Access & Equity in Higher Education for Mature Students Research Symposium
Event Notice
Unfortunately, we will not have an ASL interpreter available at this year's AEHEMS Research Symposium due to funding constraints. We understand that this may impact some attendees, and we sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. We will post content on our social media following the symposium with closed captioning.
We are committed to making our events as accessible as possible and are actively working to improve our programming in the future. If you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to contact us.
Thank you for your understanding.
About the Symposium
The overarching purpose of the symposium is to disseminate existing knowledge on mature students’ access to higher education (HE) and to build a network of scholars and practitioners to support equity and access work for mature students across Canada and internationally. The symposium also seeks to identify gaps and future research directions on mature students’ access to HE and access programs that help mature students make the transition to HE.
HE access is a relatively new area of scholarship in Canada, so the proposed research symposium, which builds a foundation for praxis for mature students’ access to HE is extremely timely.
The symposium will bring together adult and continuing education scholars, community educators, student services personnel, alumni and policy makers, to exchange research knowledge and best practices related to conceptualizing equity and access to HE for mature students. The symposium will provide opportunities for networking, collaboration, and exchange of ideas between internationally renowned scholars of adult and continuing education who focus on mature students, Transitional Year Programme alumni with lived experience of equity and access to HE as mature students, community educators who work to provide access to HE through advocacy, advising and support, and access program and student services personnel who work with mature students in HE.
As a forum for knowledge exchange and translation it will achieve this goal through panel presentations that feature researchers and practitioners presenting short papers, followed by dialogue facilitated by scholars in adult and continuing education. The final session of the symposium will feature a roundtable discussion among symposium participants on the future of equity and access for mature students in times of crisis.
Specifically, the objectives of the symposium are:
- To share existing knowledge on mature students’ access to HE
- To support reciprocal relationships and knowledge exchange between scholars, administrators and other knowledge users
- To identify knowledge gaps and future research directions to support equity and access work for mature students across Canada and internationally.
More information about TYP and Access & Equity in Higher Education for Mature Students Research Symposium
The Transitional Year Programme (TYP) is one of Canada’s oldest access programs for mature students, having been established in the 1970s. The research symposium and last year’s anniversary gala commemorate over 50 years of leading equity and access work in the higher education sector. Over the past five decades, TYP has proudly championed non-traditional students who have experienced barriers to participate in post-secondary studies when they have otherwise been limited, producing University of Toronto graduates who are employed in various capacities in institutions in Toronto and elsewhere.
Event Details
October 4, 2024
9:00 AM to 4:00 PM
Event Location
Ground Floor, OISE Library
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education
University of Toronto
252 Bloor Street West
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
M5S 1V6
Getting to OISE
Subway
St. George subway station, Bedford Rd. exit.
Parking
Green P Parking is available underground, with access from Prince Arthur Ave.
Contact us
If you have any questions, please contact us at aehems@utoronto.ca.
Keynotes
Who are Mature Students?
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.
Student Funding
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.
Future Directions: Reflections on Research
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 Access office and wider community will also be discussed.
Lance T. McCready
Professor Lance T. McCready is an associate professor in the Department of Leadership, Higher and Adult Learning at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. He is the Director of the Transitional Year Programme.
Daniel Corral
Dr. Daniel (Danny) Corral is an assistant professor of higher education in the Department of Leadership, Higher and Adult Education at OISE, University of Toronto.
Helen Tewolde
Helen Tewolde is the inaugural Director of the University of Toronto’s Access Strategy & Partnerships Office (ASPO). This office plays a key role in funding unique access initiatives across the tri-campus, developing partnerships and facilitating knowledge transfer and dialogue on strategic access issues.
Paper Presentations
Indigenous Mature Students (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.
African/Caribbean/Black Mature Students (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.
Prison Education for Mature Students (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.
STEM Education for Mature Students (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.
Mature Students with Precarious Status (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.
Presenters
Tanya Aberman
Tanya Aberman (she/her) holds a PhD in Gender Feminist and Women’s Studies from York University. She is the coordinator of the Sanctuary Scholars programs at York University and Toronto Metropolitan University, programs that provide access to the universities for students who have precarious immigration status.
Thelma Akyea
Thelma Akyea, a doctoral candidate at OISE, University of Toronto, focuses on Black feminist theorizing, sociocultural learning theories, curriculum studies, and physics education. Her current research examines the educational experiences of Black women in Canadian post-secondary physics and astronomy. She is also a vice-principal with a focus on equity and inclusion.
Jill Carter
As a researcher and theatre-worker, Jill Carter (Anishinaabe/Ashkenazi) works in Tkaron:to with many Indigenous artists to support the development of new works and to disseminate artistic objectives, process, and outcomes through community-driven research projects.
Chevy Eugene
Dr. Chevy Eugene is an Assistant Professor in the Black and African Diaspora Program (BAFD) at Dalhousie University, Canada.
Rachel Klein
Rachel Klein is a PhD candidate in the department of American Studies & Ethnicity at the University of Southern California.
Max Mishler
Max Mishler is currently Assistant Professor of History at the University of Toronto, where he specializes in the history of the Atlantic World; comparative slavery and emancipation; histories of capitalism; and social movements in American history.
Nadia Qureshi
Nadia Qureshi (she/her) is a PhD candidate at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto. Her doctoral research uses Critical Race Theory to center the experiences of excluded voices in the field of STEM education.
Dargine Rajeswaran
Dargine Rajeswaran is a PhD student at the University of Toronto, envisioning abolitionist programming where impacted people drive the design of transformative education.
Isaac Saney
Isaac Saney is a Black Studies and Cuba specialist at Dalhousie University, and coordinator of Black and African Diaspora Studies.
Marcus Singleton
Marcus Singleton is a passionate and critical-thinking hip-hop artist and educator originally from the South Side of Chicago. His PhD research challenges anti-Black policies and systems.
Jessica Stockdale
Jessica Stockdale is a M.Sc. student at the University of British Columbia where she is investigating the challenges faced by post-secondary access programs to offer pathways to science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).
Jennifer Sylvester
Jennifer Sylvester an Anishinaabekwe of Pottawatomi, Chippewa and Odawa nations from the Beausoliel First Nation. She is currently in her fifth year of her Ph.D in Leadership, Higher and Adult Education (LHAE) at University of Toronto - Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE).
Paloma E. Villegas
Paloma E. Villegas (she/her) was born in Mexico and migrated to California as a child. She is a first-generation college graduate as well as an Associate Professor in the department of Sociology at California State University, San Bernardino.
Presenters
Amanda Andrews
Amanda Andrews is an Anishnawbe Kwe from Neyaashiinigmiing Unceded First Nation, Ontario. Amanda is currently in the role of Indigenous Career Educator with Career Exploration and Education, Student Life.
Alyssia Bueno
Alyssia Bueno is a Student Success Programs Officer at the Faculty of Arts & Science, and former Learning Strategist supporting students in the Transitional Year Programme and Academic Bridging Program at the University of Toronto.
Brandon Cole
Brandon Cole is the Outreach & Admissions Coordinator for the Transitional Year Programme for the University of Toronto. Brandon focuses on community development and supporting vulnerable populations and educational opportunities.
Helen Reddy Katz
Helen Reddy Katz is a Family Care Advisor within the University of Toronto’s Family Care Office. She has been supporting students with family responsibilities at UofT in various roles for over fifteen years.
Maryanne Small
As Manager of Initiatives and Program Planning within the Office of External and Community Relations at George Brown College, Maryanne strives to design and deliver quality educational initiatives and steward high value partnerships that focus on access to training and employment for underserved populations.
Shane Wallace
Shane Wallace is the Registrar at the Transitional Year Programme, a University of Toronto special access programme that provides support to communities historically underserved by the University.
Layla Warsame
Layla Warsame is the Alumni Engagement Officer at the Transitional Year Programme (TYP) at UofT. She is passionate about educational and career trajectories, along with supporting students through student services to strive towards their greatest potential.
The Access & Equity in Higher Education for Mature Students symposium is generously supported by a Connections Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.
