Role Model Initiative

Outline

Main purpose

Many pupils in secondary schools have questions and doubts about higher education which they don’t share with staff. By working with their peers, we lower the threshold for them to ask questions such as ‘What’s higher education really like?’.

Organized by

For our role model initiative Artevelde University of Applied Sciences (AUAS) works together with Ghent University, HoGent, Odisee, Luca School of Arts, KULeuven, AUGent and the province of East Flanders.

Description

All Flemish secondary schools can have fifth- or sixth-year pupils come into contact with role models from these institutions. Secondary schools in Ghent can even have visits from 10-15 role models, and schools outside of Ghent can come to Arteveldehogeschool to meet role models.

During these visits, the role models talk to small groups of prospective students about their personal experiences in higher education, about the pros and cons, the successes and failures, the lessons, the studying, the exams… In addition, the prospective student can ask questions, for example whether higher education meets the expectations of the role model, whether many papers have to be written in addition to studying… There are always one or two supervisors for the questions that role models don’t know the answer to. These supervisors can be staff from one of the different institutions, but they can also be students that have a couple years of experience being a role model.

More specifically, each role model sits at a table with 4 or 5 pupils and plays a game with them to give them information and to get the conversation started. There are three rounds, each at a different table with a different role model:

1. A quiz with numbers (e.g., what’s the registration fee?)
2. A quiz with pictures (e.g., picture of an auditorium)
3. A round in which expressions and proverbs regarding higher education are discussed

While the three rounds metioned above are the blueprint for the role model initiative, there’s also room for role models to deviate from the script.

At the end of the visit every role model introduces themselves and tells the pupils their personal story. The pupils have the chance to go up to one of them to ask specific questions related to, for instance, being a pioneer student.

There are also three informal activities throughout the year with the intention of creating a sense of community among the role models. During these activities, role models can give input on how it’s going and on the initiative as a whole.

Target group

Pupils (prospective students)

In planning the visits, priority is given to schools with many pupils from disadvantaged communities.

Role models

Role models must meet the following conditions:

• They are a student at AUAS, UGent, Hogeschool Gent, Odisee, Luca School of Arts or they are enrolled in a graduate program.
• They have already passed at least 60 credits.
• They are enthusiastic and sociable.
• They want to commit to several school visits during one academic year.
• They are willing to have training in conversation techniques, intercultural communication and the structure of higher education.

In particular, we encourage the following students to engage as role models:

• Pioneer students (first in the family)
• Students with an atypical prior education path
• Scholarship students
• Students with a disability (learning disability, anxiety disorder, physical disability, chronic illness…)
• Students with certain experiences: living in student housing, going on Erasmus, being a member of a student society…
• Foreign-language students
• Working students
• Students with refugee status or migration background
• Students with top sports status, political mandate, artist status
• Students with caring responsibilities

Many role models have a migration background, have a disability or are the first to attend higher education in their family.

Goals

• Raise awareness about higher education in communities which are underrepresented in higher education.
• Lowering the threshold for people from underrepresented communities to enroll in higher education.
• Informing prospective students about the different ways in which the institutions support their students.

Target group

• Students experiencing socioeconomic obstacles
• Students with (mental) health problems
• Students experiencing obstacles based on ethnic-cultural differences

Obstacles targetted:

• Migrant background obstacle
• Cultural differences
• Social obstacles
• Disability
• Economic obstacles
• Educational difficulties

Students involvement

Students are involved in the initiative’s delivery. They take on the part of role models.

Success criteria

• Some pupils have extremely specific questions that they would not have asked unless they saw a role model with a similar background.
• Pupils who were previously convinced that they wouldn’t be able to attend higher education due to their socioeconomic status, can change their minds based on the information and stories they receive.
• Being able to work together with the different institutions in Ghent.
• The role models become a tight group of people and often become friends.

Points of attention

• The role model initiative would be a valuable tool to use in primary schools as well.
• There are some organizational aspects that could be improved.
• There are less role models because there is only one training moment per subject. Those who cannot attend the training cannot become role models. It would be more convenient to organize multiple training sessions.
• Based on the evaluation, we found out that the different rounds can sometimes take too long. It might be better to have four shorter rounds instead of three.
• It might be useful to add a part dedicated to how prospective students can talk to their parents about choosing higher education. This is especially helpful for prospective pioneer students.
• Communication towards schools with a lot of pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds should be more proactive.

Effectiveness

We track whether these pupils eventually choose to enroll in higher education, but of course you must keep in mind that correlation is not the same as causation.

Do you feel you can effectively provide the support that students require?

Would you recommend this to other institutions?

strongly agree

Evaluation

Yes, the initiative is evaluated in a couple of ways:

• There are three informal activities throughout the year with the intention of creating a sense of community among the role models. During these activities, role models can give input on how it’s going and on the initiative as a whole.
• Every pupil fills in an evaluation form after the visit.

Based on the evaluation, we found out that the different rounds can sometimes take too long. This has not yet been modified.

There have been some practical adjustments based on the experiences of staff and role models, but the subject matter has stayed the same throughout the years, because it has always been evaluated positively.

Communication

• The role model initiative is mentioned on the websites of each of the organizing institutions.
• The initiative is mentioned in a brochure made by AUAS, which gets sent to every secondary school in Flanders.
• The AUAS lists some advantages being a role model can have for students (e.g., free training, a certificate, networking opportunities…) on their website.
• AUAS also uses Yammer, an enterprise social networking service that is part of the Microsoft 365 family of products, to advertise the initiative.
• The initiative is mentioned on screens across the AUAS campuses.
• There are presentations on the subject at conferences.

It’s harder to find role models for the initiative than it is to inform others about the initiative. Of all communication strategies, mouth-to-mouth advertising works best.

Timing

The school visit is about 100 minutes (the equivalent of two lessons in secondary school) and each round takes 20 – 25 minutes. The last part, in which students tell their personal story and answer questions from pupils, takes 10 – 15 minutes.

Based on the evaluation, we found out that the different rounds can sometimes take too long. It might be better to have four shorter rounds instead of three.

Day information

During regular ‘school’ hours.

Resources

• Every institution grants the initiative €1.500 a year, making it so that there’s around €10.000, which is more than enough to cover the travel costs, lunches, teambuilding activities, etc.
• There’s one coordinator at every organizing institution.
• Every institution organizes three school visits, one teambuilding activity and one training.

Extra information

• Rolmodellenwerking (Arteveldehogeschool)

Transferability

We think it is easily transferable to other contexts or groups.

It’s a very straightforward initiative, making it easily transferable to other contexts.

UD was never mentioned during the design of the initiative and the materials used are not accessible for people who, for instance, have a visual impairment.