Articulating Widening Participation Policy, Practice and Theory

This book results from research into a widening participation project in a major English city. The Project aimed to develop new sites of learning for Muslim women, but the subsequent research has much wider implications. Muslim women were recognised as being underrepresented in higher education in the UK. The data presented derived from the author s participation as a practitioner, facilitator, teacher and researcher. The book is, however, an attempt to take the research from this particular project and elevate it into a philosophical and theoretical discussion. A mechanism for doing this was through the comparison of the Muslim Women Project with many other varied widening participation initiatives across the United Kingdom. This enabled a strengthened and generic set of themes at micro level to emerge. A further mechanism was then to elevate this grounded approach into a more general academic discussion by considering the historical development of access and current policy, the macro viewpoint. By doing so, it enables the thesis to conclude by placing widening participation within a general discussion about the direction and future of higher education.