacts the household and other family members. Exploring how this return to education influences oth…
The implications of Covid-19 for student equity in Australian higher education
The COVID-19 pandemic has both widened and exacerbated student equity issues in Australian higher education, just as it has increased economic and social disadvantage in the general population. This article identifies the immediate impacts of the pandemic on existing equity structures, mapping potential areas for research analysis and policy responses. Given the pervasive nature of COVID-19, it is proposed that a whole-of-system approach be used,…
Crossing boundaries: Rethinking the ways that first-in-family students navigate ‘barriers’ to higher education
This article explores how one cohort of first-in-family students narrated their movement into and through university, proposed as a form of boundary crossing. These metaphors emerged from the stories that students told about their persistence, with references ranging from institutional or organisational boundaries through to those imposed by self and others. Applying the sensitizing lens of boundary crossing, an analysis is provided of how learne…
Employability for inclusion: The Urgent Need for a Biopsychosocial Model Perspective
Definitions of disability are changing, shifting from a narrow medical diagnosis to a biopsychosocial model of disability, where disability is conceptualised as a series of relational conditions that can potentially disadvantage individuals within environments. Implications of this new understanding of disability will have significant effects in the higher education sector, where there is increasing participation of disabled students. In this pap…
Conceptualising responsibility and hostility within work-integrated learning placements for students with disabilities
The expectation for universities to support students’ employability through work-integrated learning placements demands investigation into how opportunities are inclusive to students from a diversity of backgrounds. In this paper, we explore the experiences of students with disabilities during work placements, drawing on qualitative data collected through six focus groups with students (n = 27). Analysed through the frame of stigma, the results s…
Rethinking Contemporary Feminist Politics (Gender and Politics Series)
Jonathan Dean, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillian, 2010, vii+226 pp., index, $85.00, ISBN 978-0-230-23892-3 (hardback) The recent proliferation of conferences, seminars and workshops focusing on femi
Nomads in diaspora space: Exploring women's identity work in the University
How individuals position themselves as 'students' within the university landscape can provide insight into the personal experience of entering this environment. This article will explore how one group of female students narrated their identity work as they moved through the first year of study in an Australian university. These students were all first in the family to attend university and some had had a significant gap between educational experi…
The Empirical Use of a Multiple-Value Reinforcer in a Clinical Setting
Nomads in diaspora space: Exploring women's identity work in the University
How individuals position themselves as 'students' within the university landscape can provide insight into the personal experience of entering this environment. This article will explore how one group of female students narrated their identity work as they moved through the first year of study in an Australian university. These students were all first in the family to attend university and some had had a significant gap between educational experi…
Rethinking Contemporary Feminist Politics (Gender and Politics Series)
Jonathan Dean, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillian, 2010, vii+226 pp., index, $85.00, ISBN 978-0-230-23892-3 (hardback) The recent proliferation of conferences, seminars and workshops focusing on femi
Transitions and turning points: Exploring how first-in-family female students story their transition to university and student identity formation
The purpose of this article is to explore how one group of students reflect upon their transition into the higher education environment. This qualitative research project followed one group of female undergraduate students as they moved through the first year of study. All of the participants were the first in their family to consider further education and each participated in four semi-structured interviews over one year. Drawing on the conceptu…
“I generally say I am a mum first…But I’m studying at uni”: The narratives of first-in-family, female caregivers transitioning into an Australian university
The university student experience is both evolving and diverse. Increasing numbers of older students are accessing universities worldwide, and also access for student equity groups is a key policy driver in countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, United States, and others. However, among this change and flux, how individuals manage their transition into this environment with reference to new and existing identities is worthy of further e…
Filling up silences—first in family students, capital and university talk in the home
Internationally, research has indicated that returning to education for older learners provides the means for growth and change, for some students this can translate into a sense of 'empowerment' and control in their personal lives. However, what is not so well researched is how having a significant 'other' present within the university landscape impacts the household and other family members. Exploring how this return to education influences oth…
Avoiding the manufacture of ‘sameness’: First-in-family students, cultural capital and the higher education environment
Drawing upon Bourdieu’s theories of social and cultural capital, a number of studies of the higher education environment have indicated that students who are first-in-family to come to university may lack the necessary capitals to enact success. To address this issue, university transition strategies often have the primary objective of ‘filling students up’ with legitimate forms of cultural capital required by the institution. However, this artic…
Shifting the blame in higher education – social inclusion and deficit discourses
The principles of social inclusion have been embraced by institutions across the higher education sector but their translation into practice through pedagogy is not readily apparent. This paper examines perceptions of social inclusion and inclusive pedagogies held by academic staff at an Australian university. Of specific interest were the perceptions of teaching staff with regard to diverse student populations, particularly students from low soc…
The Politics of Widening Participation and University Access for Young People: Making Educational Futures
Young people with tenuous relationships to schooling and education are an enduring challenge when it comes to addressing social inclusion, yet their experiences remain overlooked in efforts to widen participation in higher education. The Politics of Widening Participation and University Access for Young People examines the existing knowledges and feelings these young people have about higher education, and, through the authors’ empirical research…
First-in-Family Students, University Experience and Family Life
This book examines the university experiences of first-in-family university students, and how these studentsâ decisions to return to education impact upon their family members and significant others. While it is well known that parental educational background has a substantial impact on the educational levels of family and dependents, it is unclear how attending university as a first-in-family student translates into the family and community of t…
Discourses of betterment and opportunity: Exploring the privileging of university attendance for first-in-family learners
Much of the literature on university access and participation positions people from disadvantaged backgrounds as those who have not ‘traditionally’ attended university. Certain student cohorts are presented as lacking the skills or requisite knowledges to achieve academic success, requiring additional assistance from institutions to address these gaps. Rather than approach such students from a position of ‘lack’, this article problematises the co…
Older, online and first: Recommendations for retention and success
The university student population in Australia contains increasing numbers of older students returning to learning after a significant gap in their educational journey. Many are choosing to enrol online to combine their studies with other time-consuming responsibilities. This article examines the nature of this online student experience with a focus on those aged 25 and over who are the first in their families to embark on university studies. Dra…
My children… think it’s cool that Mum is a uni student: Women with caring responsibilities studying online
Much has been written about the growing influence and reach of online learning in higher education, including the opportunities that this can offer for improving student equity and widening participation. One area of student equity in which online learning has an influence is that of gender equity, particularly for mature-age students. This article explicitly explores how the dual identities of student and family carer are managed by women studyi…
Activate, collaborate, participate: The network revolutions of riot grrrl-affiliated music worlds
Social networks act as a metaphor for discussion about many historical and contemporary music worlds. Much of the literature on feminist music movements like riot grrrl, ladyfest and Girls Rock camps conceptualize collective action and participation in network terms. However, in doing so, the approach is almost exclusively qualitative. Individuals tie movements, collectives and organizations together and help their cultural spread across cities a…
Crossing boundaries: Rethinking the ways that first-in-family students navigate ‘barriers’ to higher education
This article explores how one cohort of first-in-family students narrated their movement into and through university, proposed as a form of boundary crossing. These metaphors emerged from the stories that students told about their persistence, with references ranging from institutional or organisational boundaries through to those imposed by self and others. Applying the sensitizing lens of boundary crossing, an analysis is provided of how learne…
‘ Don’t let anyone bring me down again ’: Applying ‘possible selves’ to understanding persistence of mature-age first-in-family students
This article applies the framework of possible selves to the motivation and persistence behaviours of one group of university students. We draw on possible selves to consider how particular goal-focused actions and life experiences may significantly shape movements towards imagined futures. Utilising a narrative approach from longitudinal data, this article considers the ways in which possible selves were articulated by five first-in-family stude…
Vulnerable learners in the age of Covid-19: A scoping review
This scoping review provides an overview of COVID-19 approaches to managing unanticipated school closures and available literature related to young people learning outside-of-school. A range of material has been drawn upon to highlight educational issues of this learning context, including psychosocial and emotional repercussions. Globally, while some countries opted for a mass school shut-down, many schools remained open for students from disadv…
Higher education access, participation and progression: Inequalities of opportunity
“Kids from here don't go to uni”: Considering first in family students' belonging and entitlement within the field of higher education in Australia
Increasingly students from diverse backgrounds are attending university, many from contexts where accessing higher education is the exception rather than the norm. We know that these learners often have a lower sense of belonging when compared to their second or third generation peers but how this is experienced at an individual level remains unclear. This article explores how current and graduated students articulated their belonging within the …
The implications of Covid-19 for student equity in Australian higher education
The COVID-19 pandemic has both widened and exacerbated student equity issues in Australian higher education, just as it has increased economic and social disadvantage in the general population. This article identifies the immediate impacts of the pandemic on existing equity structures, mapping potential areas for research analysis and policy responses. Given the pervasive nature of COVID-19, it is proposed that a whole-of-system approach be used,…
‘I don’t understand it’: First in family graduates recognising and mobilising capitals for employment
Success in a complex labour market requires astute planning, preparation and foresight, particularly within the context of the massification of higher education, increasing graduate competitiveness, and a discourse of employability which places the onus of employment on the individual. A cohort experiencing noticeably weaker graduate employment outcomes are students who are the first in their family to attend university, a group often representin…
‘One student might get one opportunity and then the next student won’t get anything like that’: Inequities in Australian career education and recommendations for a fairer future
It was like navigating uncharted waters’: Exposing the hidden capitals and capabilities of the graduate marketplace
Differentials in graduate employment outcomes are pervasive across Australian higher education. Workforce participation is not evenly distributed across student cohorts, and learners disadvantaged by material resources or geographic location remain under-represented in overall employment rates. This inequity demands in-depth and systematic analysis that considers lived experience of navigating the transition between university and the workplace. …
Conceptualising responsibility and hostility within work-integrated learning placements for students with disabilities
The expectation for universities to support students’ employability through work-integrated learning placements demands investigation into how opportunities are inclusive to students from a diversity of backgrounds. In this paper, we explore the experiences of students with disabilities during work placements, drawing on qualitative data collected through six focus groups with students (n = 27). Analysed through the frame of stigma, the results s…
On Dissonant Landscapes: Tore Størvold and Susan O’Shea, in conversation
An interview with Susan O'Shea and Tore Størvold to discuss the recently published book, Dissonant Landscapes: Music, Nature and The Performance of Iceland
Sociology (27 works) · Political science (22 works) · Pedagogy (18 works) · Psychology (17 works) · Higher education (15 works) · Higher Education Research Studies (15 works) · Gender Studies (9 works) · Higher Education and Employability (9 works) · Education Systems and Policy (8 works) · Public relations (8 works)