Research readings

307 Pages·2004·0.95 MB·English

Equity in
vocational
education and
training
Research
readings
Edited by
Kaye Bowman
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Equity in
!"#$%
vocational
education and
training
Research
readings
Edited by
Kaye Bowman
© Australian National Training Authority, 2004
This work has been produced with the assistance of funding provided by the
Australian National Training Authority (ANTA). It is published by the
National Centre for Vocational Education Research under licence from ANTA.
Apart from any use permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part of this
publication may be reported by any process without the written approval of
NCVER Ltd. Requests should be made in writing to NCVER Ltd.
The views and opinions expressed in this document are those of the author/
project team and do not necessarily reflect the views of ANTAor NCVER.
ISBN 1 920895 00 0 print edition
1 920895 01 9 web edition
TD/TNC 78.04
Published by
National Centre for Vocational Education Research Ltd
ABN 87 007 967 311
Level 11, 33 King William Street, Adelaide SA5000
PO Box 8288, Station Arcade SA5000, Australia
ph [phone] fax [phone]
email [email protected]
<http://www.ncver.edu.au>
Contents
Contributors 5
Overview 11
Kaye Bowman
Equity in VET: An overview of the data for designated 19
equity groups
Tom Dumbrell, Rowena de Montfort and Wendy Finnegan
Choice, participation, outcomes: Women in VET 2003 43
Mary Dickie and Ingrid Fitzgerald—Quay Connection
Beyond equity? Indigenous people’s rights and the national 59
VET system
Bob Boughton and Deborah Durnan
Working towards an Indigenous training model: Learning from 72
Gamarrwa Nuwul Landcare, Yirrkala
Banduk Marika, Colin Lane, Helen Smith and Leanne Reinke
VET-ability: The capacity of the Australian VET system to be 90
inclusive for people with a disability
Kate Barnett
Inequity in Australian vocational education and training by location 108
Barry Golding and Sandra Pattison
Tangled threads: Issues faced by non-English speaking 120
background people in vocational education and training
Veronica Volkoff
Apprentices and trainees from non-English speaking backgrounds: 141
Participation and outcomes
Cheng Lian Sim and Loukia Zinopoulos
Contents 3
People with poor language, literacy and numeracy skills: 158
A hidden equity group?
Sue Kilpatrick and Pat Millar
Equity in education and training in correctional 173
services institutions
Peter Noonan
Early school leavers and VET 184
Richard Teese
Vocational learning in schools as an equity strategy 194
Brian Knight
Older workers 206
Mark Cully
Who’s doing the hunting and gathering? An exploration of gender 225
segmentation of adult learning in small and remote communities
Barry Golding
Quantifying the impact of equity overlap in VET 242
David John
The equity edge: An empirical approach to determining 260
priority groups
Paul Morgan, Sonia Chiem and Haregu Ambaye
Built in or bolted on? Managing equity and diversity in VET 281
Robert Bean
4 Equity in vocational education and training: Research readings
Contributors
Editor
Kaye Bowmanis a general manager of the National Centre for Vocational
Education Research (NCVER). Her responsibilities include the national research
and evaluation program under contract from the Australian National Training
Authority (ANTA) and VOCED, the international database for technical and
vocational education and training (VET) research. She also takes joint
responsibility with her co-general manager for NCVER’s program of in-house
research and analytic work, and consultancy and international activities.
Other contributors
Haregu Ambayeis a data analyst at the Western Australian Department of
Education and Training. She has worked as a data analyst and programmer in
Canada and Australia. She also has over four years of overseas experience as an
agricultural extension training officer and as a project coordinator for Sasakawa
Global 2000, an international non-governmental organisation.
Kate Barnettis the managing director of Kate Barnett and Associates, a
consultancy which specialises in vocational education and training, the
management of diversity and the provision of services to young people, older
people, women, people with a disability and people from diverse cultural
backgrounds. Kate Barnett and Associates has operated for the past 18 years
and is based in Adelaide, but works on a national basis. Kate has worked for
NCVER as a senior research fellow specialising in equity issues and has
undertaken a number of projects for the centre on a consultancy basis. For the
past three years she has been managing the Enterprise Career Education
FoundationLighthouse Initiativeand its three projects, and is identifying
strategies for increasing the participation of young people with disabilities in
the VET system.
Contributors 5
Robert Bean has worked in the fields of equity and diversity management
for 24 years at state and national levels. He managed the TAFE SA
Workplace Education Service (1979–92) and was national business services
manager with Language Australia Ltd (1993–95). Since forming Cultural
Diversity Services Pty Ltd in 1995, he has worked with over 200 private and
public sector organisations.
Bob Boughtonis a senior lecturer at the University of New England,
Armidale, New South Wales where he teaches undergraduate and
postgraduate courses in adult education. He has worked with Aboriginal
community-controlled organisations for over two decades, in which time he
has completed numerous research and development projects in Indigenous
adult education theory and practice.
Cheng Lian Simhas worked in a number of educational sectors in Australia
and overseas. She has worked on national VET research projects and is
currently involved in educational planning, research and evaluation at the
South Western Sydney Institute of TAFE.
Sonia Chiemis currently a research and policy analyst specialising in equity
issues at the Western Australian Department of Education and Training. Sonia is
involved in a wide range of projects across a number of policy initiatives
designed to improve the participation, progression and outcomes of identified
groups in the VET system. Most recently she has been involved in a publication
designed to assist registered training organisations to meet equity obligations
under the Australian Quality Training Framework.
Mark Cullyis a general manager of NCVER. This chapter was initially written
while working as a senior research fellow with the National Institute of Labour
Studies, Flinders University.
Rowena de Montfortis a freelance consultant working in labour market and
training research. Rowena has worked for over 20 years in employment,
industrial relations, training and related research and data management.
Mary Dickieis the founder and principal of Quay Connection, a research and
social marketing agency specialising in public interest issues. Since founding
Quay Connection in the early 1990s, she has worked on a broad range of
research and strategy projects designed to inform and promote social change
across a diverse field of issues, including health advancement, education,
environment protection, women’s issues, discrimination, quarantine and
multiculturalism. Before starting her own business, she was director of the New
South Wales Centre for Education and Information on Drugs and Alcohol and a
member of the Australian National Council on AIDS.
6 Equity in vocational education and training: Research readings
Tom Dumbrellhad 28 years experience as a researcher, policy advisor and
senior executive in the Australian and New South Wales public services in
vocational education, training and employment. Since 1998 he has been
principal of Dumbrell Consulting Pty Ltd where he has undertaken a range of
research and policy-related consultancies in vocational education and training
in both Australia and several other Asia-Pacific countries.
Deborah Durnanis an adult education consultant with 20 years experience in
Indigenous adult education, vocational education and training and
development studies. She has worked for the Aboriginal community-controlled
education and health sectors as an educator, policy officer, researcher and
manager in central Australian, New South Wales and national organisations.
She was recently a member of the NCVER team which completed phase one of
the mid-term review of the Partners in a learning cultureblueprint.
Wendy Finneganhas research, evaluation, policy, planning and service
delivery experience in the education and training and community services
sectors. She has held counselling roles in the adult migrant education and
tertiary sector. She has undertaken a range of education and training-related
research in recent years.
Ingrid Fitzgeraldis a senior consultant in research, evaluation and policy
analysis, specialising in the health and education sectors. Since joining Quay
Connection in 2000, she has managed research and analysis projects for a
diverse range of clients including ANTA, New South Wales Department of
Health, Commonwealth Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs,
the Smith Family and the Commonwealth Office of the Status of Women.
Before joining Quay Connection, she worked at senior levels in both the public
and non-government sectors, focusing on issues of ageing disability and
women’s advancement.
Barry Goldingis a senior lecturer in education at the University of Ballarat. His
research focuses particularly on vocational, adult and community learning in
non-metropolitan contexts. His previous research includes national projects for
NCVER through the University of Ballarat and Bendigo Regional Institute of
TAFE, investigating aspects of access and equity in vocational education and
training, Indigenous VET, intersectoral transfer and the relationship between
social capital and learning in adult and community education contexts.
David Johnis a senior research fellow at NCVER. He has over 17 years
experience as a statistical analyst with the Australian Bureau of Statistics and
NCVER. His fields of specialty include general statistical analysis, survey design,
and quality improvement.
Contributors 7
Sue Kilpatrick is director of the Centre for Research and Learning in
Regional Australia at the University of Tasmania. She researches and
publishes in the areas of vocational education and training, social capital and
community change, learning and training, particularly for agriculture and
small business, informal learning in rural communities and the role of schools
in rural communities.
Brian Knightis currently manager of Provider and Financial Collections within
NCVER, and for almost eight years has worked in a variety of management and
research positions with NCVER. In recent years he has worked on a number of
strategically important projects relating to VET in Schools data collection and
reporting. Before joining NCVER, he was involved for many years in research at
the Senior Secondary Assessment Board of South Australia. Brian is also a
specialist in educational measurement and assessment and has worked on
major projects in these areas in South Australia. He has been the principal
researcher and analyst on a number of investigations into the relationship
between educational outcomes and background variables, in both Australia and
the United Kingdom.
Colin Lanehas worked on the Yirrkala community as project officer at
Gamarrwa Nuwul Landcare since January 1999. In this role he assists the
Yolngu community members of Yirrkala in achieving their aims, including
training participants engaged in Landcare’s activities. Colin has an extensive
background in Indigenous land management projects, including 12 years with
Parks Victoria working alongside local Indigenous community members and
implementing and developing environmental management programs.
Banduk Marika, the coordinator of Gamarrwa Nuwul Landcare, is the
daughter of a prominent Yolngu Rirratjingu Clan leader, Mawalan (1) Marika,
who taught her to care for her country and to care for the people who reside
there. Banduk and her sisters started the Landcare department in the early 1990s
as a family extension of the Aboriginal Caring for Country philosophy. Banduk
is a world-renowned artist and has won numerous awards for her commitment
to Yolngu rights and the protection of Yolngu culture.
Pat Millarwas Tasmanian coordinator for the Adult Literacy and Numeracy
Australian Research Consortium 1999–2002. Her research interests include
adult literacy and numeracy, vocational education and training, and
community development.
8 Equity in vocational education and training: Research readings