The importance of social factors on access and equity in higher education based on the views of students, lecturers, and managers at the university is evident (authors, 2022b). In the present study, we want to understand the role of social (f)actors in more detail and discuss the role and mechanisms of social factors based on successful alumni views (former Bidikmisi recipients) and their experiences during their studies. Authors (2022a) identified that social factors appear to be crucial factors in (both) access and equity in higher education, however, how these factors contribute to students’ success and interact remains still largely unknown. Therefore, the present study intends to look at the role and effect of social factors (provided by family, peers, teachers, and lecturers), starting from the time before entering university (access) and during the process of studying at university (equity).

Social support plays a crucial role in access and equity in higher education and refers to the role of family (parents and other family members), peers (in both high school and university), teachers, and lecturers (authors, 2022a). Support provided by these actors is different from one student to another student.  Therefore, the present study aims to provide a detailed explanation of which, how, and to what extent support provided by these actors has influenced access and equity in higher education of individual alumni according to their own perceptions.

The main research question of this study is as follows; (i) What roles do social factors play in access and equity for LSES (Bidikmisi alumni) in the Indonesian university context?, (ii) What do we learn more about the role of social factors when asking successful Bidikmisi alumni for their experiences?

The notion of social support in the context of higher education is significant as all students regardless of race, gender, or social class must cope with the transition from high school to and through college (Evans et al., 1998); subsequently, transitioning from one environment to another can be considered a stressful life event and social support can serve to aid in a student's ability to cope with said stressors (Carter-Francique, Hart, & Cheeks, 2015). Social networks are, however, often conceptualized rather loosely, with little attention to the varieties of networks and the different forms of support they may provide (Ryan, Sales, Tilki, & Siara, 2008).

Understanding how a person's social networks can provide social support and benefit with regard to access and equity in higher education for low SES students might increase their chances for successfully starting and completing university education. Rodriguez & Cohen (1998) conveyed three functions of social support, namely instrumental, informational, and emotional. Instrumental support involves the provision of material aid, for example, financial assistance. Informational support refers to the provision of relevant information intended to help the individual cope with current difficulties and typically takes the form of advice or guidance. Emotional support involves the expression of empathy, caring, reassurance, and trust, and provides opportunities for emotional expression.

These social support functions - emotional, informational, and instrumental - from Rodriguez & Cohen are used in recent research on the role of social support (see Vekkaila, et al, 2018; Lloyd-Jones, 2021; Hernandez, et al, 2021; Saefudin, et al 2021). Therefore, this study uses Rodriguez & Cohens approach to social support to analyze the role of social factors to support access and equity in higher education for LSES students. These categories might be helpful in understanding the role of social factors for LSES students in Indonesia who receive Bidikmisi at a deeper level. While most findings on this topic discuss government policies and financial support (authors, 2022a) and GPA (authors, 2022c).

METHOD this study using qualitative approach by interviewing alumni that received the Bidikmisi grant. Bidikmisi is a financial assistance program for students from low-socioeconomic status (LSES) who have outstanding academic report. Participants The participants were approached for in-depth interviews. To find alumni of Bidikmisi recipients, we contacted university staff who managed the Bidikmisi program and we asked them to mention Bidikmisi alumni who could be approached as potential respondents and fit the research criteria. From the staff, we obtained six names (including phone numbers and current jobs). We contacted potential respondents using WhatsApp chat and asked their permission to be respondents. After the prospective respondents agreed, we asked for the interview time. Interviews were conducted through WhatsApp calls (voice recordings). After completing the interview, we transcribed each voice recorder and then summarized the results. Interviews Data were collected via semi-structured interviews to explore the participants’ experiences. The interview scheme was designed based on our prior study about the role of social factors (Authors, 2022b) for access and equity in HE. Analysis Based on the previous review study (authors, 2022a), social factors were distinguished in the role of family, peers, teachers, and lecturers. However, in this study, based on the different experiences of each respondent, we also added other actors who played a role to support access and equity if they emerged from the interviews. First, all the collected responses were classified to each social factor and based pre-university life and university life. Second, it was checked if there were other (f)actors mentioned in the interviews. Third, the transcript from each respondent was read carefully to get information about which (f)actors play a role and how each (f)actors work to support access and equity in higher education. Lastly, the information collected in the third stage was assigned to a category of social support i.e., emotional, instrumental, informational. Validity and reliability To validate respondents' answers, during the interview, the interviewer summarized the social factors that played a role and the form of support provided. At the end of the interview, the interviewer asked the respondent, to confirm the summary. The first author and second reviewer (research assistant) checked between voice recordings, transcriptions, and the summary to ensure each respondent's answer.

Family plays an important role in the pre-university life of each alumni (access), this can be seen in all three forms of support provided (emotional, instrumental and informational). However, we need to emphasize that family in this study provides both positive and negative support. The positive effect for example, the older sister plays a role to encourage her younger siblings to continue studying at the university by providing information about how to apply for the university. In contrast, negative effects refer to unsupportive behavior such as parents who didn’t allow their children to go to the university. Teachers in high school also provide support in three forms: emotional, informational, and instrumental support. High school staff in this study played a role in providing predominantly emotional and informational support. Lecturers in this case refer to the role of lecturers in guiding thesis by provide emotional, and instrumental support. Peers in university contribute to providing emotional, informational, and instrumental support. University staff, especially those who manage bidikmisi have a role in providing instrumental support. The role of the local government in providing instrumental support in the form of student dormitories. OMDA (student organization from the same region) surprisingly provides all forms of support to students from LSES backgrounds especially in the beginning of university life. This study confirms previous research on the role of social factors on access and equity in higher education (authors, 2022b) which mentions the role of social factors consisting of family, high school teachers, peers, and lecturers. In addition, the results show additional social factors that contribute to access and equity in higher for LSES students including administration staff in high school, student organizations in the university, scholarship or student office staff in the university, and the role of local governments.

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