Content area
Full Text
Introduction
University/college outreach programmes are operated in many parts of the world, such as in Ethiopia (Getie et al. , 2012), Mexico (University of Colima, http://www.ucol.mx/english/vinculacion/), Australia (Crawford and McKenzie, 2011), South Africa (Edwards et al. , 1998), New Zealand (Shulruf et al. , 2008) and China (Shin Shin Educational Foundation, http://www.shinshinfoundation.org/index.php?lang=en&id=24). Sometimes an outreach programme would be initiated to increase university globalization (e.g., Burnett and Huisman, 2010). However, usually, these programmes address disadvantaged youth in pursuit of increasing their enrolment in higher education. Be it due to one motive or another, questions related to the utility of outreach programmes and the ways to improve them deserve further explorations.
Theoretical Background
Achieving higher education is becoming part of one's existence for many young people worldwide. There is consistent evidence that points to a global increase in the rate of young people enrolling in higher education (OECD, 2011). Nevertheless, the under-representation in higher education of students of low socio-economic status ('SES') is still evident and well documented (Bastedo and Ozan, 2011; Frempong et al. , 2012). That is, regardless of their academic abilities or qualifications, high SES students are more able to take advantage of enrolment in higher education than their low SES counterparts (e.g., Astin and Oseguera, 2004; Young, 2004; Addi-Raccah and Ayalon, 2008).
The lower rate of low SES students who apply for HE compared to high SES students can be attributed to several reasons, among which are the lack of economic, socio-cultural and psychological resources (e.g., Adelman, 2006); the inadequate rigour of school curricula; limited access to relevant information and guidance; and a lower level of parental education and encouragement. All these factors significantly reduce enrolment in HE of high school students from low SES background (Cabrera and La-Nasa, 2000; Plank and Jordan, 2001). Furthermore, since students from low SES backgrounds live in poor communities, they are also exposed to additional negative factors in their communities, which affect their educational achievements (Ainsworth, 2002). Poor communities are considered to have few resources (such as libraries or educational institutions) and few adult role models, both of which are needed to support young aspiring students (Young, 2004). Consequently, all in all, although students from low SES backgrounds may have the necessary academic and cognitive abilities required...