Using path models to explore social identity and belonging in widening participation; and managing the attainment gap

Cooperatio – Psychological Sciences

Dr. Kenneth Mavor

(Senior lecturer, School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St Andrews)

Recent papers bring together work on social identity, belonging and learning in a widening participation context in higher education. These papers make use of path models to explore the complex relationships between these concepts, and therefore interpreting path models is useful research skill. The workshop will explore both the key methodological issues in interpreting path models and introduce a number of common constructs used to explore widening participation and the attainment gap in higher education from a social identity perspective.

Dr. Ken Mavor has been publishing in the social identity tradition for 20 years and particularly exploring social identity and learning processes in higher education for over 10 years. Of his 50+ publications, 25 are education related, including an edited book on social identity in educational contexts. In addition, Ken has taught research methods and statistics in Psychology for over 30 years, and he has a particular passion for factor analysis and path models. His research profile.