“If we can grow them here it just makes sense”
Disrupting higher education narratives through Country University Centres in regional and rural Australia
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21577926 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Sally Baker (0000-0001-9143-5816, Australian National University, corresponding author), Hazel Blunden (0000-0001-5462-4634, UNSW Sydney), Jordana Hoenig (UNSW Sydney), Kinne Ring (Services Australia), Anna Xavier (0009-0008-8750-7088, Deakin University) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 131 |
| Pages | 102560 |
| Publication date | 2025-01-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | International Journal of Educational Research (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0883-0355 • E-ISSN: 1873-538X |
| Publisher | Elsevier BV (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1016/j.ijer.2025.102560 |
| OpenAlex | W4407893499 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 12 |
Country students are underrepresented in Australian higher education. • The Country Universities Centres (CUCs) support students in regional and rural areas by providing high quality facilities, such as computers and high speed internet access, learning spaces, and individualised and group learning support from on-site staff. • This helps address higher education access inequality for country people. • The model disrupts ‘go and grow’ narratives to allow students to study locally. • Other regional benefits are skilled labour and economic growth. The underrepresentation of regional, rural, and remote (RRR) students in Australian higher education has been an enduring and consistent concern for governments and universities. Despite decades of policy and funding efforts, RRR student enrolments and completion levels remain stubbornly low. However, the Regional University Study Hub (RUSH) program, which includes Country Universities Centre (CUCs), have shifted the ‘business as usual’ model to enable students to study locally with support. The CUCs as part of the RUSH program provide high quality facilities in country Australia with computer and high-speed internet access, learning spaces and individualised learning and other support from on-site staff. This has disrupted dominant narratives around how RRR students can engage with higher education. These include the idea that residents need to leave regional areas to engage with higher education (‘go to grow’), that universities are best placed to determine how to engage RRR communities, and that online learning is second-best and isolating. Drawing on data from a mixed methods study we examine how CUCs leverage community assets to facilitate connections to support localised participation in higher education, engage with their local communities, and impact the liveability of RRR communities
Art · Economic growth · Economics · Electrical engineering · Literature · Media studies · Narrative · Political science · Rural area · Sense of place · Social science · Sociology · Education Systems and Policy · Engineering · Higher Education and Employability · Higher Education Learning Practices · Law
| Citations per year | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |