”Setting them up to fail”: Can we Support “at risk” students too much?

Starting out at university is a special time for students – it is also known to be a time when they are at risk of dropping out. There is much statistical evidence to support this. As enabling educators we ask ourselves, how much should we support at risk students? When is our support too much? By helping these students, are we “setting them up to fail” down the track?

This paper is delivered in light of the Universities Accord, released earlier this year. In the Accord, Jason Clare advocates a widening participation policy, designed to increase access to university. As an educator, I work with students that are often deemed to be at risk, predominantly First Nations students, but also students who are first in family, low SES, and from regional and remote areas – the ones that Clare suggests need to be targeted as recruits in the university of the future. However, some of these students need more support than others if they are going to succeed and eventually graduate. It is in light of this change in demographic that I seek to answer the question: How much support is too much?