That’s probably a conditioning from a working-class family that didn’t see university as an option.  Honestly, when you sat down as a child and you said, “I want to be an astronaut” – that was not something that… that’s great when you’re five but by the time you’re 13, 14, living in a country town,… Read More


Welcome to 2018! Following a slight hiatus on the First-in-Family blogs, I have prioritised a regular blog after receiving data on how many people actually read the blogs in 2016-2017 – with just under 2,000 reads I have been inspired to keep writing! One of the reasons the blog entries diminished was due to my… Read More


  I was recently invited to participate in the National Roundtable on Students as Partners organised by Kelly Matthews – this was part of Kelly’s Fellowship work and was held at University of Queensland in September. The Students as Partners approach to curriculum development and university engagement is broadly defined by authentic collaboration between staff and students both within… Read More


  ‘I have learnt [university] is not as daunting as I thought…’ (Grandmother of School Student, Survey Respondent 2016) The quote above is derived from research that I have been conducting with the parents / caregivers of future university students, concerning respondents’ perceptions and understandings about university. The data from this research, combined with interviews and surveys… Read More


This week we welcome ‘guest blogger’, Dr Cathy Stone who is currently a NCSEHE Equity Fellow exploring institutional factors affecting the academic success and retention of external, fully online undergraduate students, many of whom are first in their families to enrol in university. With Australian university student numbers set to increase as a result of the demand driven system… Read More


Details of the program and also presentations for our upcoming National Forum: Conversations about Retaining and Engaging First-in-Family Learners in HE have just been released; we are also now calling for Lightening Presentations on Best Practice. So, if you are doing something interesting with first-in-family learners and want to share it, follow the link to our… Read More


“My sphere of influence is small but my awareness has been raised and I can respond more appropriately to possible FiF learners” (Participant: OLT Fellowship Workshop) In February 2015 we held the inaugural First-in-Family Forum at University of Wollongong, the Forum attracted 113 participants from over nineteen universities across Australia. At the culmination of the… Read More


‘[The] benefits [of attending university] are not limited to the learners; the narratives…point to a more collective benefit for students and family members, with attendance at university frequently being the realisation of a collective ambition.’ (O’Shea, Stone, Delahunty & May, forthcoming) Recognising the particular challenges for first-in-family students has been a focus of my research… Read More


  “The workshop was great, very useful. Great layout and enjoyed opportunities for questions and discussions.” Workshop attendee   While this Fellowship is looking broadly at ways to engage with the family and community of first-in-family learners, a key facet is working closely with two case study sites, namely UOW and UNSW. In both sites,… Read More