Equitable Higher Education: Students’ Perspective on Access to Resources, Participation, and Educational Outcomes

Equity refers to fairness in education, which represents all irrespective of any differences with the goal of access, participation and progression in education. The study, thus, analyzed students’ equity in terms of access, participation and outcomes at higher education. The data had been collected from 641 students enrolled in three public sector general universities of the Punjab using multistage sampling technique. The tool of the study was a self-developed questionnaire, comprising 65 items on Likert-type scale. The quantitative data analysis included percentage analysis, correlation, t-test and ANOVA. The study confirmed the link of equitable access and equitable participation to equitable educational outcomes. The results presented the less positive situation of equity in public sector higher education, whether related to equitable access to resources, equitable participation and equitable educational outcomes. Significant differences were also observed in students’ equity, with respect to family income and mother education. Findings suggested that the education system needed to commit to the principle of fairness leading to equitable higher education.