2016 Equity Fellow

Dr Erica Southgate has secured a prestigious Equity Fellowship from the National Centre for Student Equity in Higher Education (NCSEHE) worth over $200,000.

The NCSEHE Equity Fellows Programme supports Fellows to undertake rigorous leadership projects that aim to improve the access, participation and success of students from diverse backgrounds in higher education.

Dr Southgate will be exploring how schools and universities can use new technologies to connect disadvantaged youth interested in high status professions such as law, medicine and engineering.

Research shows there is a lack of representation of students from diverse backgrounds in high status professions such as law, engineering and medicine.

"Harnessing new technologies as educational and communication tools is an area where scholarly practice meets product building for increasing equity of opportunity and access. This project seeks to build a practical roadmap of new technologies that can overcome geographic and social distance to connect individuals and groups in engaging ways," said Dr Southgate.

As a scholar for the School of Education, Dr Southgate has diverse experience across policy, community development and project management.

Dr Southgate has already produced successful digital resources designed to help students develop literacy and study skills, including the Uni Tune In, Apostrophe Power and Sentence Hero Apps.

Dr Southgate's project, Fair connection to professional careers, will commence in 2016.