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Research has shown that university students often withdraw in their first year due to a change in career direction, enrolment in an unsuitable program of study or in a program not relevant to career goals. This paper describes work in progress to research the support needed by prospective students to help them determine what to study at university as it hypothesises that existing support services do not fully respond to the needs of prospective students in this regard. It will therefore explore the ways in which Year 12 students make decisions about what to study at university, and how universities, high schools and government organisations engage with prospective students. Knowledge gained from this study will enrich understanding of the prospective student experience and support the establishment of a framework for tertiary institutions to use to design student development strategies for prospective students.

Published abstract.

The project report is available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 132.687. Show less

Educational studies as a discipline is now a feature in many British universities, but little research has been undertaken to explore what kinds of student choose the subject, how easily they access it or how they fare as undergraduate students. This article attempts to address this paucity of research by drawing on a selection of findings from a study undertaken with undergraduate students between 2004 and 2007. The study tracks the progress of a single cohort of students, some from vocational backgrounds and some from traditional academic backgrounds, on a full-time, three-year [Bachelor of Arts] BA Honours educational studies degree. The article initially provides a discussion relating to the historical place of educational studies as a subject for study at undergraduate level and suggests how this links to the British widening-participation agenda. This provides a context for the subsequent sections, which present a selection of findings from the three-year research project. The project was designed to explore the students' experiences by asking which of them were accepted to undertake the degree by admissions staff, how they fared on the degree and, critically, whether their pre-entry qualifications had an impact on their progress and success. This article provides some answers to these questions which suggest that admissions staff are more cautious in accepting vocational entry qualifications, but that the nature of these has little bearing on ultimate success on the degree. It concludes by suggesting how this knowledge might impact on information for potential applicants and on the selection of students in the future.

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This paper explores some specific outcomes resulting from the progressive implementation of national competition and new public management policies favouring increased user choice. Since the early-1990s vocational education and training strategies have consistently advocated for greater levels of student choice of provider in a contestable market. In addition to noting the significance of choice, the 1974 Kangan Review of TAFE [available in VOCEDplus at TD/LMR 85.637] also ensured that the post-school, non-university educational option was intimately linked to notions of access and equity in support of lifelong learning. The National Vocational Education and Training Provider Collection provides the data used to compare student and training package characteristics from different years selected because they mark key policy and program developments on the journey of implementation to the mature contestable training market in which over 4,000 providers compete. In particular the impact of increased student choice on measures of access and equity is identified through a trend analysis.

The specific characteristics include system-wide numbers of students and enrolments as well as the number of students by enrolment in the top 20 training packages, the various fields of education, level of relative remoteness/access to services, Indigenous status and level of relative socio-economic disadvantage. If the introduction of contestable markets has delivered the anticipated benefits in access, equity and choice that were projected in the various state and territory training entitlements/guarantees, it would be expected that the trends would show larger numbers of students from each equity group and region obtaining qualifications in a wider range of occupations. If not, the ability of the national training system to produce a nation of lifelong learners who experience equitable access by exercising a wide variety of choices is called into question; as is 25 years of bi-partisan public policy consistency.

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This article examines the choice making behaviour, in relation to progression into and through higher education, of a small group of foundation degree students at a further education college in England. This study was conducted within the wider context of an evaluation of the impact of progression agreements within a Lifelong Learning Network and as such is influenced by other findings from the wider evaluation. The students interviewed, all of whom were high achievers at Level 3, nonetheless exhibited signs of having a tentative learner identity which constrained the choices they made in relation to progression into and through higher education. They also showed a marked reluctance to engage with formal methods of information, advice and guidance (IAG), preferring to rely on more informal sources. It is acknowledged that this is a small-scale study and as such needs to be treated as a case study rather than a generalisable piece of research. However, by comparing the initial themes emerging from the interviews with those of similar studies elsewhere in the UK (e.g. London, Scotland) it is hoped that the findings will be sufficient to provide some useful indications of the implications and impacts of some of the key activities of Lifelong Learning Networks, particularly progression agreements and IAG work.

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This thesis focuses on the analysis and discussion of issues and factors influencing Libyan students' subject choices at undergraduate level. The main research question focuses on the main factors influencing the choice process in respect of the field of study for first year undergraduates at Libyan universities. Further questions regarding why students choose to attend university, their perceptions of subjects, and the concerns and influences brought to bear in the choice process are posed.

The research findings show that the subject choice process is influenced by multiple factors and that substantial differences between subject choices are seen among urban and rural students, the latter being destined to study in poorly equipped rural universities. As evidenced in the responses, there is no equity in the provisions of Libyan universities. A further result is that the student's academic ability has little influence on the selection process, and that other factors such as the parents' level of education, institutional infrastructure, career prospects and geographical location play important parts in influencing the decision. More interestingly, the study established that students from urban areas with educated parents are more likely to take courses offered in long established universities in the cities.

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The decision to continue with science in school has a critical impact on the supply of the scientific skills necessary for a prosperous modern society. Low participation rates in post-compulsory school science have been a persistent problem and the decision process employed by students in choosing science is poorly understood. In this study, 10 focus groups were conducted with 50 students from four schools. Students were asked how they selected their subjects and their opinions on choosing science. Students described their subject selection as a two-stage process. First, they chose and rejected subjects based on enjoyment, interest and need. Second, they sought information and advice to fulfil their subject quota. Compared to other subjects, the sciences were considered more difficult and useful only for stereotypical scientific careers. It is suggested that science may be 'overpriced' and 'undervalued' by students and that these perceptions can be addressed at subject-selection time.

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The 'College choice report' is an annual report that follows an ACT-tested high school graduating class from high school to the first year of college. It addresses student characteristics, preferences, college search behaviors, and enrollment patterns to assist enrollment managers, admissions personnel, and other college administrators with student recruitment, enrollment, and persistence. The 2015 [report] reflects college preference and fall 2015 enrollment patterns for 2015 US graduates who took the ACT test. [The report], along with its accompanying interactive online charts, permits investigation of varied facets of student college preference and enrollment from a variety of perspectives for an increasingly diverse group of students.

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This study examined the influence of family on career choice implementation, assuming that implementation can be assessed through goal progress and satisfaction, and that family influences the latter through perceived environmental supports or barriers and self-efficacy. Three hundred and twenty-three college students completed measures of family' values and beliefs, expectations, financial and informational support, and of students' perceived environmental support and barriers, academic self-efficacy, goal progress, and satisfaction. Path analysis results indicated that family values, expectations, and supports indirectly influence students' choice implementation through supports and barriers and self-efficacy. Such influences should be considered in career interventions.

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Now in the developmental stage, this study aims to investigate the drivers influencing student behaviour, and their impact on choice of provider and course in competitive training markets. Based in Victoria, the research will work closely with three [registered training organisations] RTOs to understand (a) the extent to which young people's choices are restricted by local training supply and labour market needs; and (b) how the [vocational education and training] VET system and underpinning RTO practices are equipping young people with information needed to make an 'informed choice' in a marketised training environment.

There are five research questions: What are the main drivers influencing student behaviour and choice of provider and course? To what extent are young people (15-24 year olds) aware of the various entitlements and eligibility criteria concerning their participation in VET? What are their attitudes towards them, and what impact do they have? What role does 'choice' have when explaining the patterns in training participation and outcomes among groups of young people? What are the perspectives of the target group (and the practitioners who train them) on the opportunities and 'freedom to choose' their provider, course, and occupation in their particular region? How can current approaches to measurement and reporting in VET be broadened to reflect more comprehensive outcomes for young people?

Using a mixed methods approach, the focus will be on identifying three distinctive markets of Victoria in which young people participate in VET at a higher rate than in other parts of Victoria (and Australia) and where there are high rates of youth unemployment. The initial stage of the research will involve mapping what VET options are available in these three regions for young people through a detailed document analysis, followed by a comprehensive analysis of archival quantitative data. The findings from these strands will then be explored in more detail by working closely with three RTOs, each catering to different segments of the 'youth' or 'school leaver' market. At each RTO, semi-structured interviews will be conducted with practitioners and managers, and a selection of focus groups will be conducted with VET learners. The multi-level approach to data collection will capture new information and different perspectives on these issues while retaining a focus on the learner perceptive. This project is one of seven grants awarded in 2015 through [National Centre for Vocational Education Research's] NCVER's National Vocational Education and Training Research (NVETR) program. The principal researcher is Justin Brown, Senior Research Fellow (VET) at the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) in Melbourne.

Published abstract. Show less

Higher education institutions are facing increasingly complex challenges, which demand a deeper understanding of the sources prospective students use when applying to a higher education institution. This research centres on students' decision-making process for higher education institutions, focusing on the pre-purchase period, and, in particular, the information sources and choice factors students draw on when selecting a higher education institution. A survey was administered to students who were enrolling for the first time at a Portuguese university, yielding a total sample of 1641. The findings reveal that the university website is rated among the three most used sources of information by the majority of respondents. The results also show that geographical proximity is the most important choice factor for a higher education institution. Conclusions, implications and avenues for future research are presented.

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