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Variations in the rate at which students cross the boundaries between Australian vocational and higher education

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Abstract

This paper considers the rate at which students are crossing the boundaries between Australian vocational and higher education. It finds that public universities admit a higher proportion of students on the basis of a vocational education qualification than do private colleges and that private colleges broadly do not admit a higher proportion of students from a low socioeconomic status background than public universities do. Vocational education transfers are most important in the higher education fields of nursing (22 % of commencing students), education (13 %) and information technology (12 %). Upward transfers are least important in the natural and physical sciences (3.5 %) and engineering and related technologies (6 %). Some 17 % of commencing students are from a low socioeconomic status background, but nursing (24 %) and education (22 %) provide more opportunities for students from a low socioeconomic status background. Conversely, fewer opportunities are provided in architecture and building (12 %) and the creative arts (14 %). There is considerable variation in the proportion of students that higher education institutions admit on the basis of vocational qualifications, even in a relatively homogeneous field such as nursing. Some of this apparent variation may be explained by different treatment of admissions data, but much remains unexplained.

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Acknowledgments

An earlier version of this paper was presented to the Australian Vocational Education and Training Research Association’s 13th annual conference at Surfers Paradise on 8–9 April, 2010. The AER’s two referees provided valuable comments on the initial manuscript.

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  1. RMIT, Melbourne, Australia

    Gavin Moodie

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  1. Gavin Moodie
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Moodie, G. Variations in the rate at which students cross the boundaries between Australian vocational and higher education. Aust. Educ. Res. 39, 143–158 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13384-012-0054-z

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