Despite investing in vocational education and training (VET), low-paid workers are not always rewarded with higher pay or a better job for the new skills they have acquired.
A monograph released by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) finds that low-paid workers often undertake training just to retain their job, which doesn’t translate into better prospects.
Lead researcher, Professor Barbara Pocock said VET is not a panacea for the many issues that low-paid workers face.
“Low-paid workers tend to be women, part-timers, casuals, and young people. For most, being low-paid is a longer-term experience, often punctuated with periods of care for others, unemployment, under-employment and withdrawal from employment altogether,” Professor Pocock said.
“The low-paid often suffer from the same time constraints on their work/life balance as higher-paid workers, the main difference being that low-paid workers can’t afford to pay for a cleaner or buy convenience meals. They often live far away from where they work and have long commutes.
“For training to be of benefit to the low-paid it needs to be of high quality, genuinely relevant to their jobs and deliver real and up-to-date outcomes. In many cases it is not justified to think that more VET will mean more pay and better careers.”
Work, life and VET participation amongst lower-paid workers is the final report from a three-year research program commissioned by NCVER through the National VET Research and Evaluation Program.
Copies of this monograph are available from www.ncver.edu.au/publications/2378.html
Professor Pocock will present the findings of this research at the NCVER Research Forum, Is VET worthwhile? today at the Bradley Forum, University of South Australia, Adelaide. This event will also hear from other leading researchers who have investigated the value of VET for disadvantaged, young and older workers over the last three years.
For media enquiries or to request an interview with Professor Pocock:
Jessica Justin, Marketing Officer or Colleen Young, Marketing Services Manager 08 8230 8400