Student Support, Beyond Empty Signifiers: Insights and Challenges from Enabling Educators

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.63608/ssj.3795

Keywords:

Enabling Education, student support, higher education, collaborative autoethnography

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.

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Author Biographies

Ana Larsen, CQUniversity

Ana Larsen works at CQUniversity in the STEPS enabling program and provides academic support as an advisor in the Academic Learning Centre. Formerly Ana taught diverse students in the enabling program at Federation University which included academic writing and study skills. Ana is currently collecting data for her PhD which examines the specific factors which develop self-efficacy among enabling students. With a background including psychological studies and sociology, Ana is also interested in assumptions about the self-efficacy of enabling students. Ana’s other research interests include student support and wellbeing, social equity discourses in higher education, and the impact of neoliberalism.

Trixie James, CQUniversity

Dr Trixie James is a lecturer within the STEPS program at CQUniversity. Her PhD thesis highlights the experiences of equity students as they re-engage with formal education through an Enabling program. Recognising education's gatekeeping role in perpetuating disadvantage, the resultant Peregrination of Belonging model maps the five stages from 'outsider' to 'insider' as they embark towards higher education inclusion. As an early career researcher, Trixie’s research interests centre on the support and engagement of under-represented adults in the tertiary sector, with a special interest in student engagement, quality teaching practices, social innovation and positive psychology.

Gemma Mann, CQUniversity

Dr Gemma Mann is a Senior Lecturer in Enabling Education at CQUniversity, Rockhampton, Australia. She has a passion for access, equity and inclusion in higher education. Her research interests include Enabling pedagogy and support and fostering inclusion for LGBTIQ+ people through support and educational systems.

Kieran Balloo, Southern Cross University; University of Surrey

Kieran Balloo is a Senior Lecturer (Pathways) at SCU College, Southern Cross University, Australia. He is also a Visiting Lecturer at the Surrey Institute of Education, University of Surrey, UK. Kieran holds a PhD in psychology and a Masters in psychological research methods. His research broadly explores learning and teaching practices in higher education, and issues surrounding student transitions, equity, and wellbeing. Kieran is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Susan Hopkins, University of the Sunshine Coast

Dr Susan Hopkins is Senior Lecturer in Education (Curriculum and Pedagogy) and Associate Dean (Learning and Teaching) within the School of Education and Tertiary Access at the University of the Sunshine Coast. Susan is also currently an Adjunct Senior Research Fellow within the Centre for Heritage and Culture, University of Southern Queensland (UniSQ). In her previous academic appointment (2012-2025) with UniSQ College (Pathways) she earned two Publication Excellence Awards and six Teaching Awards, including a 2016 National Department of Education and Training Australian Award for University Teaching (Widening Participation). Susan also has an established research record in the field of education, with recent publications in top ranking journals such as Pedagogy, Culture and Society, Student Success and Critical Studies in Education. Susan is looking forward to working with the SETA team, especially on learning and teaching matters.

Marguerite Westacott, University of the Sunshine Coast

Marguerite Westacott is an Associate Lecturer at the University of the Sunshine Coast, situated on the traditional lands of the Gubbi Gubbi, or Kabi Kabi peoples. She has a background in visual arts, education, counselling and art therapy. Marguerite lectures and tutors in the disciplines of Enabling Education (14 years), Education (6 years) and Counselling (3 years). Her research interests are exploring the intersection of art-led methods to inform other ways of knowing and applying Futures studies concepts to the field of career education in higher education.

Juliette Subraminiam, Western Sydney University

Juliette Subramaniam is an experienced educator and student support specialist with over two decades of expertise across vocational education and training (VET) and higher education. A Senior Fellow of Advance HE, Juliette is deeply committed to student success, guided by Tinto’s (2008) principle that “access without support is not opportunity.” She is passionate about fostering early student engagement, developing strategies that enhance retention and support successful student transitions. Her work reflects a strong focus on equity, inclusion, and widening participation in education. 

2025 Student Success Conference

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Published

2025-07-02

How to Cite

Larsen, A., James, T., Mann, G., Balloo, K., Hopkins, S., Westacott, M., & Subraminiam, J. (2025). Student Support, Beyond Empty Signifiers: Insights and Challenges from Enabling Educators. Student Success, 16(2), 71–80. https://doi.org/10.63608/ssj.3795

Issue

Vol. 16 No. 2 (2025)

Section

Practice Reports

License

Copyright (c) 2025 Ana Larsen, Trixie James, Gemma Mann, Kieran Balloo, Susan Hopkins, Marguerite Westacott, Juliette Subraminiam

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Authors retain copyright and grant the Journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution International Licence (CC BY 4.0) that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.