Scaffolding structures to promote widening participation in higher education – a meta-ethnographic analysis of qualitative studies

Introduction Widening participation in education by including students from underrepresented groups has been recognized as important for the last decade. During the recent pandemic, the interest in how to make students from different backgrounds feel part of the university, and connected to their studies and peers, has become an even more widespread concern and therefore important to explore further.The aim of our study was to develop a conceptual model for educational design to support student engagement and participation, by exploring pedagogical aspects recognized as being valuable during widening participation initiatives.