Access, Inclusion, Completion, and Employability—Responding to the Needs of Students and Society

Many youths face challenging circumstances due to financial barriers, discrimination, lack of social capital, insufficient academic preparation, low motivation, and lack of access to information about labour market prospects. These obstacles drastically affect their opportunities to access and complete higher education. The eight articles included in this section on access, inclusion, completion, and employability explore equity policy interventions at the national and institutional levels. These include support programs and alternative pathways for specific equity target groups (non-binary students, displaced students, long-term students, delayed students, university dropouts), the intersection of quality assurance and equity, and enhanced employability prospects. Clear definitions and comprehensive approaches are necessary to ensure a thorough understanding of the characteristics and needs of equity target groups, especially those which have not been frequently analysed in the European context, such as long-term students, delayed-entry students, dropouts, students with special needs, migrant students, and non-binary students. Research yields better policy results when it relies on a combination of quantitative surveys and data sets, on the one hand, and qualitative investigations through interviews and focus group meetings, on the other hand.