Many views of fostering student resilience come from the perspective of a set of individual student traits, skill sets, or the lack of ability to "tough it out", rather than viewing resilience as a holistic entity which involves relationships, community and context. This belief, in turn, disconnects learners from the socio-cultural context in which their learning experience is embedded. These factors can play an equally pivotal role on participation and learning outcomes. This poster proposes a holistic model for understanding student resilience in a time of rapid change in education.

Educational disadvantage is complex. Former and current conceptions of under-represented (equity) groups only partially capture greater equity and diversity issues. Some students in under-represented categories experience little disadvantage. Others who are not recognised as members of under-represented groups can experience extreme disadvantage. This paper argues that educational disadvantage is a multi-dimensional phenomenon. It examines educational disadvantage in terms of equity and multiple equity overlap. It also examines intra-group differences, arguing for the existence of equity sub-groups as factors which cut indiscriminately across all student populations. Furthermore, the paper discusses the data collection instrument that will more clearly discern gradients of student disadvantage. With this knowledge, educational institutions across the sectors, staff, policy makers and funding bodies will be able to better assist student participation, retention and completions.

There are growing calls to make equity a focus of research concern in Australian higher education. In turn such research will, it is anticipated, inform the planning, delivery and implementation of education in an era of rapid global and technological change. Yet to undertake such research requires generating a greater understanding of the complex and multidimensional nature of educational disadvantage for the purposes of equity. This paper explores the 'Equity Raw-Score Matrix' as a means of capturing economic, geographic and social disadvantage.

Online learning has been touted as one means by which disadvantage for participation in higher education can be overcome. A frequent argument for the provision of online learning is the improvement of equity for those previously excluded from higher education 'due to location, family responsibilities, or disability' (Bishop, 2002, p. 231). However, the notion of equity in educational participation can be conceptualised in different ways. McIntyre et al. (2004, pp. 18-19) delineate five perceptions of equity on the basis of the underlying social paradigm upon which they are based: the conservative view of equity (opportunities are available to every individual in a society, and thus no additional equity strategies are necessary); the neo-conservative view (each individual should be able to realise their economic potential which is enabled by access to courses); the neo-liberalist view (social exclusion is the breakdown between an individual and society, thus equity strategies need to manage diversity); the liberal and liberal humanist view (the education system needs to be accessible to all by the redistribution of resources and the removal of any barriers that may be preventing successful participation); and finally, the socialist or radical socialist view of equity (non-dominant groups should be supported and resourced for social justice). In this paper, equity is viewed to as a social justice issue. That is, educational disadvantage should be acknowledged, and students experiencing disadvantage need to be supported in order to achieve educational outcomes.

In 2010, through the generosity of a legacy, DEHub - a consortium of 5 universities established to inform 'best practice' in distance education and based at the University of New England - advertised a scholarship throughout Australia for an Indigenous student to undertake a special research project relating in some way to both Indigenous needs in higher education and the broad field of distance education. From a group of keen applicants who came from a variety of backgrounds and locations, a successful recipient was selected. Following the awarding of the scholarship, the Indigenous scholar, staff from Oorala (the Indigenous Centre at the University of New England), and academic staff from DEHub, worked collaboratively to identify the chosen research topic. This presentation shares the preliminary findings of research into how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples participate in higher education with technology. It also describes the research journey between the Indigenous scholar and the supervisor which was successfully mediated via by synchronous and asynchronous technology in the supervision process itself.

The struggle to make equity the key focal point for institutions of higher education and their key stakeholders - even in a climate of the federal government's social inclusion policy - remains a challenge due to many competing pressures. In 2009, a presentation was given at ACU's Learning, Teaching and Social Justice Symposium based on the preliminary findings of research on multiple educational disadvantage, equity issues in higher education, the overlay of equity subgroups, and the finding of a gradient of educational disadvantage in equity overlap. These findings have subsequently been published in a variety of media. Today's presentation continues the story. It will report on the further research journey of work being conducted in the area of multiple educational disadvantage for the purposes of supporting diversity, guiding pedagogy, and promoting inclusive practices within the higher education sector.

Educational disadvantage is a complex issue. Many argue that the identification of broad equity (underrepresented student) categories do not capture the true nature of disadvantage in education. Beyond this, there have been calls for the creation of measures that will more accurately capture the nature of social determinants of disadvantage, and the role that these play in participation in, and completion of, higher education. The Equity Raw-Score Matrix (Willems, 2009; Willems, forthcoming) has been proposed as one means to more clearly identify the complex and multidimensional nature of educational disadvantage from an individual student's perspective. This information can help supply institutions, governments, policy creators, and funding bodies with detailed (cross-sectoral) data on student inclusion in higher education and help devise strategies to better support participation. This paper further develops the matrix for the purposes of an intended pilot study.