This paper quantifies the impact of different dimensions of socioeconomic disadvantage on Year 12 completion.
This report was prepared for the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations to throw light on the growing trend of taking a 'gap year' between school completion and commencing university study.
This summary looks at the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY), which follow young people as they make the transition from school to further study and work. It particularly focuses on research which gauges how concepts such as wellbeing and social capital are measured for students, as well as pathways from school to work, ‘at risk’ youth, and the effect of combining school and part-time work.
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.
In this paper, the authors examine the links between human resource management, including learning and development practices, and building innovation capacity.
Berwyn Clayton is the Director of the Work-based Education Research Centre (WERC) at Victoria University and the 2011 Researcher of the Year. This paper presents her keynote speech from the 2011 National VET Research (‘No Frills’) Conference and provides an insight into Berwyn’s journey from teacher to VET researcher. It highlights her interest in assessment and the capability of the VET workforce, and her dedication to supporting and mentoring new researchers.
This report aims to improve our understanding of the causes of skill shortages, the way businesses respond and the short-term consequences of skill shortages.
This report provides a stocktake of vocational education and training (VET)-related surveys. I
This highly-popular annual publication provides a collection of summaries of research projects published by NCVER in 2011.
Using interviews with adult migrants over a period of two years, the authors look at how undertaking an English as a second language (ESL) class helps to facilitate integration into Australian society.
This research used a survey to investigate the attitudes of people with a disability towards undertaking training. The findings show very positive attitudes towards training by participants and, although the ability to generalise to the wider population is limited, one thing is clear: generally, people with a disability are willing to undertake VET and consider it a good option in helping them find employment. Some factors affected attitudes more than others, including level of school-based education; highest qualification level completed; whether people had single or multiple disabilities; and, to some extent, gender.
Two features of the labour market for vocationally qualified workers are explored in this technical paper: the likelihood of self-employment versus wage employment and the determinants of income.
Language, literacy and numeracy are necessary for greater workforce participation, productivity and social inclusion. Being able to measure the level of proficiency in these skills, and any changes in the level of skills, is important for getting a sense of how well language, literacy and numeracy programs are working. Two measurement tools used in Australia are the Adult Literacy and Life Skills (ALLS) survey and the Australian Core Skills Framework (ACSF). This paper outlines an NCVER study which will investigate whether it is possible to map the performance levels of the ALLS to the performance levels of the ACSF in order to gain more frequent information than is currently available about the literacy and numeracy progression of adult learners against national goals.
The recycling of electronic waste (e-waste) has become a global issue. This research examines the issues associated with e-waste recycling at the level of a TAFE institute with 17 campuses. Findings suggest that at a local level people are willing to deal with e-waste in a sustainable manner. If given a choice, they will usually pick the most convenient method of disposal, such as kerbside pick up. The research was funded through the NCVER's Building Researcher Capacity initiative and was undertaken by a novice researcher in the Community of Practice Scholarship Program.
This Community of Practice paper seeks to determine whether peer-to-peer mentoring is a successful way of transferring skills and knowledge between music students at Nirimba College. The study comprised an eight-week mentoring trial and several surveys and interviews with the group of music students who participated in the mentoring trial. The aim of the research was to find out the students' perspectives on TAFE music teaching and learning, their attitudes towards music and their own career goals, as well as their thoughts on the mentoring trial.
This technical paper outlines the methodology used to adjust the original Program of International Student Assessment (PISA) weights to ensure that each Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) wave represents the original population. The author also provides guidance to researchers in applying the weights to their analysis of LSAY data.
This research examines the 'psychological contract' or the unwritten expectations of employers and employees in an employment relationship. The particular aim of this study was to discover whether mismatched expectations have any effect on retention in apprenticeships and traineeships. Overall, there was a very high level of agreement on the obligations of the two major parties and so mismatched expectations turn out not to be the explanation for high attrition rates. But paying greater attention to the areas perceived as deficient, such as employers providing specific time for training, fair treatment and resources to do the job, may be a means of improving retention.
Undertaking research in the vocational education and training (VET) and disability area is not easy. The challenges include the limitations of the available data, accessing people with a disability and the diversity of disability type and severity. This discusses these issues and also presents a snapshot of recent data and a summary of recent research in this area.
This report investigates attrition in the trades by comparing the rate at which tradespeople leave their occupation with that of professionals. It also determines whether attrition is influenced by economic conditions, and if a trade can provide a good start to a career in the professions. The report concludes that attrition in the trades is no higher than in the professions; the rate of leaving particular occupations may vary, but overall the results between the two are very similar. The economic climate also makes little difference to the attrition rate.