Our vision
Everyone from minority or disadvantaged majority populations should be able to benefit from participation in higher education.
WAHEN’s Strategic Aims
Embodying a vision of a global higher/tertiary education system which has social justice, equality and compassion at its centre, WAHEN is the alliance for global, collective action on higher education equity. It focuses on 5 key areas of work:
Capacity Building
To facilitate equity in higher education through the sharing, professionalisation and enhancement of practice related to higher education equity.
Collaboration
To enable and lead new shared partnerships between organisations working together, on a global basis, to achieve shared goals around equity in higher education.
Convening
To bring together those from across countries and sectors to affect change higher education equity.
Campaigning
To advocate to and work with policy-makers and governments around the world to make higher education more equitable.
Critical Thinking
To create a space where research and scholarly activity related to higher education access, equity and success globally can be produced.
The success of WAHED
WAHEN builds on the work World Access to Higher Education Day (WAHED) – the international day of action which acts as a catalyst to address inequalities in higher education access and success. WAHED has engaged over 1200 organisations since 2018.
What is equitable access and success?
Access to higher education refers to participation by students from all backgrounds. Equitable access refers to participation by students who are either in the minority in a particular country, or come from a ‘disadvantaged majority’ who on average earn less/experience greater social/economic challenges than a minority population.
The nature of the specific minorities, or disadvantaged majority, is defined by the social, economic and political context of a particular country. These groups are usually (although not exclusively) drawn from one of more of the following categories: a low income/socio-economic group, students belonging to ethnic and religious minority backgrounds, female, students, students with disabilities, students belong to sexual or gender minorities, older students or those from rural backgrounds.
Gauging successful outcomes
Equitable access only becomes a desirable policy goal if it is associated with productive outcomes and ‘success’ for those who attend higher education from minority or disadvantaged majority populations. What constitutes such ‘success’ needs to be seen in the broadest terms though.
While employment related outcomes such as higher earnings, occupational progress and employment in graduate occupations is extremely important it is not the only metric of a successful higher education experience. Developing the capabilities of students to be productive citizens and their ‘humanistic ‘ identities is also very important and evidence also shows that increased higher education participation can lead to greater civic engagement, improved health outcomes etc.
Who is leading the World Access to Higher Education Network?
WAHEN is based at Ruskin College, Oxford, the United Kingdom. Ruskin College has been providing routes into higher education for students from disadvantaged backgrounds since the 19th century, and its long-standing history of championing educational opportunity provides a strong foundation for WAHEN’s global work. The leadership of WAHEN is also closely linked with Ruskin College, with the college’s Principal, Professor Peter John CBE, serving as Chair of WAHEN, and Vice Principal, Professor Graeme Atherton, serving as Director. Ruskin became part of the University of West London group in 2021.
