• Charles Sturt University’s Distinguished Professor Sarah O’Shea will argue a ‘higher’ education should be conceived as a universal human right and requires fundamental shifts in how universities are structured and organised

A Charles Sturt University educational equity expert will examine the complexity of embedding ‘equity’ within the tertiary education system during a free online public lecture on Wednesday 23 October.

Dean of Research at Charles Sturt University Distinguished Professor Sarah O’Shea (pictured above) will deliver the next  Provocations Series Public Lecture online.

The Provocations free public lectures celebrate Charles Sturt University research and aim to challenge orthodoxy through new thinking and consideration of past policy ideas and political thought.

Host of the event Director of External Engagement (Dubbo) Mr James McKechnie said Professor O’Shea has spent nearly three decades teaching and researching in the higher education field and is regarded as an expert in educational equity.

“Professor O’Shea’s research advances understanding about how under-represented student cohorts enact success within university, manage competing identities and negotiate aspirations for self and others,” Mr McKechnie said.

“She has held numerous university leadership positions, which have directly informed changes across the Australian higher education sector and her work has been recognised via numerous awards and fellowships.”

In this Provocations lecture Professor O’Shea will explore how higher education is undergoing a period of significant change globally, including a collective drive to grow the numbers and diversity of students accessing tertiary institutions.

“In Australia, this transformation has been foregrounded by the recent ‘whole of sector’ review led by Professor Mary O’Kane, which has led to critical debate about the role and purpose of our universities,” Professor O’Shea said.

“The resulting Accord report placed equitable student participation front and centre in its deliberations, reminding us that attaining a ‘higher’ education should never be a choice demarcated by postcode, wealth, or family biography but rather, conceived as a universal human right.

“However, embedding ‘equity’ within our tertiary system is a complex undertaking requiring fundamental shifts in how universities are structured and organised.”

Professor O’Shea will critically interrogate the calls for ‘higher education equity’ relative not only to social and political factors, but also the ‘lived experience’ of university attendance for students from more diverse backgrounds.

“By questioning some of the assumed or taken for granted aspects of our tertiary education sector, this presentation will discuss how we might ‘reconsider’ the why or purpose of universities particularly in the context of the current ambitious equity policy agenda,” she said.

Professor O’Shea’s Provocation Series public lecture is a free live-streamed online event from 6pm to 7pm on Wednesday 23 October. Obtain more information and free tickets to the  online presentation: Provocations Public Lecture with Professor Sarah O’Shea | Humanitix