Abstract:

Widening participation initiatives seek to address persistent structural inequalities in access to higher education, particularly for students from underrepresented backgrounds, while also offering potential developmental benefits for those who design and deliver such programmes. This study examines the experiences of PhD tutors involved in The Brilliant Club Scholars Programme, exploring how participation operates simultaneously as a widening participation intervention for school students and as a site of professional and pedagogical development for early career researchers. Situating the study within literature on outreach pedagogy, near-peer teaching, and doctoral employability, the research considers the often-overlooked labour and learning involved in delivering widening participation work.

Adopting a small-scale mixed methods case study design, data were collected from 13 PhD tutors through an online survey (n = 9) and in-depth semi-structured interviews (n = 2), supplemented by practitioner insight from tutor co-authors (n = 2). Survey data (quantitative items and free-text responses) provided insights from into tutors’ perceptions of programme impact, teaching confidence, and skill development, while qualitative data were analysed thematically to explore motivations for participation, perceived challenges, support structures, emotional labour, pedagogical learning, and evolving career aspirations. This combination enabled a nuanced account of both measurable outcomes and lived experience.

Findings indicate that tutors were strongly motivated by commitments to educational equity and social justice and valued the near-peer positioning of the role in demystifying higher education pathways for students. Participation was widely perceived as supporting significant pedagogical and professional growth, including enhanced classroom management skills, adaptability to diverse learning needs, reflective teaching practice, communication confidence, and increased clarity around future academic and non-academic career trajectories. However, tutors also encountered notable challenges, including managing diverse and neurodiverse learner needs, navigating emotional labour and pastoral expectations, balancing outreach commitments with doctoral workloads, and experiencing a relative lack of peer community or structured opportunities for shared reflection.

The study highlights inherent tensions within widening participation outreach, particularly where teaching and pastoral responsibilities exceed the scope of available training, institutional recognition, or ongoing support. Overall, the findings suggest that widening participation programmes can deliver meaningful dual benefits when intentionally designed to support both learners and tutors. The study concludes by discussing implications for outreach programme design, doctoral training provision, and institutional approaches to early career researcher development, arguing for more holistic recognition of widening participation work as both educational intervention and professional learning space.

Keywords:

Education, structural inequalities, widening participation, tutoring, professional development, early career researchers, PhD students.