Abstract
Pathways to higher education widen access and provide an opportunity for TAFE/VET students to undertake further study by providing an alternate means of entry to university. In the context of the increased focus by governments on widened and larger participation in higher education and pathways, research in this study documents and analyses statistics pertaining to the participation and performance of TAFE/VET pathways students at a multi-campus Sydney metropolitan university over the period 2010–2014 inclusive. Of particular interest is the comparative experience of pathways students to their non-pathways peers; their likelihood of completion, levels of academic achievement, and some of the factors that influence these. A major finding of this study is that, irrespective of all other potential influencing factors, pathways students’ academic performance significantly improves the more units of study they successfully complete at university. A significant implication of these findings is that a far greater focus needs to be directed towards programs supporting TAFE/VET pathways student’s initial transition to university.
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Notes
- 1.
Upton, G. (2012). NSW Government Review of Tertiary Pathways.
- 2.
Senators to hear first-hand the benefits of spreading higher education opportunities. Media Release. The Hon. Christopher Pyne MP. 17 November, 2014.
- 3.
‘Dual-sector’ universities are defined as those that have a substantial student load in both VET and higher education, and that engage in research and award higher research degrees. Australia’s five recognised dual-sector universities in 2013 were Charles Darwin University, Federation University Australia (formally University of Ballarat), Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Swinburne University of Technology, and Victoria University.
- 4.
Comprising Australian National University, Monash University, University of Adelaide, University of Melbourne, University of New South Wales, University of Queensland, University of Sydney, and University of Western Australia, the Go8 is a coalition of research-intensive Australian universities.
- 5.
In addition to the Go8, other Australian university networks are the Australian Technology Network; Innovative Research Universities, and the Regional Universities Network.
- 6.
Note that this definition differs from that used by the Department of Education, that defines the attrition rate for year x as the proportion of students who commenced a bachelor course in year x who neither complete nor return in year x+1.
- 7.
Formally, the retention rate for year x is defined as the number of students who commenced an undergraduate course in year x and continue in year x+1 as a proportion of students who commenced an undergraduate course in year x and did not complete the course in year x.
- 8.
AQFC (2013). Australian Qualifications Framework. Second Edition. January.
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Ellis, C. (2018). The TAFE/VET Pathways Student Experience in Higher Education. In: Agosti, C., Bernat, E. (eds) University Pathway Programs: Local Responses within a Growing Global Trend. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-72505-5_10
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