The things students don’t say: theorising Narrative Identity to understand non-traditional students’ experiences in higher education

Abstract A persistent challenge for Australian higher education policymakers and researchers has been to understand why policies and practices have met with limited success in widening the participation and attainment of non-traditional students. This paper explores theorising Narrative Identity as a constructive methodological framework for understanding non-traditional students’ experiences in higher education. Using this approach, I critically analyse the contrasting experiences of three non-traditional students who successfully transitioned to university via an enabling program but who had significantly different (and unanticipated) levels of engagement and success in their studies. ‘Transformation’ emerged as a recurring theme in students’ perceptions of becoming academically capable students. Applying a social constructionist lens, I explore the intersections and interactions between discourses of disadvantage and transformation within the context of neoliberal higher education structural discourses. Interview data conveys students’ changing values and behaviours, revealed in their rejection of prior ‘not capable’ identities and performance of their new ‘capable student’ identity. Students’ understandings of self provide insights relevant to the sustainability of their ‘capable student’ identity and, therefore, the quality of their engagement and success. The paper concludes with a consideration of Australian higher education policy and urges greater consideration of identity challenges faced by non-traditional HE students.