ABSTRACT

For decades Australian universities have used equity scholarships as a tool to widen participation in higher education despite limited empirical evidence about how such scholarships influence students’ retention and success outcomes. This paper reports on the first cross-institutional Australian study to investigate the relationship between equity scholarships and recipients’ retention and success outcomes. The study used a comparative case study approach to triangulate cohort and survey data in the 2013 academic year for scholarship holders at three Australian universities. Using an established conceptual framework of student engagement, we find that a comparatively small payment can make a difference to retention rates and that selection criteria determine student outcomes. At the same time, scholarships are no panacea. We conclude that eligibility criteria for equity scholarships should be multi-factorial and that financial support should be nested with other supports for optimal benefit.

摘要

几十年来，尽管关于此类奖学金如何影响学生的留住率和成功结果的经验证据有限，但澳大利亚的大学仍将平等奖学金作为扩大高等教育参与的一种工具。本文报道了澳大利亚首个跨机构研究，旨在研究股权奖学金与获奖者的保留和成功结果之间的关系。这项研究采用比较案例研究的方法，对2013学年中三所澳大利亚大学奖学金获得者的队列和调查数据进行了三角测量。使用已建立的学生参与度概念框架，我们发现支付相对较少的费用可以对保留率产生影响，并且选择标准决定学生的学习成绩。同时，奖学金不是万灵药。