Abstract

In this article we present the development of the Student Access to Higher Education Rurality Index (SAHE-RI). The analysis was performed using a mixed methods design. The quantitative phase consisted of the index development using national secondary databases. The qualitative phase analysed interviews with 12 students with low, medium, and high levels of rurality according to the SAHE-RI. The results confirmed that in this student population, which is about to begin higher education, rurality can be conceptualised as an individual attribute by considering a student's territory of origin and family characteristics. Results also showed that rurality can be measured through quantitative variables, which is a multivariate phenomenon. In the qualitative phase, students reported differences in their context characteristics, and a rurality gradient can be identified in their discourses, implying that descriptive and sociocultural visions of rurality are complementary.