Aligning Motivation, Expectations and Pedagogy: A Behavioural Science Framework for Widening Access Mature Students (WAMSs) in Higher Education

Widening participation has expanded access to higher education, yet disparities in retention and completion among mature students persist, indicating limits in existing structural and engagement-based explanations. This study addresses this gap by developing Behavioural Alignment Theory (BAT), a framework that conceptualises persistence as an emergent outcome of alignment between motivational regulation, expectancy recalibration and instructional architecture. Using a conceptual integration and theoretical mapping methodology, the article synthesises Self-Determination Theory, Expectancy–Value Theory and Cognitive Load Theory, grounded in foundational and contemporary literature on mature and widening access students. The analysis shows that persistence is shaped through dynamic interaction between institutional design and behavioural processes. Evidence indicates that misalignment across these domains can destabilise engagement, while coherent alignment supports sustained participation under conditions of role complexity and constraint. The study concludes that persistence is not reducible to individual attributes or isolated institutional factors, but emerges from system-level interaction between psychological processes and institutional conditions. The contribution of BAT lies not in the invention of new constructs, but in providing a mechanism-explicit mid-range integrative framework that specifies how established constructs interact within institutional settings to shape persistence or withdrawal.