One of the joys / delights of being a university chancellor is presiding over graduation cermonies.
Most of their families are uninhibitedly proud, even as
some of the graduands feign all shades of cool.
As students receive their testamurs they are greeted not
just by enthusiastic clapping and cheering but at the University of Western
Sydney, over which I preside – and as a reflection of the increasing
number of Arabic, Indian and African background students – ululating.
The ceremony conveys an important story. Unfortunately
it's often only half told.
The great majority of those in the audience, whose children
are the first generation of their family to enjoy university, recognise the
magnitude of the achievement and the possibilities it represents. By creating
an institution open to all students of ability, no matter what their background
or family circumstance, Australian society is continuously revitalised.
Both Gough Whitlam and Robert Menzies before him had the
vision and foresight to see higher education as the gateway to economic and
social mobility. They understood that education is about widening opportunity
not lowering standards.
Universities need to provide the teaching and support that
guarantees the educational capacity of students when they complete their
courses of study. Armed with a degree (and the learning that it represents),
graduates have a world of career options opened to them. Their personal
achievement is reflected not only in the higher lifetime earnings they are
likely to enjoy but also a richer and more rewarding life.
The proportion of Western Sydney students of low
socio-economic status who gain entry to UWS is almost twice the national
average. That's scarcely surprising given the region's lower education and
skill levels, higher unemployment, poorer health standards, worse infrastructure
and fewer cultural facilities. The metrics tell a tale of two cities.
Yet disadvantage is only part of the story. There is a
second interwoven narrative that sits alongside the traditional evocations of
economic obstacles and social deficit. It goes to the heart of the dynamism
that marks the extraordinary energy of Western Sydney and the brash but
distinctive confidence it is starting to exude. Central to this is its vibrant
ethnic diversity.
The traditional lands of the Dharug peoples are now home to
the largest Aboriginal community in Australia. In large measure that reflects
the movement of Indigenous families to the area in search of a better life.
Increasing numbers of their children are gaining entry to UWS. They will be the
community leaders of the future.
Western Sydney is also the chosen home of increasing
immigrant populations, particularly from the Middle East and Asia. Fairfield,
Westmead, Harris Park, Rhodes, Homebush West and Parramatta are the new
bustling migrant neighbourhoods of Australian life.
Around a third of the domestic students who attend UWS come
from families that speak a language other than English at home. The second
languages of most of our bilingual students are Arabic, Vietnamese, Cantonese,
Mandarin, Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi, Tamil, Filipino/Tagalog or Korean. Increasing
numbers of our students come from the Pacific islands.
We need to stop thinking about this archetypally Australian
process of migrant settlement in terms of barriers of language and
discrimination. Migrants (and refugees) bring entrepreneurial drive and
ambition for their children. Young people brought up in two cultures possess an
additional asset that can enhance their educational qualifications in business,
law, medicine, nursing, teaching, engineering or community work.
The public return on the government subsidy invested in the
human capital of graduates will only be fully realised if that positive value
of diversity is recognised. Education, after all, is about maximising the
economic and social return to the wider Australian community not just improving
lifetime opportunities for the students themselves.
Ethnicity, in this profound sense, has positive
characteristics. Think of it as "hip-pocket multiculturalism". It
is the productive diversity than can be liberated by a university
education.
As the Prime Minister and NSW Premier lead business
delegations to India, China, Vietnam and Indonesia, it is clear that the
linguistic and cultural attributes of Australian students can help to create
new opportunities for trade and commerce.
Earlier this year, in the Griffith Review, Kathy
Marks provocatively argued about "How the Westies Won". Not won, I
think, but winning. The potential of Western Sydney is limited only by our
imagination. The key is to unlock through education the aspirational energy
that exists. Equally important, we need to recognise the cultural skills and
family ambition that graduates from diverse backgrounds can bring to building a
stronger nation. The students who shake my hand are the future face of
Australia.
Peter Shergold, the
former secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, is now
Chancellor of the University of Western Sydney.
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