Western Sydney University program empowering Pasifika students finalist for AFR Higher Education Awards 2023
A Western Sydney University program empowering Pasifika students has been acknowledged as a finalist in this year’s Australian Financial Review Higher Education Awards.
Recognised in the Equity and Access category, the Pasifika Achievement to Higher Education (PATHE) program strives to support high school students, the wider Pasifika community and current students of the University to achieve their education and career goals.
Sophie Partridge, Director of Future Student Engagement, said the PATHE program’s strength is its focus on community-based and culturally-responsive approaches, with a commitment to student support, outreach activities and community-based projects.
“The program’s mission is for Pasifika students to access further education, thereby helping to enhance their community, career and life outcomes, whilst addressing the underrepresentation of Pasifika people in higher education,” said Ms Partridge.
“The University is delighted to be recognised as a finalist in the Australian Financial Review Higher Education Awards for this impactful program.”
Established in 2012, the program initially supported current students of the University, later evolving to include outreach to Pasifika high school students, providing them with information and experiences to empower them to see tertiary study as an option for their future.
In 2022, the program delivered more than 50 events to over 1,000 students and 127 teachers across 35 high schools. 70 students from the University participated in the program, while more than 700 community members engaged in the program throughout the year.
In the same year, Year 12 students participating in the program received the largest number of offers to study at the University, with the largest number of students going on to enrol to study in 2023.
Bronwyn Williams, Senior Project Officer, Community, within Future Student Engagement, said enhancing outcomes for young Pasifika people through the pillars of school, university, and community is at the heart of PATHE.
“PATHE takes a multi-faceted and culturally informed approach to working with Pasifika people, enhancing aspirations, skills and knowledge, whilst empowering them to embrace educational opportunities,” said Ms Williams.
“Behind the program is a dedicated team of staff and student ambassadors who share their lived experience of education and engage with students early in their high school years through to university.”
Activities offered by the program include one-on-one consultation sessions, career guidance and leadership workshops, and students are provided with leadership skills, tools, and strategies to become leaders within their schools and in the wider community. The University also offers the PATHE Academic Scholarship, which is valued at up to $20,000.
Aleisha Kamsoo, who studies the Bachelor of Arts (Pathway to Teaching Secondary) at the University, was introduced to the PATHE program as a Year 8 student at Liverpool Girls High School.
“I remember being intrigued by the PATHE student ambassadors, who came along to our school and shared their stories with us. My peers and I were taken aback at some of the fields that these ambassadors were studying in, as a lot of these areas did not see much Pasifika representation,” said Aleisha.
“Seeing young Pasifika men and women utilise higher education as a stepping stone to chase their dreams sparked an interest in my younger self, and further developed into a desire to explore higher education.”
The 21-year-old from Liverpool said the empowerment she experienced has remained with her eight years later and to this day, fuels her goals, including her dream to be a high school teacher that makes a difference in students’ lives, particularly for Pasifika students in western Sydney.
“PATHE helped me to find my passion, break it down into career goals and understand the various pathways into university with the various degrees that could take me to where I wanted to be and it continues to support me in my studies,” she said.
Aleisha said a highlight of her university experience so far has also been working as a student ambassador for numerous programs at the University, particularly PATHE.
“It has been a full circle moment for me to work with Pasifika high school students and be in the same position as those student ambassadors who visited my school all those years ago.”
The 2023 Australian Financial Review Higher Education Awards will be announced at a special event on Tuesday, 22 August.
Pasifika Achievement to Higher Education (PATHE) program participant, Aleisha Kamsoo
ENDS
18 August 2023
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