Ontario Universities' Valued Applicants: Critically Analyzing the Discourse in Mission Statements and Strategic Mandate Agreements

• In Event: 41.084 - Roundtable Session 16
  In Roundtable Session: 41.084-4 - Missed Opportunities: How Epistemologies Foster Inequalities Through Educational Reform

Abstract

Increasing access to postsecondary education for underrepresented groups has been a government priority in Ontario for the past decade. This study investigated whether and how these efforts are reflected in university mission statements, and strategic mandate agreements which indicate how and why the institutions are differentiated. Critical discourse analysis, supported by Bakhtin’s dialogic view of language, found hidden meanings within both documents allocating power to some applicant groups over others. The documents distinguished among applicants from certain geographic areas, with specific interpersonal traits, with academic inclinations, and those from certain underrepresented groups. Implications for all universities, as they create public statements of their priorities and values are discussed in terms of access, accountability, and possibly undesirable institutional and system change.

Authors

• Fatima Samji, University of Toronto

• Ruth A. Childs, University of Toronto - OISE