Page 35 - RUICHSS 2023 Proceeding

University of Ruhuna ISSN: 2706-0063
Matara, Sri Lanka

Students from rural areas, small towns, and islands:

Reasons for the underrepresentation of students from rural areas include financial
difficulties because higher education institutions are located in urban areas.
Schools in rural areas often do not have the same resources as schools in urban

areas. Additionally, family and community support for study is often lower in rural
areas, and there is also a digital divide issue compared to students from urban areas

(Kiš-Glavaš, 2019).

Refugees and asylum seekers:

Refugees and asylum seekers are considered, in the European and Croatian space,
as a group in need of special protection, whose integration must be systematically

supported by the national state. Lack of knowledge of the Croatian language, lower
socioeconomic status, lack of integration into society, the education system, and
the labour market, as well as problems with housing, are just some of the problems

that these potential students face on a daily basis (Kiš-Glavaš, 2019).

This definition of vulnerability is consistent with the assumption that students from

vulnerable and underrepresented groups encounter specific barriers related to their
social position and identity during their studies. Recognition of the aforementioned
barriers is a prerequisite for strengthening the social dimension of higher

education, i.e., for expanding the "real options" for successful study and graduation
(Puzić et al., 2020).

Well, how can we support them? What should we do?

Today, higher education institutions can no longer be just providers of courses, but
should instead serve as facilitators of a functional link between students and
graduates, their careers, education, and the business world. A student-oriented

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