Skip to main content
Log in

A Markovian evaluation of a tertiary education faculty

  • Published:
Higher Education Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

A tertiary education faculty is modelled using an absorbing Markov chain. The model takes account explicitly of full-time and part-time student stocks and flows, and thus facilitates some interesting observations. The evaluation of steady state statistics, gives rise to some worrying results, raising the question as to how efficiently resources are being utilized in tertiary (post secondary) education. The above evaluation is performed for undergraduate sections of the Faculty of Business at the Swinburne Institute of Technology (SIT), Victoria, Australia.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Barcan, A. (1978). “Exciting times for C.A.E.'s,” Australian Quarterly 50 (1); 37–50.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bartholomew, D. J. (1973). Stochastic Models for Social Processes. (2nd Ed.) London: J. Wiley & Sons.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burke, G. (1972). “A study in the economics of education with particular reference to the supply of secondary teachers for government schools in Victoria,” Ph.D. Thesis, Monash University.

  • Committee of Inquiry into Education and Training (1979). (Williams Committee) Report. Canberra, A.G.P.S. V. 1 and 2.

    Google Scholar 

  • Forbes, A. F. (1971). “Markov chain models for manpower systems,” pp. 131–146 in Bartholomew, D. J. and Smith, A. R. (Eds). Manpower and Management Science. London: English Universities Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gani, J. (1963). “Formulae for projecting enrolments and degrees awarded in Universities,” Royal Statistical Society Journal Series A, 126: 400–409.

    Google Scholar 

  • Handa, M. L. and Skolnik, M. L. (1975). “Unemployment, expected returns, and the demand for university education in Ontario: some empirical results,” Higher Education 4: 27–43.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jencks, C., et al. (1979). Who Gets Ahead? New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Layard, R. and Psacharopoulos, C. T. (1974). “The Screening Hypothesis and the Returns to Education,” Journal of Political Economy 82 (5): 985–998.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marshall, K. T. (1973). “A comparison of two personnel prediction studies,” Operations Research 21:810–822.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller, R. N. (1981). The Rate of Return to Education - the Findings from the 1976 Census. Centre for Economic Policy Research, Australian National University. Discussion Paper No. 25, April 1981.

  • Nicholls, M. G. (1982a). “Short term prediction of student numbers in the Victorian education system,” The Australian Journal of Statistics 24 (2): 179–190.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nicholls, M. G. (1982b). “The Use of Markov and other Models in Planning in Tertiary Education in Victoria,” Ph.D. Thesis, Monash University.

  • Psacharopoulos, G. (1980). “Educational planning and the labour market,” European Journal of Education 15 (2): 201–20.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sales, P. (1971). “The Validity of the Markov Chain Model fora Class of the Civil Service,” The Statistician, 20 (10): 85–110.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stone, R. (1972). “A Markovian education model and other examples linking social behaviour to the economy,” Royal Statistical Society Journal Series A, 135: 511–32.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thonstadt, T. (1967). “A mathematical model of the Norwegian education system,” pp. 125–128 in Mathematical Models in Educational Planning. Paris: OECD.

    Google Scholar 

  • Uche, P. I. (1978). “On stochastic models for educational planning,” International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology 9 (3): 333–42.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Nicholls, M.G. A Markovian evaluation of a tertiary education faculty. High Educ 12, 721–730 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00132427

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00132427

Keywords

Navigation