High School Enabling Programs, Learning Journeys, and Transitions: Measuring Effectiveness from the Student Perspective

Abstract

University enabling programs provide historically underrepresented students with aspirational gateways and the academic skills and knowledges essential for success at university. Measurement of the efficacy of such programs has been typically neoliberal and quantitative in nature. This article argues for a nuanced measurement of success, exploring the efficacy of enabling programs from the students’ perspective to reduce marginalising the lived experience of enabling students. A phenomenologically inspired, qualitative online survey was made available to students enrolled in two high school enabling programs at Murdoch University, TLC Learning for Tomorrow, and FlexiTrack High, and an interpretative phenomenological analysis was performed on the data. The key findings indicate that enabling students feel well equipped for first year transition, but some barriers endure. The qualitative evidence could give rise to the creation of a more holistic measure of student success and encourage universities to develop stronger transition strategies for equity groups.