Research by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) shows that the number of enrolments from low socioeconomic status (SES) students has grown, but not to the same extent as other groups.
This research is consistent with the Group of Eight’s (Go8) findings released earlier this week in a policy note.
The Go8 policy note, Demand Driven Funding and Equity, shows that two years into the full implementation of a recommendation from the Review of Australian Higher Education to increase university enrolments from low SES students to 20% by 2020 is not yielding early results as expected.
The Go8’s findings show that the majority of growth in university enrolments between 2008 and 2012 came from students of medium or high SES background.
“From research we’ve commissioned into the outcomes from demand-driven reforms in the vocational education and training sector, we’re seeing similar findings,” said NCVER’s Managing Director, Rod Camm.
“In work that NCVER will soon publish by the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, it shows that demand-driven reforms in Victoria have encouraged more people to enrol in training, but the rise is mixed across student groups”.
The effect of the Victorian Training Guarantee (the first round of reforms from 2009 to 2011) on students from non-English speaking backgrounds and those who have a disability was not as great as it was for people not in these equity groups. For Indigenous students, the impact of the Victorian Training Guarantee was less discernable.
“This suggests that barriers to tertiary education for people from disadvantaged backgrounds are complex and require more consideration than simply offering more places or deferring the cost of fees.
“For institutions offering bachelor-level qualifications, reaching equity targets may be a greater challenge still, with other NCVER research showing SES has the biggest impact on study at the bachelor degree level”.
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