Widening Participation to Underrepresented and Disadvantaged Students: Social Identity and the Barriers to Higher Education Access in England

In the last 15 years, governments in the United Kingdom have sought to increase university participation particularly amongst underrepresented groups-mature students, women, and minority ethnic groups. The drive to increase participation is produced through the economic pressure for countries to improve their economic competitiveness in the global economy. At a national level, this pressure is exerted and experienced differently, between and within individual countries. This chapter draws on literature and policy developments to explore some of the key complexities informing and guiding England's widening participation (WP) agenda. We consider the ways in which social identity continues to influence young people's opportunities to access higher education through WP initiatives, given recent investment in WP in England. We pay particular attention to issues of equalities and consider how local contexts shape and influence the possibilities for accessing WP initiatives. We argue that some areas of the country, and some student identities, are better positioned and better served by WP policies than others. Thus we argue for a more equitable and contextual approach to the construction and delivery of WP educational initiatives in the future.