Engaging Equity Students in Business Education: LEAP into Commerce across Regional, Rural, and Remote NSW

Description of impact *

Prashan represents MQBS in Macquarie University’s widening participation program – LEAP (Learning, Education, Aspiration, Participation). He takes two lessons of the Bachelor of Commerce on Production & Costs and on Monetary & Fiscal Policy to engage from refugee, asylum-seeker, indigenous, regional, rural, and remote backgrounds.

LEAP Events

Prashan has participated in the biannual LEAP campus events since 2015, and the biannual LEAP Roadshows since 2018. His lessons have engaged 20+schools, 2,000+ students, and 1,000+ community members in the Riverina, the Hunter, the Mid-North Coast, and Broken Hill – inspiring the study of commerce at university. Throughout this period, due to these lessons, Willyama High School in Broken Hill attributes a 250% increase in Maths and Economics related pathways for graduates.

HEPPP (Higher Education Participation and Partnerships Program) Projects

In 2019, Prashan led the launch of the HEPPP-funded project ($15,000) – LEAP into Finance, Business, and Economics Literacy – impacting hundreds of students across five equity schools.

In 2020, Prashan led a team of 8 MQBS colleagues from each department to launch another HEPPP-funded project ($32,450) – the National Equity Program for Business Education. They launched – LEAP into HSC Business Studies – free videos for Year 12 students.

For the 2022 HSC cohort, Prashan led part of this team to work with the Widening Participation Unit to launch HSC Study Labs for HSC Business Studies – high quality videos, interactivities, and study tools which are provided for free to partner equity schools, and for a subscription to other school students.

“In 2018 alone he has engaged with and inspired hundreds of students from disadvantaged backgrounds… he switches on the light of possibility of higher education and the confidence to pursue it. This is a light that may not have been switched on before.” – Widening Participation Manager (2019).