IDEAS project
Identifying Effective Approaches to Enhancing the Social Dimension of Higher Education
Case Study Grid
Collection of case studies of Higher Education equity initiatives
The Bologna Process set the goal that the diversity of students accessing, participating and
completing Higher Education, should reflect the diversity of our populations. The E&T 2020
Strategy calls for an enhancement of education. However, despite decades of investment into
improving the social dimension, results from the EquNet project show that inequity remains
stubbornly persistent, and that inequity based on socio-economic status, parental education,
gender, country-of-origin, rural background and more continue to prevalent in our Higher
Education systems. While improvement has been shown, extrapolation of the gains of the last
40 years in the field show that it could take over 100 years for disadvantaged groups to catch up
with their more advantaged peers, should the current rate of improvement be maintained.
Meanwhile the societies changed as well based on demographic and technological changes
and we are facing changing needs from the labour market and an increasing skills gap.
The IDEAS project partners have gathered to:
 Create a database of initiatives, programmes and projects for enhancing equity in access,
participation and completion of Higher Education from across Europe;
 Screen the database for evidence of a causal link between the initiatives and improvements
in equity for their target groups;
 Understand the environmental, social and political enabling factors which allow successful
examples of practices to take root;
 Select successful examples that can be replicated and disseminated widely to promote
piloting and scaling up in institutions throughout Europe.
We invite you to share with us your examples of best practice equity interventions. An
equity intervention is defined as a specific programme, project or activity, which was designed to
improve access to, participation in or completion of Higher Education for students from
underrepresented groups, and which showed measurable effects. We are specifically looking for
interventions which were implemented at micro- and meso- levels, i.e. by individual institutions,
departments, NGOs or individuals.
Your contribution will be added to the project database and will be analysed to create key
themes for successful initiatives. Some of the examples will be developed into full case studies
examples of best practice which will be disseminated across Europe.
Please complete one table per project and return to us by email.
1: General Information
Title of the case
Website
Case Study provider
Name of the Institution, responsible
person
Contact details
Other links to online materials
(videos, photo’s, documentation, etc.):
Geographical area applied
Place of origin
Timeline of the project
Relevant Learning sector/area
Level 5 / Short Cycle HE
Vocational Education
Professional HE
Academic HE
Other (Please specify)
2: Objectives of the intervention
Please specify the objectives, stated targets and the size/scope of the intervention. Is your
intervention standing on its own or is it a part of a bigger and more holistic approach?
3: Please tell us about the origins and rationale of this initiative
Who initiated the idea (government, student movement, community etc.)? Please describe the
key drivers behind this initiative e.g. local need, institutional priorities, industry led.
Is this initiative based on any particular theoretical framework?
4: Please describe the target groups intended as beneficiaries of this initiative
What is the target group and why has it been chosen? What is the relative size of the target
group, which social characteristics are taken into account and what is the geographical area
covered?
On which level is the project implemented: students, staff, curricula, local communities,
management of the Institutions etc.?
Consider all equality categories: race/ethnicity, country of origin, socio-economic background,
gender, disability, sexual orientation, religion and belief, marital status, age etc.
5: Please describe the political and socio-economic factors that you believe have been
important enablers for your initiative
Did the initiative have political support?
How did it fit with local, regional or national policies?
Who are the stakeholders supporting the initiative?
Are there particular demographic changes present that are influencing the project (e.g. the
labour market situation)?
What is the institutional strategy and culture (e.g. a mission statement or your key strategic
aims)?
Is there public support for your initiative and the issue it addresses?
What other factors do you think have been important for the success of this initiative?
6: Please describe the overall programme design and the methods and tools used to
reach the goals
Please describe the specific activities carried out. What were the key roles within the project?
Which methodological tools have been used to reach the goals?
What are the final outputs of the project?
7: Please describe if your project ensured its sustainability
How did you ensure sustainability of the project?
Has your project been replicated elsewhere?
8: Please tell us about the resources used in this initiative.
What was the budget for the initiative?
How much was funded and from which sources?
How much of financial contribution (including staff costs) came from your institution?
What other resources were required that were not funded e.g. materials, skills and expertise?
How much did the initiative depend on volunteers? How many? How much time? Who?
How were the costs perceived by the public/the sector/other stakeholders?
9: Did the intervention achieve its objectives?
Please describe the evidence to support the success of your initiative.
Did the intervention lead to any unintended outcomes?
How did you evaluate/monitor this intervention?
What indicators (quantitative and qualitative) have you measured to demonstrate success?