Cinderella on the path at midnight: students on regional university campuses and equity

Just as Cinderella’s prospects for attending the ball seemed elusive, so does higher education for people living in rural, remote and regional locations in Australia. The concentration of university campuses in Australian capital cities systematically diminishes opportunities for people living in regional locations. Indeed, most regional communities in Australia do not have access to a local university campus. This article presents research that captures the voices and experiences of students studying on three small regional university campuses through semi-structured interviews. Acknowledging their intersectional diversity linked to gender, ethnicity, caring and cultural responsibilities, disability, and socio-economic status, a thematic analysis of the students’ responses revealed four key themes. These themes illuminate the inequities faced by regional tertiary students using a strengths discourse that recognises the aspirational and experiential capital that informs what it takes to combat such adversity to succeed in higher education. This research contributes vital knowledge that recognises the cultural capital of regionally based higher education students, their commitment to place and contribution to place-based knowledge and learning.