What value do Australian employers give to qualifications?
Authors:
Lee Ridoutt, Chris Selby Smith, Kevin Hummel, Christina Cheang
Publication date:
30 May 2005
Publication type:
Research report
Theme:
Industry and employers > Industry and employer views > General
ISBN:
1 920896 43 0 print; 1 920896 44 9 web
This report is about employers and how they value and use qualifications in their business decisions. The research indicates clear differences in the value placed on and use made of qualifications by employers for different groups of workers and occupations. Qualifications are considered more important for higher-level occupations and employers use them predominantly to recruit new employees and to ensure regulatory compliance. Employers regard qualifications as a signal of potential for future learning and skills acquisition, not as a signal of immediate competence. Overall, employers drew a strong distinction between qualifications and experience, and favoured and valued the latter more in regard to many of their business decisions. The higher the level of enterprise change and innovation, the lower the level of value and use made of qualifications by employers. Also, small enterprises are more likely to be highly discriminating of qualifications and supporting development among their employees.
PDF, 606 KB
Word, 3.39 MB
Order hard copy $22.00
