Universities around Australia are increasingly focused on supporting the participation and success of students from marginalised backgrounds. Early research shows that engaging students as partners can better facilitate that success.

Together with Dr Lucy Mercer-Mapstone, we explore the concept of a student-staff partnership and the ways universities can introduce democratic principles into classrooms. Practices such as co-creation and co-design can enhance student learning, and have potential compensatory effects for historically marginalised student groups.

Next, Dr Arti Agrawal tells us about the UTS Women in Engineering and IT programme, an example of student-staff partnerships in action. She discusses the central role that students play as partners – particularly in their schools outreach activities – and share insights on how to engage students in gender equity and inclusion to foster a sense of belonging. We also look at how students’ intersecting identities manifest themselves in real and practical ways.