Exploring Conditions for Successful Research-Practice Partnerships for the "Connecting Our Future" Program in the Netherlands

• In Event: Harnessing the Power of Research-Practice Partnerships to Tackle Inequities: An Exploration of Possibilities and Pitfalls During a Pandemic

Abstract

Although the pressing problem of unequal opportunity in access to Higher Education (HE) is widely acknowledged and researched (Robinson & Salvestrini, 2020; Whitty, Hayton, & Tang, 2015), limited empirical knowledge exists about the role of universities in comprehensive approaches to increasing access for historically underrepresented groups (Gorard & Smith, 2006). The Erasmus University of Rotterdam currently develops a new outreach program "Connecting Our Future", which interrogates the role of the university in school improvement efforts focused on increasing access among historically underrepresented students.

The program is based on a partnership with 15 Rotterdam-based elementary and secondary schools, civil society organizations and social entrepreneurs, children and youth, and the municipality of Rotterdam, drawing on the idea of a Research-Practice Partnership (Coburn & Penuel, 2016). Within this RPP, we develop and evaluate a series of connected outreach efforts that run from the first year of primary education to the final year of secondary education and reach out to students, teachers, parents, and school leaders. In this presentation, we will share preliminary insights about how we have been building an evolving RPP between the university and schools in the city with the aim to increase access to HE among historically disadvantaged students.

Authors

• Nicolette van Halem, Erasmus Rotterdam University

• Anne I. Wijtzes, Erasmus University Rotterdam

• Rutger Engels, Erasmus University Rotterdam

• Semiha Denktas, Erasmus Rotterdam University