Files and links (1)
Published VersionCC BY V4.0, Open Access
Journal article
Student Support, Beyond Empty Signifiers: Insights and Challenges from Enabling Educators
Student Success, Vol.16(2), pp.71-80
2025
Abstract
Student support is a key focus within the widening participation agenda, as effective support enhances retention and success. However, student support is not well defined in higher education, which is problematic as it is difficult to measure success if stakeholders have different definitions. Without clear boundaries in student support, educators who work with marginalised students are at risk of “over-supporting” students or possibly emulating a counselling role. This practice report utilises autoethnography to draw on the lived experience of seven educators working in Enabling programs across four universities. It explores how student support was defined and enacted in their programs and what factors or resources can facilitate or frustrate efforts to effectively support students. The findings highlight the complexity of supporting the multifaceted needs of marginalised students with more nuanced and tailored approaches. The educators in this study collectively emphasised the need for a consistent definition of student support, alongside clear workload allocation and additional training to effectively support students and increase retention and success.
Details
- Title
- Student Support, Beyond Empty Signifiers: Insights and Challenges from Enabling Educators
- Authors
- Ana Larsen - Central Queensland UniversityTrixie James - Central Queensland UniversityGemma Mann - Central Queensland UniversityKieran Balloo - Southern Cross UniversitySusan Hopkins - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Education and Tertiary AccessMarguerite Westacott - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Education and Tertiary AccessJuliette Subraminiam - Western Sydney University
- Publication details
- Student Success, Vol.16(2), pp.71-80
- Publisher
- Queensland University of Technology
- Date published
- 2025
- DOI
- 10.63608/ssj.3795
- ISSN
- 2205-0795
- Copyright note
- Copyright (c) 2025 Ana Larsen, Trixie James, Gemma Mann, Kieran Balloo, Susan Hopkins, Marguerite Westacott, Juliette Subraminiam. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
- Organisation Unit
- School of Education and Tertiary Access
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 991144110502621
- Output Type
- Journal article
Metrics
2 File views/ downloads
54 Record Views
InCites Highlights
These are selected metrics from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool, related to this output
- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- International collaboration
- Web Of Science research areas
- Education & Educational Research
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
This output has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:
Source: InCites