Schedule - Access & Equity in Higher Education for Mature Students Research Symposium

If you have any questions, please contact us at aehems@utoronto.ca

 

October 4, 2024

9:00 - 9:30am

Welcome & Refreshments

Room:
OISE Library

9:30 - 10:00am

Jingle Dance, Welcome & Introduction

Room:
OISE Library

Nichole Leveck & Izaiah Cada
Nadia Qureshi & Dargine Rajeswaran

10:00 - 10:45am

Keynote Presentation: Who are Mature Students?

Room:
OISE Library

Dr. Lance McCready

This opening keynote will define who mature students are and identify the particular forms of discrimination they face in accessing and remaining in higher education.

10:45 - 11:00am

Break

Room:
OISE Library

11:00am - 12:00pm

Paper Sessions: Reflections on Lived Experience and Teaching Mature Students Across Contexts

  • Room
    5230

    Dr. Jill Carter & Discussant Jennifer Sylvester

    This session explores questions around curating spaces and conditions where adult learners in higher education will serve generations that follow them. Two Indigenous scholars will engage in discussions around working with learners without (re)traumatizing them.

  • Room
    OISE Library

    Dr. Chevy Eugene & Dr. Isaac Saney & Marcus Singleton

    In this session, Black scholars with long-standing histories and lived experiences in access programs like TYP will explore how systemic racism and barriers are challenged using decolonial pedagogies, drawing from Black scholars and amplifying Black voices, to teach and learn from students as educators in access programs.

  • Room
    2289

    Dr. Max Mishler & Rachel Klein & Discussant Dargine Rajeswaran

    This session explores whether contemporary prison education programs in the age of mass incarceration are complimentary parts of a broader project of decarceration and, potentially, prison abolition or if they function to justify, naturalize, and expand the reach of America’s carceral state.

  • Room
    2296

    Nadia Qureshi & Thelma Akyea & Jessica Stockdale

    This session will discuss the underrepresentation of racialized and mature students in STEM post-secondary. Panelists will discuss their respective research studies on additional barriers mature students face accessing STEM, and implications for STEM pathways and curriculum.

  • Room
    5240

    Dr. Tanya Aberman & Dr. Paloma Villegas

    This session focuses on York University’s Sanctuary Scholars program which works to deborder Higher Education (HE) to provide pathways for migrant students with precarious immigration status-non-status, refugee claimants, applicants for permanent residence, certain visa holders, etc.-- to enroll in undergraduate programs and pay domestic tuition rates.

12:00 - 1:00pm

Lunch

Room:
Nexus Lounge

1:00 - 1:45pm

Keynote Presentation: Student Funding

Room:
OISE Library

Dr. Daniel Corral

Through an exploration of financing decisions of a 2015 cohort of bachelor’s degree graduates, this keynote explores student funding needs, access, and implications. Preliminary findings suggest mature students experienced an increased likelihood of incurring debt, delaying their ability to benefit from their postsecondary credential.

1:45 - 2:00pm

Break

Room:
OISE Library

2:00 - 3:00pm

Roundtable Sessions

Room:
OISE Library
Participants will engage in two roundtables, each holding 2-3 short presentations and facilitated Q&A. Roundtable presentations share practical approaches to supporting mature students with accessing higher education. Each presenter will share an overview of how they provide support to mature students in their current roles, a best practice, and a challenge they face.

  • Shane Wallace & Alyssia Bueno

  • Brandon Cole & Maryanne Small

  • Layla Warsame & Amanda Andrews & Helen Katz

3:00 - 3:15pm

Break

Room:
OISE Library

3:15 - 3:45pm

Keynote Presentation: Future Directions - Reflections on Research

Room:
OISE Library

Helen Tewolde

The closing keynote will wrap up the full day symposium by highlighting critical learnings from the day and identifying future areas of research. Important connections to the ASPO Office and wider community will also be discussed.

3:45 - 4:00pm

Break

Room:
OISE Library

4:00 - 5:00pm

Reception in Nexus Lounge

Room:
Nexus Lounge
Learn more about the AEHEMS Symposium