Cate Gilpin from Welcoming Universities explains why tailored support in UTS’ Pathways Plan will work for low SES and ATSI students
This article has been republished from Campus Review. First published on April 28, 2025.
Universities today have access to more data than ever before to assess student success and graduate outcomes. But having data is only part of the equation. The real challenge is turning insights into action.
The Quality Indicators for Learning and Teaching (QILT) has become an essential tool in higher education, offering independent, comparative data on student experiences and employment outcomes.
From first-year engagement to graduate career trajectories, QILT provides universities with the evidence they need to identify strengths, address challenges, and shape institutional strategies.
Yet, as powerful as this dataset is, universities still face the question of what to do next. How can institutions ensure that QILT findings are not just an annual benchmarking exercise but a driver of meaningful, inclusive change?
QILT’s value lies in its ability to uncover disparities across student cohorts. Recent data has consistently highlighted key equity gaps, including:
- Lower belonging and peer engagement and a higher proportion considering leaving among students with disabilities, as well as consistently lower employment outcomes
- Lower ratings of the educational experience and weaker employment outcomes for international students
- Weaker employment outcomes for domestic students who don’t speak English at home
- Lower belonging and peer engagement among students studying predominantly online
- Mental health, stress and financial difficulties given as the highest reasons students have considered leaving their institution
- Students with a lower sense of belonging to the institution more likely to consider leaving their institution These findings provide a clear evidence base for universities to design targeted interventions. So, how can the higher education sector develop structured mechanisms to apply the data?
Welcoming Universities has a Standard and Accreditation process. It’s one way to put the data into action. The standards set out benchmarks across core areas, including leadership, social and cultural inclusion, teaching, learning and research, and places and spaces, which guide institutions in embedding best practice around welcome, inclusion, and belonging.
It’s not just a checklist – it highlights the key areas where universities can take action, and where Welcoming Universities offers support. For example, these are three indicators from the Standard:
Ensures all staff have access to cultural humility and safety training; executive and senior staff must undertake this training. Some indicators are prescriptive, while others are more flexible. Of course, no single initiative can guarantee zero attrition or eliminate student distress. But frameworks like this offer robust, evidence-
informed model for driving positive change. QILT has been instrumental in driving evidence-based decision-making in higher education, and the sector is already seeing universities use this data to shape policies and improve student experiences. But as equity challenges persist, the question for institutions is not just whether they are collecting the right data – it is whether they are acting on it.
These tools can help universities move beyond reporting and into transformative change, ensuring that all students, regardless of background, have the opportunity to thrive. As universities look ahead, the next step is clear – use the data, apply the insights, and create lasting impact.
Provides culturally specific support services (health, employment, visa support) with staff trained in cultural humility and safety and with an understanding of students’ intersecting identities
Develops considered outreach programs, learning pathways, and educational partnerships with local schools and service providers to engage and serve culturally diverse groups
Cate Gilpin is coordinator of Welcoming Universities, a network that aims to build inclusion and belonging in the higher education sector.
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