Outcomes from enabling courses

The study provides detailed information about students who enrolled in lower-level preparatory courses known as 'enabling courses'. In particular, the study aims to examine the effectiveness of enabling courses in assisting members from the various target equity groups to progress to other training programs or to gain employment following the completion their enabling course.

Enabling course students

In the VET sector, students undertaking enabling courses are predominantly those who come from a 'disadvantaged' background. In 1998, students of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent, students from a non-English-speaking background and those with a disability were at least three times more likely to enrol in an enabling course than their counterparts. Students from other 'disadvantaged' groups such as those who were unemployed prior to the commencement of their enabling course, or students whose highest level of secondary schooling was below Year 12 were also more inclined to undertake studies in these lower-level courses.

Outcomes for students who undertook further studies in the VET sector

Following enrolment in an enabling course, it was identified that almost a third of those who undertook further studies in the VET sector in the following year had undertaken a course at a higher level qualification. There was also a large proportion of students enrolling in courses at the same level of qualification as that undertaken in the previous year. Although there was a large proportion of students who had decided to enrol in a course at the same level of qualification as their enabling course, this does not necessarily mean that these individuals did not achieve a positive outcome following the completion of their enabling course. Many of these students had diversified into other areas of learning. They undertook courses in clerical skills, service industry skills, work and life skills or knowledge in the information technology area. The skills and knowledge gained by these individuals may subsequently assist them to improve their employment prospects.

Nonetheless, the study identified that there were some students who re-enrolled in the same enabling course in the following year. These students were more likely to be women, students with a disability, students from a non-English-speaking background and students whose highest level of secondary schooling was Year 9 or below.

Factors influencing enrolment in a higher-level qualification

The likelihood of an enabling course student enrolling in a course at a higher level of qualification was not always influenced by demographic characteristics. For instance, students in the 40-to-59 age group and those with a disability were significantly less likely to enrol in a course at a higher level of qualification than their counterparts. However, there was no difference in the likelihood of students from other 'disadvantaged' groups such as those of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent or from a non-English-speaking background enrolling in a course at a higher level of qualification compared to other Australians. Furthermore, apart from students from Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent and those whose highest level of secondary schooling was below Year 10, students from other 'disadvantaged' groups, on the whole, performed at the module level, better or on a par with their counterparts. These findings suggest that the inclination for members of some 'disadvantaged' groups to re-enrol in the same course was possibility due to factors other than demographic characteristics or poor performance.

Employment outcomes for enabling course graduates

Six months following the completion of their enabling course, there was an increase in the proportion of graduates in the 15-to-19-age group gaining employment. On the other hand, the proportion of graduates in the 50-to-64 age group in employment decreased after course completion.

Although there was a slight increase in the proportion of women employed after course completion in comparison to men, the proportion of members from the various 'disadvantaged' groups in employment remained static. These findings suggest that completing an enabling course does not guarantee all students with a job. However, this does not suggest that enabling courses were not effective in assisting these individuals to achieve their goal. Many graduates indicated that they chose to study their course for reasons other than to gain employment. For instance, many women, graduates of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent and those from rural and remote regions undertook their enabling course for interest. In addition, many members from the various disadvantaged groups indicated that they chose to enrol in their enabling course because they believed that the course would assist them to get into another course.

Further research

Many students are achieving positive outcomes from their enabling courses. However, the tendency for some members from various 'disadvantaged' groups to re-enrol in the same course in the following year requires further investigation. Qualitative research to investigate the reasons why some people decide to remain at the same level of qualification or to re-enrol in the same enabling course is required to address this issue.