This report comes out of a three-year program of research that aims to investigate how best the tertiary education and training system might be organised to maintain the employability of Australian workers across their working lives.
This exploratory piece of work aims to illustrate the potential of matching methods in vocational education and training (VET) research.
Do pre-apprenticeships help individuals to obtain an apprenticeship?
In this interview, Steve Davis talks with co-author Kaye Bowman about the report ‘Workforce skills development and engagement in training through skill sets’.
This report aims to throw some light on the role that skills sets play in meeting the needs of clients compared with full qualifications, which are seen as the foundation of the vocational education and training (VET) system.
This report explores the movements that workers make in the workforce and whether there are any commonalities.
Increasing education and training is considered one means by which to reduce the extent of social exclusion and as such has been a key focus in recent public policies. This study investigates the impact of education and training on the extent of social exclusion using a measure of multidimensional social exclusion. A simulation of the effect of the COAG target relating to halving the proportion of 20-64 year olds without at least a certificate III qualification between 2009 and 2020 on the measure of multi-dimensional social exclusion is also undertaken. The study finds a clear dichotomy in the extent of social exclusion experienced between those with low levels of education (early school leavers or those with a certificate II qualification at the most) and the rest.
In this phone interview, Hielke Buddelmeyer, talks about the impact of education and training on social exclusion using a multidimensional measure that focuses on seven domains.
This working paper is an initial examination of what is known about pathways in tertiary education, as well as the loose associations between vocational qualifications and the jobs graduates do. The author is also interested in the link between educational qualifications and work and finds that these are not as strong as might be expected in a vocationally oriented tertiary education system like Australia’s. This work is part of the three-year research program, 'Vocations: the link between post compulsory education and the labour market'.
This discussion paper introduces the overarching concepts for the three-year research program, 'Vocations: the link between post compulsory education and the labour market'. The paper also outlines the key findings from the initial investigations of each of the related research strands in the program. Overall, initial research has found that, due to the fragmentation of pathways within education and within the labour market, the relationship of pathways between education and the labour market are also fragmented. In order to understand this more clearly, the authors explore the concepts of transition systems, skill ecosystems and capabilities. A number of dilemmas for further research are also put forward.
As part of the three-year research program, 'Vocations: the link between post compulsory education and the labour market', this working paper sets the policy context and direction of the entry to vocations research stream. After looking at the current ‘in-school’ element of VET in Schools programs and jurisdictional differences, the paper raises a set of questions for discussion. For example, are more advanced and intense programs of VET in Schools needed to deliver stronger labour market outcomes? Do VET in Schools programs need to be more directly connected with post-school VET programs?
This report explores the transitions students make in undertaking a second qualification (i.e. whether they change field of education and/or move between the VET and higher education sectors).
The distinction between VET and higher education in Australia is blurring. The purpose of this paper is to examine – through the conduct of a case study of engineering qualifications (AQF6) delivered in Victoria – how education and training providers and students are likely to respond to different fees and funding arrangements under the student entitlement model.
This paper provides a conceptual basis for a three-year (2011–13) research program exploring the capacity of individuals and groups to make transitions through learning, training and work across locations. Three research projects will examine how regional or community factors and social capital affect those transitions. The three projects are: the influence of job conditions on geographic labour mobility; migrant women in regional Australia; and neighbourhood factors in the decision to participate in post-school education and training and the labour market. A synopsis of each project is given in this paper.
To provide insights into how young people may fare in the current economic downturn, this study examines the experience of youth in a previous downturn.
This conference paper was presented to the Third International Congress on Technical and Vocational Education and Training, 13–16 May 2012, in Shanghai. It argues that there are two key factors behind Australia's good record of employment for young people: high levels of post-school education with the consequence that there is not a large cohort of people in their mid-to-late teens flooding on to the labour market; and a flexible education system which gives individuals multiple choices.
This publication provides information on tertiary education and training in Australia, including statistics on participation, pathways and outcomes. The data in this publication are sourced from the National VET Provider Collection and the Higher Education Statistics Collection. The publication covers participation in Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) certificate I qualifications through to doctorates by research, as well as enrolments in a single vocational subject. Information is presented on students and equivalent full-time students.textFurther tables on pathways were added to the Excel data tables in March 2013.
This paper was a keynote address at the AVETRA conference held in Canberra in April 2012. Karmel notes that industry is arguably the key stakeholder in the Australian vocational education and training (VET) sector and discusses six areas of research which raise questions about VET and industry, either in terms of how public training funds are allocated or the educational principles on which VET is based.
The paper outlines the difference between the skill sets developed by national VET industry bodies in training packages and those developed by registered training organisations, as well as the rationale for skill sets, the specific benefits and issues anticipated and the latest policy recommendations.
As part of a three-year program of research, the authors are investigating how the training system might be more effective in providing continuing education and training across workers' lives, since the tertiary education and training sector is currently geared to entry-level training; that is, getting young people ready to enter the labour market. This working paper sets the scene for the next stage of research. It provides a description of current models of education and training which offer a framework for understanding the continuing learning needs of Australian workers.