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Data sharing across government agencies allows consumers, policymakers, practitioners, and researchers to answer pressing questions. Creating a data infrastructure to enable this data sharing for higher education data is challenging, however, due to legal, privacy, technical, and perception issues. To overcome these challenges, postsecondary education can learn from other domains to permit secure, responsible data access and use. Working models from both the public sector and academia show how sensitive data from multiple sources can be linked and accessed for authorized uses.

This brief describes best practices in use today and the emerging technology that could further protect future data systems and creates a new framework, the 'Five Safes', for controlling data access and use. To support decisions facing students, administrators, evaluators, and policymakers, a postsecondary infrastructure must support cycles of data discovery, request, access, analysis, review, and release. It must be cost-effective, secure, and efficient and, ideally, it will be highly automated, transparent, and adaptable. Other industries have successfully developed such infrastructures, and postsecondary education can learn from their experiences.

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This chapter explores the key data and issues effecting Australian [vocational education and training] VET and higher education (HE) graduates' preparation for the transition from education to work. In particular, we investigate current data collection mechanisms which record aspects of graduate work-readiness (GWR) in Australia for both the VET and HE sectors. The chapter then addresses contemporary challenges for the future of work and GWR in Australia; this chapter also updates and builds on the Australian chapter presented in 'Transitions from education to work: workforce ready challenges in the Asia Pacific' [available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 136.332], and examines GWR from the perspectives of each of the major stakeholders, namely, government, industry, education providers and the graduates themselves, including what current policies and programmes are in place to address GWR challenges.

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Noncredit enrollment at community colleges has grown significantly over the past two decades. However, unlike credit bearing programs, noncredit programs are seldomly empirically examined and evaluated, particularly those that are not grant funded. The lack of data results in a gap in knowledge about program effectiveness, as well as the students who participate in noncredit programs, it is difficult to objectively discuss the effectiveness of programs and develop valid policies to support them. This paper specifically aims to: (a) map the relevant literature regarding noncredit program data collection; (b) summarize existing knowledge about data collection processes; and (c) identify existing knowledge gaps in what is known about noncredit data collection. An established five stage process for conducting a scoping review guided the process: (a) identifying the research question; (b) identifying the related body of literature; (c) study selection; (d) presenting of data; and lastly, (e) collating, summarizing, and reporting results. The majority of data collected were head counts, types of courses offered and minimal demographic information.

The results also show that, despite higher enrollments and the popularity of programs, there is a lack of comprehensive information on student needs. Thus, it is crucial to develop a standardized data collection system for all noncredit programs; collect data at a student level; and provide more detailed information regarding enrollment, completion, and outcomes such as employment and wage gains, as well as qualitative factors such as student satisfaction.

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Changes in the way adult learning is funded through the Adult Education Budget (AEB), particularly in areas where AEB devolution is anticipated, present both opportunities and challenges for current providers of adult learning, community learning and non-regulated, non-accredited learning. For all providers, whether located in a devolution area or not, this type of learning will increasingly need a wider range of more rigorous outcome measures. Providers will need to have in place robust processes both for planning their learning offer to meet local need, and for collecting, recording and reporting on the outcomes they achieve.

This report sets out the results of work undertaken to develop and test the use of social metrics in Adult Community Learning provision to capture a range of wider outcomes of learning. The report highlights lessons learned, examples of effective practice and suggests ways in which the use of social metrics in adult learning provision might be developed in future. The report also features case studies of providers' experiences in embedding social metrics in adult learning provision. The report concludes with a set of recommendations for the further development of the use of social metrics in adult learning settings. This work supports Adult Community Learning providers to make a credible and compelling case, so that it can secure sustainable and diversified funding for non-formal and community learning in the coming years.

Edited excerpts from publisher's website and publication. Show less

Over recent decades, online job portals have become important recruitment and job search tools. Beyond assisting skills matching, the job vacancies these portals gather can also be used to analyse labour market trends in real time, generating evidence that can inform education and training policies and help ensure that people's skills meet the needs of rapidly changing workplaces. These insights can complement skills intelligence based on information collected via traditional methods, such as Cedefop's Europe-wide skills forecasts, the European skills and jobs survey, and the European skills index. This booklet outlines the main features of online job vacancies and the key characteristics of Cedefop's new system to collect and analyse them. It accompanies the first release of results based on the collection and analysis of online job vacancies in seven EU Member States.

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Data shows that Indigenous higher education students have lower access, participation and completion rates compared with non-Indigenous students. Indigenous students from regional and remote areas face additional challenges and barriers in accessing and participating in higher education and are further under-represented in the national Indigenous higher education student population. They are likely to belong to multiple equity groups, attracting significant educational disadvantage when the appropriate systems are not in place to support them. There have been numerous calls for an improved evidence base to inform better policy and practice to support increased Indigenous participation and success in higher education. This, coupled with statements from the Commonwealth Government asking for greater transparency and accountability around indicators of student success and student attrition, provides the impetus for more targeted research.

This report investigates the higher education outcomes of Indigenous students enrolled in two regionally based universities, the Charles Darwin University (CDU) and the Central Queensland University (CQUniversity), bringing together quantitative and qualitative analysis. The main findings show that when compared to the national Indigenous student population, Indigenous students from CDU/CQUniversity are less likely to complete a higher education award. However they have comparable levels of persistence and commitment, and around six per cent are still engaged with their study 10 years after enrolment. The report calls for further commitments to improved data, and quantitative methodologies for monitoring progress. When accompanied by targeted qualitative research (narratives and surveys) the analyses provide the depth of understanding required for targeted Indigenous higher education policy and practice appropriate to those students from regional and remote places.

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This publication brings together publicly released research produced by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) during 2018. This year's compilation includes an extensive array of research activities undertaken during 2018, comprising of research reports, summaries, opinion pieces, infographics, interactive tools, presentations, in-house seminars, submissions, webinars, the 27th National Vocational Education and Training Research Conference 'No Frills', VOCEDplus knowledge resources curation, and the National VET Data Linkage Roundtable.

Edited abstract from publisher's website. Show less

Making sense of the increasingly crowded market of non-degree credentials can be a challenge. A wide range of credentials, from industry certifications to badges and micro-credentials, are offered by educational institutions, private training providers, industry associations, and unions, among others. Within the credential marketplace, there is no single set of standards for individuals, policymakers, employers, and educational institutions to evaluate the quality of non-degree credentials. A system is needed to measure quality and ensure these credentials do not offer false promises, particularly to individuals from marginalized groups who may be drawn to non-degree credentials for their potential to lead to employment and rewarding career pathways.

This paper, supported by the Lumina Foundation, outlines a broad definition of non-degree credential quality, which focuses on four key elements: credential design, demonstrated competencies, market processes, and outcomes of value. The framework provides recommendations for key stakeholders to promote the measurement of quality in non-degree credentials.

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This report is part of a series that considers labour migration policies in OECD countries. It examines whether labour migration policy is effective and efficient, focusing on two key areas: the country's labour migration system and its characteristics; and the extent to which policy is responding to the needs of the domestic labour market and its impact on the latter. Canada has not only the largest in terms of numbers but also the most elaborate and longest-standing skilled labour migration system in the OECD. Largely as a result of many decades of managed labour migration, more than one in five people in Canada is foreign-born, one of the highest shares in the OECD. Sixty per cent of Canada's foreign-born population are highly educated, the highest share OECD-wide.

The recent introduction of Express Entry, a two-step selection system based on an initial pre-screening of suitable candidates who enter a pool by Expression of Interest and subsequent selection of the most skilled candidates from the pool, has further enhanced the competitive edge of the selection system relative to other countries. It also ensures that those with the skills to succeed are admitted to Canada in a quick and efficient way. Core to Canada's success is not only the elaborate selection system itself but also the innovation and infrastructure around it, which ensures constant testing, monitoring and adaptation of its parameters. This includes a comprehensive and constantly improving data infrastructure, coupled with the capacity to analyse it, and swift policy reaction to new evidence and emerging challenges.

Edited excerpts from publication and publisher's website. Show less

Matching skills supply and demand is a major challenge for many countries around the world. In 2017-18 the ETF carried out a project on skills mismatch measurement in seven countries - Egypt, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro, Morocco, North Macedonia and Serbia - to better understand the nature and incidence of this complex phenomenon. Based on the findings of the country analyses, this report describes and interprets a series of indicators and the way they are interrelated and provides information on the methodology and data sources used to measure skills mismatch.

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