Professor Peter John CBA speaking at the WAHEN launch event at Ruskin College, Oxford.
Professor Peter John CBA speaking at the WAHEN launch event at Ruskin College, Oxford.

Ruskin College hosts launch of first global network on equitable access and success in higher education

Intro

Some of the world’s top thought leaders, policymakers and advocates for higher education equity recently gathered at Ruskin College for the launch conference of the World Access to Higher Education Network (WAHEN) – the first global network for universities, policymakers, foundations, NGOs, employers and organisations dedicated to addressing inequalities in higher education access and success. 

Article body

WAHEN is led by a board of world-leading organisations, including the University of West London, the National Education Opportunities Network (NEON), the World Bank, UNESCO International Institute for Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNESCO IESALC), the Asia-Europe Foundation, University of California, Berkeley and University of Oxford. It aims to drive meaningful, lasting change by delivering capacity-building activities, collaborating with policymakers and governments, producing research and collating knowledge on global best practices. 

Opening WAHEN’s launch conference was Professor Peter John CBE, UWL Vice-Chancellor and Principal of Ruskin College, who reminded the audience of Ruskin's prestigious history of providing learning and education opportunities to people from working-class backgrounds. The day before, Professor John was elected the chair of the WAHEN Board at its inaugural meeting. 

John Blake, Professor John McKendrick and Annette Palmer speaking on a panel at the WAHEN launch event at Ruskin College, Oxford.

The conference then began with a compelling panel discussion between key leaders in widening access from three of the four countries in the UK: the Office for Students’ Director for Fair Access and Participation, John Blake; the Commissioner for Fair Access in Scotland, Professor John McKendrick; and Annette Palmer, the Head of HE in FE and Widening Participation in the Department for the Economy in Northern Ireland. 

Their discussion centred on equitable access and success in higher education across the UK, with each speaker highlighting the unique features of their respective regions and the challenges they face in advancing higher education access and success. 

Dr Jamil Salmi, Dr Roberta Malee Bassett, Ninoslav Scukanec Schmidt and Dr Romyen Kosaikanont speaking on a panel at the WAHEN launch event at Ruskin College, Oxford.

The next session broadened the discussion from a UK focus to a global perspective, with four high-profile speakers discussing and presenting about the importance of equitable access and success to policymakers. 

The audience was treated to thought-provoking presentations from global tertiary education expert, Dr Jamil Salmi; Dr Roberta Malee Bassett, the Global Lead for Tertiary Education and Senior Education Specialist at the World Bank; Ninoslav Šćukanec Schmidt from the Institute for the Development of Education, who used to chair the Working Group on Social Dimension within the Bologna Follow-Up Group; and Dr Romyen Kosaikanont, the Centre Director of the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization Regional Centre for Higher Education and Development. 

Professor Graeme Atherton speaking at the WAHEN launch event at Ruskin College, Oxford.

WAHEN’s official launch came in the afternoon session of the conference. Professor Graeme Atherton, the founder and Director of WAHEN and the Vice-Principal (External) of Ruskin College, introduced the network to the audience and showcased WAHEN’s Global Equity Policy Map and Equity Hub research database. 

He was followed by four other WAHEN board members – Fabrizio Meijia EdD, the Acting Vice-Chancellor for Equity and Inclusion at University of California, Berkeley; Mo Malele, Student Development Advisor at The Saville Foundation; Sonal Singh from Equity Practitioners in Higher Education Australasia; and William Moses, Managing Director, Education at The Kresge Foundation – who then took turns to highlight why a global equitable access and success network is important to their work and organisation. 

Dr Emma Harden-Wolfsen speaking at the WAHEN launch event at Ruskin College, Oxford.

With its launch coinciding with the Human Rights Day, WAHEN’s launch conference also featured the launch of UNESCO IESALC’s new report, Reaching for the Right to Higher Education: Evidence from 15 Countries. Advocating for higher education as a fundamental right, the report adopts a social justice framework to synthesise the findings of fifteen national case studies that examine effective policies aimed at improving access and promoting equity within education systems. 

Dr Emma Harden-Wolfson from McGill University, who is the Right to Higher Education Lead at UNESCO IESALC, delivered a compelling presentation on the report's key findings. Professor Jandhyala B. G. Tilak from the Council for Social Development, New Delhi and Dr Cristina Fioreze from Universidade de Passo Fundo also joined the event virtually to share insights from their respective countries. 

In addition to the 60-odd in-person attendees, over four hundred people from around the world also attended the conference virtually. This event marked a transformative moment in the global fight for equitable access and success in higher education, kickstarting a fresh wave of globally collaborative, multi-stakeholder efforts to tackle deep-rooted disparities in higher education. 

WAHEN Director Professor Graeme Atherton said: 

The launch of WAHEN is a call to action for everyone who believes in the transformative power of education. The right to higher education should be universal, not conditional. Through global collaboration, we can dismantle the barriers that perpetuate inequality and build a future where higher education is a pathway to opportunity for all, not a privilege for the few.” 

Related news