Factors

Please post any comments or insights about Unit 4 here.

As the older of 6 siblings and as an immigrant child, who started schooling in Australia in grade 11, I was the first child in my family to attend university. the experience was surreal. My younger siblings all followed the path and they all graduated from uni. They still say I had a very positive i

I am the 3rd child in a family of 7 and I was the first and only one of my family members to attend university. I originally aspired to become a veterinarian but being from a rural town, the school didn't offer the subjects required to get into university. I didn't know about distance education at t

I am a FiF but am from a high SES background but given family factors had relatively low aspirations or social and cultural capital. These drivers / categories are a guide only, and oversimplify the complex interactions of factors for each individual case.

This was a dense unit! The break down of data to reveal trends in aspirations that had origins at year 3 (or younger) and life long consequences was astounding. Much of it to do with attributes the child has absolutely no control over: location they live in, race, gender, amount of dosh their parent

It was of interest tosee how achievement was correlated with socio-demographic background and it was useful to have the six equity groups spelled out. I do wonder though if we should be paying more attention to boys as they are falling behind in achievement at school all over the world.

My students would mostly be first in family to attend university. Due to this I am very mindful of the varying support they receive from family and provide information and support accordingly.

I have worked in rural and remote schools for 20 years, the students in these schools are often affected by most and sometimes all of the factors examined in this unit. Approximatley 50% of the students at my current school will be FiF to attend university. This unit has made me think about what pro

This was so informative and the content was organised coherently. Cultural, economic, racial capital have a profound effect on defining the lives of young Australians. So much of the influence is outside the school gate! The challenge is how can schools counteract these strong influencing factors.

When I read through this lesson, I easily related because I was asked by my school Principal to drop Additional Mathematics (Context of Cameroon or Advanced Mathematics in Australia). I was interested in Maths but the support system in addition to my low confidence robbed me of the opportunity. This

I have found that many first in family students are first to complete HSC, then TAFE or University or apprenticeship. Particularly in my current school community where the general aspiration is an apprenticeship or work for the mill. I will be interested to see down the track if taking students to a

I am the middle child of my family. I also happen to be the first in family to complete a degree. The highest education my siblings achieved was secondary education. My mum is very proud of my accomplishment. It was not an easy road to complete my university, but rather there were many obstacles alo

Males in non-traditional areas of study have just as much right to be in a core equity target group as females.

This was an interesting unit to complete. As a primary teacher, I was actually not aware of the enabling and access programs such as Open Foundation, that are available for students to enter, in order to move onto University in the future. It is wonderful to know that these exist in order to help pe

I was the first in my family to attend University. It was difficult for me to move away from home and travel long distances. I missed my family so much, but I kept the big picture in mind and just had to ask myself often, why am I doing this and where do I want to be career wise in so many years.

I was very interested to read the data from the research. I worked in a relatively remote rural school for 8 years and we put into place many programs to encourage students in their aspirations. It really made a difference and set up a bit of a culture in the longer term. It is worth making the effo

I found this unit interesting. Without role models in our lives it's hard to see into the future. The school I teach at has a lot of first in family candidates. Most do not receive the support or encouragement to continue on to a higher education, believing, "it's a waste of time and effort." Howeve

Having completed university as a FIF and originating from a small town 7 hours from my campus, has led to a heightened awareness of the importance of my role in not only supporting and nurturing students aspirations, but in also helping them develop the resources necessary for continued educational

A very dense unit. Interesting to see the data and how peoples views can be affected by results. I think students, across the board, are better informed about the opportunies available to them. However, the ties to family, culture, support stil combine to inform students decisions. Open days, guest

I've been told the above in the context of negotiating in the workplace, but doing this unit has made me realise that for many students accessing higher education there are so many other layers to work through, including race and remoteness. Having said that, I support equity policies for men in fe

Geez...I always admired my Indigenous students in remote locations for giving it a go...but when you consider the multitude of layers of disadvantage they face, it is amazing how resilient they really are.

I think a lot of students who would be FiF feel pressured by society to go to Uni, but they feel scared to take the risk. I think that if we take the time to support these students (or introduce them to the right supports) then we may get a higher proportion of them doing VET studies or attending UN

Being the first one to attend uni in my family was bigger for my mother than me! I attended uni later in life and really enjoyed it. It has made my mother very proud.

I found the statistics in this category quite surprising. I was under the impression that more people went to University today than they used to. But the proportion of First in Family means that they don't.