Cultural dimensions of Indigenous participation in vocational education and training
Project type:
Managed research project
Project no:
NR07502
Status:
Project in progress
Commenced date:
14 December 2007
Estimated release date:
30 June 2009
Theme:
Students and individuals > Learner groups
Contact:
Mike Dockery
Curtin University of Technology
Centre for Labour Market Research
GPO Box U1987
PERTH WA 6845
phone: +61 8 9266 3468
fax: +61 8 9266 3026
email: M.Dockery@curtin.edu.au
* demonstrate the importance of culture in shaping indigenous participation in VET;
* illustrate the extent to which Indigenous Australians face a trade-off between pursuing mainstream labour market outcomes through VET and Indigenous cultural attachment; and
* highlight the wider implications of the results for the design and evaluation of labour market policies and programs for Indigenous people in Australia.
1. Using data available in the 2002 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey (NATSISS), how can Indigenous cultural attachment best be measured for the purposes of econometric analysis?
2. What role does 'culture' play in shaping Indigenous Australians' pattern of participation in VET, including qualifications attained, current rate of participation, field of study, mode of VET accessed, relevance of training and outcomes?
3. To what extent does the VET system support individuals who have a strong attachment to Indigenous culture? This is to include:
* what courses and institutions do these individuals access?
* what are their outcomes from VET participation?
* what role does the CDEP scheme play in facilitating VET participation?
4. How do the returns from participation in training and education vary between Indigenous people of different levels of cultural attachment?
5. To what extent do Indigenous Australians face a trade-off between pursuing mainstream labour market outcomes through VET and Indigenous cultural attachment?
The analysis will be undertaken using the expanded confidentialised unit record file from the 2002 NATSISS, accessed through the Australian Bureau of Statistics' Remote Access Data Laboratory. As far as has been ascertained, the proposed approach of using measures of Indigenous culture in econometric analysis is novel in Australia and in this respect the analysis must be considered exploratory - there is no existing body of empirical evidence to guide the choice of variables, their functional forms or the way in which culture should 'enter' econometric models. Thus it is difficult, a priori, to specify how culture is best measured. In the meantime the term 'cultural attachment' is used in this proposal to infer a 'metric' relating to culture, though it may turn out that cultural identity or participation may be the more important aspects of what is measured. Indeed, it is likely that different dimensions of culture will be significant in the data and thus the analysis will be undertaken for each measure. Once the measures of culture have been determined, the remainder of the analysis follows a conventional approach in investigating descriptive statistics and estimating multivariate models to isolate the effect of cultural after controlling for other factors, such as remoteness.
The measurement of culture will be guided by input from an Indigenous Advisory panel and a literature review that will extend to international studies in which cultural variables have been used in economic modeling. However, we are of course restricted to what is in the data and there are a number of variables in NATSISS which relate directly to culture and thus will potentially act as culture variables in their own right or as components of a composite variable. These include:
* Whether the individual identifies with clan, tribal or language group
* Recognition of homelands
* Use of indigenous language
* Whether lives in homelands/is allowed to visit homelands
* Whether attended a cultural event in past 12 months
* Type of cultural event attended and number of different types of events
In the first instance, a factor analysis will be run on these variables to identify those which most effectively 'summarise' overall culture or different aspects of culture, in terms of explaining the variation in the pattern of responses to these questions across individuals. Cross-tabulations between these variables and other key variables will also be used to identify potentially important measures of culture.
Once measures of cultural have been developed, there will be 4 stages to the analysis
1. A descriptive analysis of cultural attachment of Australia's Indigenous people, showing how cultural attachment varies across characteristics such as age, geographic location, level of education, employment status and household type.
2. A descriptive analysis of how engagement in education and training varies according to cultural attachment.
3. Multivariate analysis of participation in VET with cultural attachment included among the explanatory variables to determine the 'independent' effect of cultural attachment upon VET participation.
4. Multivariate analysis of outcomes (employment status and earnings) conditional upon VET differentiated by cultural attachment to determine whether the 'benefits' that accrue from participation in VET differs between individuals with relatively stronger and weaker levels of cultural attachment.
Implications can readily be drawn from the descriptive analysis and modeling results. If Indigenous Australians with strong cultural attachment are as likely or more likely to utilise and benefit from VET, then it can be inferred that the VET system is, by and large, meeting Indigenous people's needs in a way that is culturally appropriate and compatible with preserving and strengthening Indigenous culture. If, on the other hand, participating in and benefiting from VET is significantly associated with lower cultural attachment, then it can be inferred that indigenous people face a trade off between maintaining their culture and engaging in the mainstream labour market through VET. Whether this simply reflects Indigenous choice or that the VET system does not adequately meet the needs of Indigenous people with strong cultural attachment is another matter, but determining whether a trade-off exists and empirically estimating its extent would be an important contribution.
A successful outcome from this project will be contingent upon the research reflecting an intricate understanding of Indigenous culture and how cultural attachment shapes Indigenous people's beliefs, priorities and choices - particularly for those Indigenous persons living in remote areas. This is to help ensure that the developed measures of culture are viewed as acceptable to the broad Indigenous community. This will therefore require a level of cultural awareness that cannot be achieved without a substantial level of input by Indigenous people. To ensure this is achieved, and also that adequate regard is paid to any possible issues of cultural sensitivity, an Advisory Panel of four Indigenous persons will oversee this project.
The Centre for Labour Market Research (CLMR) is consortium of Curtin University of Technology, University of Western Australia, Murdoch University, and the University of Canberra. The administrative office is located at the Curtin Business School in Perth. CLMR has two main objectives, firstly, to further the knowledge and understanding of labour markets and related issues, with special reference to Australian labour markets and other markets in the Asia Pacific Region. The second objective of the Centre is to promote the exchange of knowledge and expertise on labour economics and industrial relations between the academic community, governments, business, and trade unions.
CLMR is supported by the WA Department of Education and Training and works closely with that organisation in formulating policy relating to skills development. The Centre publishes the Australian Journal of Labour Economics and regularly hosts the annual Australian Labour Market Research workshop. It can draw upon the expertise of over 20 Research Associates from universities around Australia and has successfully administrated a large volume of grant-funded research, including ARC grants and NCVER grants.
