The 26th annual conference of the European Access Network (EAN) will take place September 20-22, 2017 at the Justus-Liebig-University in Giessen, Germany. It is hosted by ArbeiterKind.de, Germany´s largest network for first generation students. The overall conference theme is ‘Sharing stories of empowerment: Creating new strategies for diversity and inclusion in higher education’. Practitioners, researchers and policy makers are invited to submit proposals for paper, project, workshop and poster presentations addressing the following conference strands/thematic areas:

Diversity in HE: Problem or solution?

A deficit-focused perspective prevails in stories of so-called ‘non-traditional‘ students. Diversity is often seen as a source of problems rather than an untapped resource and strength. How can we change the perception of diversity from a problem to a solution? How can we change our perspective and share stories that value different backgrounds and emphasize strengths of non-traditional students?

Equal Access to HE in Immigrant Societies

Integrating migrants and refugees in higher education systems is an urgent task in Europe. Refugees and migrants face several barriers to accessing higher education, including a lack of information and of individual guidance and support, inadequate provision of language courses for academic purposes, and restricted access to student finance schemes. How are practitioners, policy makers and civil society responding to the challenge?

Student Finance Systems and their impact on access and success

Family wealth still plays a major role in pursuing higher education The doors of higher education institutions are open to all – but you need the necessary financial means to stay inside. Financing not only access, but also success in higher education has turned out to be a major hurdle for talented youth from underrepresented groups. This conference strand aims to discuss affordability and evaluate the role of grants, stipends, scholarships, loans and other student finance strategies.

Diversity: Who Needs to Join the Conversation?

Higher education institutions, policy-makers and students seem to be the most obvious contributors to strength-based strategies for diversity and inclusion in higher education. However, other groups and communities like families, religious and social organisations, businesses and the media might be important stakeholders too. Which voices are missing or overlooked in the present conversation? This conference strand aims to identify change makers and advocates and discuss the impact on power relations on diversity policies.

For more information, please see the Calls for Contributions & Guidelines and Abstract Submissions Form below...

For any conference queries please contact Julia Dolscheid: [email protected] or refer to the EAN conference webpage