Academic Katriona O'Sullivan to head centre aimed at bringing disadvantaged students into higher education

Professor Katriona O'Sullivan: 'The launch of this centre is our commitment to proving, through evidence and action, that equity strengthens the whole system.' Picture: Moya Nolan

Award-winning academic and author of the bestselling memoir  Poor, Professor Katriona O’Sullivan, is to lead a new national centre focused on supporting students from underrepresented communities to access higher education.

Maynooth University has officially opened the National Centre for Inclusive Higher Education, Ireland’s first national centre dedicated to equity, inclusion, and access in higher education.

The centre creates a ‘hub’ where the equity and inclusion work currently happening across Irish universities and colleges can be shared and strengthened.

There are examples of this internationally, such as Transforming Access and Student Outcomes in the UK or the Australian Centre for Student Equity and Success.

The project aims to understand and implement what works for students and staff from underrepresented and underserved communities to access, succeed in, and progress beyond higher education.

Ms O’Sullivan said: “The launch of this centre is our commitment to proving, through evidence and action, that equity strengthens the whole system.” 

The centre will play a vital role in shaping a more inclusive future for higher education in Ireland, according to minister for future and higher education James Lawless.

“By focusing on what works through research, evaluation, and collaboration, it will help ensure that opportunity in higher education is truly open to all, regardless of background or circumstance.”

Ms O'Sullivan is based in Maynooth University's Department of Psychology and the ALL Institute. Her work with the Stem Passport for Inclusion has helped 6,000 girls from low-income backgrounds into university pathways.  Her acclaimed memoir Poor debuted at number one on the Irish non-fiction charts.