Research

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Research

Vocational education and training, health and wellbeing: Is there a relationship?

Apart from well-established economic benefits, education (including vocational education and training [VET]) can confer an array of other benefits. This report investigates the links between education and health and wellbeing for individuals.

The report explores the issues from three perspectives. Firstly, previous research in the area is examined. Secondly, we undertake an analysis of the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics Australia (HILDA) dataset. This longitudinal dataset, which began in 2001, collects a variety of information relating to labour market and family dynamics. In the final component of our research we report the outcome from interviews with practitioners from a selection of organisations with an educational focus in order to get some 'stories from the field' on the wellbeing effects of education.

A variety of issues concerning the relationship between education and health and wellbeing have been identified in previous research and have included different types of education, learner groups and health/wellbeing outcomes. Some of the research that has used longitudinal datasets has found evidence for the existence of a relationship between education and measures of health and wellbeing. For example, one study found an effect of learning (as measured by highest level of education attained) on measures of depression and obesity. There have also been some unusual results reported in the literature. In one study it was found that undertaking accredited vocational and leisure courses reduced alcohol consumption, but undertaking work-related courses increased alcohol consumption.

The literature also indicates that the relationship between education and health and wellbeing is complex and involves intermediate pathways (for example, through occupation and income). As such, indirect as well as direct benefits of education should be taken into account. The literature also points to the importance of the learning environment in helping people to interact with others and to develop networks, which in turn are thought to have positive impacts on health and wellbeing.

In our study, we carried out a path analysis using the HILDA dataset. The path analysis was conducted for physical and mental health outcomes (derived from the SF-36, a standardised and internationally recognised health questionnaire). We used income and a proxy for socialisation (membership of a social club) as intermediate variables and controlled for background variables such as age, disability, parent's occupation and region. Highest level of education was used as our measure of education and ranged across six levels from Year 11 or below to degree level or higher. We ran the analysis separately for males and females.

Our analysis uncovered only small effects of education on health. The clearest finding was that males and females with degree qualifications as their highest qualification were more likely to have better physical and mental health by comparison with the reference group of people with Year 11 or below qualifications. We established our models such that the reference group is set to zero effect. For example, for mental health, there was a total effect of 0.052 for males by comparison with their Year 11 counterparts.

Males and females with diplomas/advanced diplomas as their highest qualification tended to be more likely to have better physical and mental health by comparison with the Year 11 and below reference group, although the size of the effect is not as large as that for people with degrees.¹ These results indicate a duration effect, that is, the greater the number of years in education, the greater the benefits.

Overall, the magnitude of effects was larger for males than for females.² This can be interpreted as meaning that education in this context is more important to males than it is to females. This could be because females are predisposed to having better health or health knowledge-an aspect we were not able to control for in our study. Note however that we are not talking about large absolute differences. In terms of VET qualifications, while there was some small effect for people with diplomas/advanced diplomas³, for certificate-level courses there was no substantial difference from those with only Year 11 or below.

In several of our models we found that the direct effects of education on health were not significantly different from zero (that is, the reference point). However, our analysis also highlighted the importance of the indirect effects of education. In particular, the indirect effect of education through increased income contributed substantially to the total effect. Apart from the indirect effect through income, we also found some indirect effect through socialisation. Our measure of socialisation did not contribute as much to the total effects as did income. This could be in part due to our fairly crude measure-membership of a social club. However, it was the best measure available in the HILDA dataset.

In the final part of the study we interviewed practitioners in organisations which provide education and training services, primarily in the VET area. In doing so, we picked organisations catering to different client groups, namely mature-aged, Indigenous and intellectually disabled adults, and those involved in prevocational education. While not evidence as such, these interviews were designed to elicit some indication of the wellbeing benefits of those currently participating in education (or at least practitioners' views of the wellbeing benefits), as opposed to the health benefits in the general population measured in our data analysis.

Our discussions with practitioners in these organisations suggested two major types of wellbeing benefits. The first of these can be described as psychological wellbeing benefits. In particular, practitioners identified benefits from training, such as increased confidence, self-esteem and feelings of control. The other main type of benefits discussed by practitioners can be categorised under the general heading of socialisation. These benefits are related to the learning environment rather than the learning itself. Included here are benefits such as social interaction, friendship, concepts of family, solidarity, a sense of belonging and a supportive environment. All of these were believed by practitioners to contribute to a sense of wellbeing-although we did not have any objective information on wellbeing from this source or students' views on the impact of their study on their wellbeing. The practitioners did not volunteer physical health benefits from education.

¹ For instance, while the total effect for males with degrees was 0.045 for physical health, for males with diplomas/ advanced diplomas it was 0.014.

² For males with degrees, there was an effect of 0.045 for physical health and 0.052 for mental health, while for females the effects were 0.022 and 0.013, respectively.

³ These ranged from 0.027 for male mental health to 0.008 for female mental health.