Do educational pathways contribute to equity in tertiary education in Australia?

Abstract

A key assumption of equity policies in Australia, as in many countries, is that pathways from lower-status, vocationally oriented ‘second’ tiers of tertiary education to ‘first’ tier higher education are able to act as an equity mechanism. This is because students from low socio-economic backgrounds are over-represented in former and underrepresented in the latter. The assumption that pathways support equity is tested in this paper through an analysis of the socio-economic profile and institutional destination of student transfers from vocational education and training to higher education in Australia. It finds that educational pathways deepen participation in education by existing social groups but do not effectively widen participation for groups that do not have equitable access. This is as a consequence of the hierarchical structuring of qualifications within VET as well as in higher education.

Keywords:

• educational pathways
• equity
• higher education
• vocational education and training

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Gavin Moodie for his advice on this and earlier versions of this paper. I would also like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their very helpful comments on an earlier version of this paper.

Notes

1. This is one of four indices in the ABS ‘Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas 2006’ (SEIFA). The other three indexes are the Index of Relative Socio-economic Disadvantage, Index of Relative Socio-economic Advantage and Disadvantage and the Index of Economic Resources Source: ABS http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/[email protected]/mf/2039.0 accessed 30 March 2009.

2. The other three Group of Eight universities are: Monash University with 43.3% high SES, the University of Queensland and the University of Adelaide with 41.6% and 37.6% high SES students respectively.

3. RMIT is also a post-1988 university but it is differentiated because it is in the ATN group of universities.

4. The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ballarat Professor Battersby (2008) reported that around one in six or almost 17% of students in higher education at the University had either studied at TAFE or had a prior VET qualification, and this brings it into line with the other dual-sectors.