Search Results

How do young people engage in courses of study at institutions of technical and further education (TAFE)? Who studies at TAFE after school? When do they start their studies? What else do they do before and during their TAFE studies? Where do they go once they complete their studies? Are there different patterns for different qualifications? Using data from the 1995 Year 9 cohort of the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY), this paper traces the pathways of TAFE students not participating in apprenticeships or traineeships, examining entry into their courses, progress through their study and completion/non-continuation. Factors influencing course persistence are also reported.

Published abstract.

The collected proceedings are indexed at TD/TNC 82.500; the collected PowerPoint presentations are indexed at TD/TNC 82.501; available papers are indexed from TD/TNC 82.502 to TD/TNC 82.528. Show less

Participation in senior secondary schooling increased substantially between 1980 and the early 1990s, but has been static since that time. Since the mid 1990s curriculum offerings in the senior school years have been broadened in order to cater for a wider range of student interests and aptitudes. The offering of vocational courses in schools has been a prominent component of this curriculum broadening. At the same time, changes have occurred in the post-school vocational education and training (VET) landscape with rapid growth in traineeships. The labour market context has also changed with a decline in full-time youth employment accompanied by growth in part-time youth employment for both males and females. Policies on youth participation in education and training have emphasised persistence at school or participation in a vocational alternative. Trends in school completion, VET-in-schools participation, post-school VET enrolments and labour force statistics are examined in order to explore possible causal relationships. The immediate post-school destinations of young people who do not complete secondary schooling are examined. For these young people, VET participation is an important component of their transitions between compulsory education and work. For some young people, especially males, post-school VET qualifications ameliorate their lower school completion rates. For others, post-school VET does not provide this compensation. Policy implications are considered.

Published abstract.

Available papers from the 11th Australian Vocational Education and Training Research Association (AVETRA) Conference are indexed from TD/TNC 92.459 to TD/TNC 92.499 and from TD/TNC 92.701 to TD/TNC 92.716. Show less

This paper introduces a new occupational status scale, the Australian Socioeconomic Index 2006 (AUSEI06), which can be used to explore a wide range of equity issues relating to educational aspirations, early school leaving, access to higher education, literacy and numeracy levels, and other aspects of educational access, achievement, and attainment. AUSEI06 was developed in response to the introduction of the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO) by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The scale provides a simple means for educational researchers to convert ANZSCO codes into more sociologically meaningful occupational status scores. The aims of this paper are fourfold: to outline AUSEI06’s theoretical underpinnings; to describe the development of the scale; to validate it for use in educational contexts; and to offer some practical suggestions for its use. AUSEI06 is a socioeconomic index. The scaling of occupations is based upon the assumption that occupations provide the means of converting a person’s human capital (education) into material rewards (income). That is, the relationships between education, occupation, and income are conceptualized in terms of a simple causal chain whereby educational effects on earnings are mediated, as far as possible, by occupational attainment. Data from the 2006 Census were used to generate the AUSEI06 scale. An iterative scaling algorithm, first developed for the International Socioeconomic Index (ISEI), was used to scale occupations in such a manner as to maximize the indirect effect of education on earnings (via occupation) while simultaneously minimizing its direct effect on earnings. The resultant AUSEI06 scale ranges from zero to 100, with labourers at the bottom of the scale and medical practitioners at the top. Data from the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) and the Negotiating the Life Course (NLC) project were used to validate the AUSEI06 for use in educational research. Concurrent validity was assessed by examining whether AUSEI06 was related to a range of educational outcomes in an expected way. Consistent with previous research, the results suggest that access to educational resources, school achievement, educational aspirations, school completion, obtaining a post-school qualification, and the type of qualification obtained are associated with the socioeconomic characteristics of a person’s family when they were growing up as measured by AUSEI06. In summary, AUSEI06 provides a means for educational researchers to convert ANZSCO codes into occupational status scores. In the past, parental occupational status has been linked with the educational outcomes of their offspring. Validation results suggest that family background, as measured by AUSEI06, continues to be related to these outcomes.

Published abstract. Show less

There are concerns that a proportion of young people, especially those who do not complete secondary schooling, are at risk of experiencing long periods of unemployment, interspersed with short periods of low skilled, part-time or casual employment in their transition from school to work. This paper looks at the following issues: (1) Who are the early school leavers? (2) What are the reasons given by young people for school non-completion? (3) What are the consequences of school non-completion? Data from the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) project is used and the paper concludes with a brief discussion of areas requiring policy attention.

The volume of conference proceedings is indexed at TD/ERD 87.162. Individual papers presented at the conference are indexed from TD/TNC 68.426 to TD/TNC 68.440. Show less

The literature on career decision-making suggests that students make their decisions based on the degree of match between their own attributes and certain perceived characteristics of occupations and that these perceptions are generally accurate. However, in Australia, there is also evidence that students have misunderstandings about the status of some occupations, including trades. The sources of career advice available to middle-secondary students and their satisfaction with that advice was found through a survey of a representative sample of Australian 15-year-old students. Nearly all Year 10 students reported that they had received career advice at school and they stated that they were satisfied with that advice. It was found, however, that students' career aspirations do not match well with the opportunities in the Australian labour market and that some students (a minority) are embarking on educational pathways that will not lead to the careers to which they aspire. Thus, there are several areas of mismatch in the career advice available to students, their satisfaction with it, their career aspirations and their educational plans. These discrepancies may contribute to an explanation of labour and skills shortages and suggest that there is some scope for remediation to the benefit of students and the labour market.

Published abstract.

Available papers from the 11th Australian Vocational Education and Training Research Association (AVETRA) Conference are indexed from TD/TNC 92.459 to TD/TNC 92.499 and from TD/TNC 92.701 to TD/TNC 92.716. Show less