Evaluation Capacity Building in Access and Widening Participation Contexts in Higher Education

Sharkawi, Talia and Pawelski, Matthew (2025) Evaluation Capacity Building in Access and Widening Participation Contexts in Higher Education. In: Advance HE Teaching and Learning Conference 2025, 2025-07-01 - 2025-07-03, University of Sheffield.

Abstract

Evaluation of student outcomes has become integral to access and widening participation support provisions in UK higher education institutions in recent years, as underscored by regulatory frameworks. A number of skill sets and infrastructural resources underpin effective evaluative practices in higher education organizational contexts. As regulators are aware that many university staff working in access and widening participation (and beyond) do not necessarily come from evaluation backgrounds or possess direct evaluation experience, evaluation capacity building is positioned as critical to improving engagement with and delivery of evaluation at universities. However, considerable, often hidden, challenges to evaluation capacity building mean that capacity development can fall short of addressing fundamental cultural or organizational challenges thereby inhibiting development and progress. This paper will explore some of these challenges (as well as the potential opportunities) by focusing on evaluation capacity building in the context of access and widening participation in higher education in the UK. It draws on qualitative interviews, participatory mapping exercises, and observations of the work of colleagues within the intersecting spaces of access and widening participation, EDI, and decolonization, combined with a qualitative examination of the digital infrastructures and methods that facilitate the delivery and the process and impact evaluation of their work. Preliminary findings point to these challenges and to how staff use innovative practices to overcome some of these hurdles connected to digital infrastructures. Our findings underline that improving capacity is only one step on the journey to integrating evaluative practices and cultures into an institution or organization, which can lead to better quality evaluations. The presentation concludes with highlighting several key factors to consider from the outset that can help increase the opportunities for effective evaluation capacity building initiatives.