Enhancing Equity in Australian Higher Education Using Fuzzy Trace Theory

Australian higher education is unequal, with regional and remote students under-represented and less likely to succeed at university despite decades of policy initiatives. Regional and remote communities are diverse, requiring tailored marketing communications to improve their university participation and experience. There is often a considerable gap between pre-commencement expectations and perceived experiences of first-year, first-time (FYFT) students. The purpose of this research is to better understand how the pre-commencement expectations of FYFT regional university students are influenced by Fuzzy Trace Theory’s (FTT) gist mental representations and the influence this has on their satisfaction. This study qualitatively explores a theoretical framework linking FTT with expectations, cognitive dissonance, action/inaction responses and satisfaction. The five identified insights were pre-commencement expectations for (1) micro-cohort connections, (2) macro-cohort connections and (3) recreational connections that, when not met, led to FYFT regional university students’ (4) responding with action or inaction, or both; with (5) action responses leading to increased satisfaction and inaction responses leading to decreased satisfaction. This research is novel, exploring and establishing the influence of FTT gist representations on FYFT regional university students’ pre-commencement expectation development to help address educational inequality. These findings confirm the powerful influence university marketing communications have on underrepresented groups.