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Working towards equity of access to higher education remains a fundamental issue of social justice. Despite substantial efforts to redress historical exclusions via a wealth of government and institutional policies, longstanding enrolment patterns persist and new forms of inequality have emerged in a deeply stratified system. Community Matters: The Complex Links Between Community and Young People's Aspirations for Higher Education offers a new lens on equity of access. The policy focus, nationally and globally, on widening participation for under-represented target groups too readily treats such groups as if they have a singular voice, a singular history, and a singular set of concerns. Drawing on the perspectives of Australian school students, their parents/carers, teachers, and a vast array of residents from seven diverse communities, this book uses the lens of community' to reframe inequitable access. It does so by recognising the complex social and cultural forces at play locally that shape how young people form and articulate their post-school futures. In light of unprecedented challenges facing the higher education sector, this book interrogates dominant understandings of widening participation' and aspiration,' and offers timely insights about the broader economic, social, and cultural backdrop of aspiration formation. It is a valuable resource for academics and students interested in the sociology of higher education and for practitioners working at the forefront of equity policy and practice.

This report focuses on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on students and teachers in NSW government primary schools. In 2020, schools in 190 systems around the globe moved to a period of learning from home due to the pandemic. These school closures represent unprecedented disruption to teaching and learning for billions of students. Speculation about the impact of COVID-19 and learning from home on student academic achievement has been widespread, relying heavily on evidence from previous crisis situations. As a result, we've seen school systems and governments draw on estimations based on modelling from international, short-term, small-scale disruptions to schooling caused by dramatic events, such as natural disasters and school shootings. However, the size and scale of disruption caused by COVID-19 is truly unprecedented and cannot be directly compared with these earlier accounts. To date, there has been little empirical evidence of what actually happened to student achievement during the closedown period.

In many areas of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), and despite attempts by governments and other agencies to address the issue, females remain significantly underrepresented. Research has shown that parents play a significant role in shaping the aspirations of children with regard to higher education. However, there is a paucity of research exploring the particular influence of parents on the aspirations of children towards STEM. Drawing on data from a four-year mixed-method longitudinal study conducted with students (N = 6,492) in Years 3 to 12 from the Australian state of New South Wales, we examine parent data (survey and focus groups) for those students who expressed an interest in pursuing STEM studies and careers. Students who expressed an interest in STEM were typically high achieving and just over 90% of their parents had aspirations for them to attend university although this was proportionally higher for sons than for daughters. Even when parents created a supportive environment, there was little evidence indicating that girls were encouraged to pursue STEM. This analysis highlights the complexity and importance of parental influences on student aspirations. When exploring strategies aimed at encouraging students to consider pathways into STEM, we argue that educational institutions should consider ways of actively involving parents in order to counter stereotypical gendered views of STEM and to expand the range of possibilities considered by both girls and boys.

Modern military organizations are making a concerted effort to recruit a more diverse range of people, with the role of women in the military at the forefront of debate. In Australia, in response to the changing role of the military and with the aim of positioning the military as an "employer of choice" for women, females are targeted as early as high school. Using data from a study of 6,492 Australian school students in Years 3–12, we examine student aspirations for military careers. Student aspirations were influenced by traditional perceptions of the military as a primarily masculine enterprise. Key reasons for student interest included dominant notions of masculinity, familial military experience, career options, and enlistment benefits. We argue that current views of the military among school children signal the need to shift such perceptions to appeal to a wider range of people and attract a more diverse workforce.

This interdisciplinary collection charts the experiences of young people in places of spatial marginality around the world, dismantling the privileging of urban youth, urban locations and urban ways of life in youth studies and beyond. Expert authors investigate different dimensions of spatiality including citizenship, materiality and belonging, and develop new understandings of the complex relationships between place, history, politics and education. From Australia to India, Myanmar to Sweden, and the UK to Central America, international examples from both the Global South and North help to illuminate wider issues of intergenerational change, social mobility and identity. By exploring young lives beyond the city, this book establishes different ways of thinking from a position of spatial marginality