The School to Work Transition

1
The School to Work Transition

• Dr Rob Simons
• The Smith Family Research and Development
• Adrian Beavis, David Niola
• The Australian Council for Educational Research
• Gillian Considine
• The Australian Centre for Industrial Relations,
  Research and Training
• University of Sydney
• Australian College of Educators
• Adelaide
• 15 September 2005

2
Introduction
3
School to work transitions The Smith Familys
Response

• School to work transitions
• Complex period of transition to independence
• Youth unemployment and present labour market
  conditions
• Enduring importance of a positive first school to
  work transition
• The Smith Familys Response
• Education / lifelong learning as a preventive
  strategy against intergenerational disadvantage
• Research to identify advantaging factors at key
  transition points in the lifecycle
• Preliminary research with ACIRRT on LfLs
  potential to improve school retention rates
• Strategic partnership with ACER focusing on a
  population based impact on school to work
  transitions.

4
TSF/ACIRRT Study 2001-2003Impact of LfL on
Retention
5
TSF/ACIRRT Study 2001-2003

• Main activity of LfL students participating in
  2003 shows
• Majority were making positive transitions from
  school to adult life
• Over half were studying either full time at a
  university or TAFE
• A further 17 were engaged in full time work
• A quarter not studying full-time indicated that
  it was very likely they would do so in the
  following year
• Formation of post-school plans flagged as needing
  further investigation.

6
TSF / ACER Study 2004Post-school plans
aspirations, expectations, implementation
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TSF/ACER Study 2004

• Confirmed that post-school plans are a rich
  source of data about students understandings of
• self, including abilities, interests, and gender
• the world of work, including SES of occupations
  and the distribution of the sexes within them
• the nexus between education or training and the
  world of work to which they perceive themselves
  as best suited
• Overall, the most important factors for
  predicting post-school plans are gender, ability
  and vocational orientation
• Three forms of support to assist students make a
  link between whats happening in school and what
  they intend to do afterwards
• interactive career counselling and mentoring
• integrated family and community support systems
  for school to work transition
• provision of work experiences while in compulsory
  schooling

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TSF / ACER Study 2004 -- 2005What do students
think of work?
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TSF / ACER Study 2004 2005 Summary

• Yr 8-9 LfL students have begun to locate work
  they like guided by their gender and amount of
  preparation needed to get there
• Just under half have a match in skill levels they
  plan to achieve and skill levels needed for their
  preferred jobs
• The over one third who plan too low has a higher
  proportion of
• boys than girls
• students reporting below average achievement in
  school
• students with low levels of vocational engagement
• students who, on average do not like school as
  much as others
• The direction they are taking will make it
  difficult for them to implement their plans
• They need to adjust their plans or change their
  destinations and will need information and
  guidance to do so.

10
TSF / ACER Study 2005What do students know about
work?
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TSF / ACER Study 2005

• Examined educational and occupational plans and
  aspirations of Yrs 10, 11, and 12 LfL students
• Data came from 3018 responses to a self-completed
  mailed questionnaire representing a response rate
  of around 75
• Addressed the following questions
• What are the educational and occupational plans
  and aspirations of LfL students?
• What factors shape those plans?
• How accurate are the understandings that the
  students bring to their plans?

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TSF / ACER Study 2005

• What are their plans?
• most want a professional level job
• very few want low-skilled jobs
• more girls than boys would like a professional
  job
• more boys than girls would like a trade-level job
• around 80 of students expect to get the job
  they would most like at age 25
• very few expect to be unemployed.
• More students planned for higher level jobs than
  were available and fewer students applied for
  lower level jobs than were available.

13
TSF / ACER Study 2005

• Factors that shaped plans and aspirations
• Gender, interests and perceived ability
• Seek jobs that they expect to like and which
  match their perceived ability
• While they have a reasonably sophisticated
  understanding of the types and levels of jobs
  available contents of the world of work --
  they experience problems in two main areas
• They do not have either a current or realistic
  awareness of the current job market and the
  availability of specific jobs
• They do not have an accurate appreciation of the
  levels of education and / or training needed for
  specific jobs.

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TSF / ACER Study 2005

• How accurate are the understandings that the
  students bring to their plans?
• We looked at the relationship between students
  understanding of the pathways to work and
  vocational learning and work experiences
• We examined the hypothesis that vocational
  learning and work experience moderate the effects
  of gender, self-reported ability and liking for
  school on educational and career intentions
  (Fullarton 2001)
• The study also tested the claim made for VET and
  associated workplace learning that students
  develop a greater understanding of career options
  (Woods, 2005).

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TSF / ACER Study 2005

• Participation in school VET
• Appears to be associated with decisions either to
  pursue no post-school study or to undertake
  post-school vocational studies
• Those who take these studies have a lower level
  of concordance between educational intentions and
  the skill requirements of their preferred jobs
• They were more likely to plan either too much or
  too little education
• More often they have a mismatch plan with too
  little education, except at year 12.

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TSF / ACER Study 2005

• Structured workplace learning students
• Seem to have a lower match between skill
  requirements of their desired job at age 25 and
  educational intentions compared with students who
  do not participate in workplace learning
• This finding is at odds with claims that
  structured workplace learning leads to better
  career planning decisions (Woods, 2005)
• Students involvement in workplace learning is
  quite limited and high expectations probably
  should not be placed on this limited exposure to
  authentic and structured work placements.

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TSF / ACER Study 2005

• TAFE students
• Planned for a lower level of study than those not
  in TAFE
• Also had a lower level of agreement between the
  skill requirements of their preferred job and
  their intended educational goals than non-TAFE
  students
• The difference, however, was only just
  statistically significant.

18
TSF / ACER Study 2005

• Work experience students
• Had a weaker match between skills requirements of
  their preferred jobs and their intended level of
  education than those who did not participate in
  work experience
• This difference is statistically significant,
  although it should not be interpreted to mean
  that work experience leads to this effect
• It may be that students who are most uncertain
  about their plans elect for work experiences
  while those who have a clear idea choose not to
  participate.

19
TSF / ACER Study 2005

• Students in paid work
• Had higher educational aspirations than those who
  did not work on a part-time or casual basis
• Part-time worker students had a slightly better
  match between skill requirements of their
  preferred jobs and their educational plans
• Although the difference is only marginally
  significant, the fact that it is opposite to
  other experience-of-work variables is notable
• NB Part-time or casual paid work seems to be
  associated with better career planning than
  does VET or short-term work experience
  placements.

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TSF / ACER Study 2005

• Students in paid work (cont)
• Why does paid work lead to better career planning
  decisions?
• Longer duration than work experience
  placements???
• Real responsibilities and obligations???
• Entrée into employment networks???
• Dominant reasons for working part-time
• Financial independence (87.2)
• Self-support (79.1)
• Enjoyment (78.7)
• Reasons support past research on the topic
  (Smith, 2000)

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TSF / ACER Study 2005

• Students in paid work (cont)
• Possible interpretation
• Students who elect not to engage in VET or
  workplace learning have already formed career
  goals and the pathways they believe will enable
  them to be realised
• The data suggest that additional career decision
  making support needs to be established for
  students who choose VET and work experiences
• The diversity of career choices further suggests
  that career advice needs to be targeted to
  individuals, rather than being of a general
  nature.

22
Forward agenda for research and development
23
Forward Agenda in R D

• Does the pattern of demand of Yrs 10,11, and 12
  LfL students become closer to the pattern of
  supply in the labour market when they realise
  that they have to adjust their plans?
• How do students become aware that their current
  post-school plans need to be adjusted either in
  relation to
• prior learning/training required
• or the current realities of the job market?
• What are the factors affecting perceived low
  ability to perform in school, and confusion
  about future options?

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Forward Agenda in R D

• These unknown factor points to a need for
  longitudinal data whereby
• The outcomes of post-school plans could be
  observed
• The factors associated with these outcomes could
  be identified
• The value of post-school plans as indicators of
  achieved outcomes could be assessed
• We can better understand how students who are
  unclear about levels of education and training
  needed and the availability of specific jobs in
  the current labour market adjust their plans, and
  the extent to which they succeed in doing so once
  they take on paid work.

25
The School to Work Transition

• Dr Rob Simons
• The Smith Family Research and Development
• Adrian Beavis, David Niola
• The Australian Council for Educational Research
• Gillian Considine
• The Australian Centre for Industrial Relations,
  Research and Training
• University of Sydney
• Australian College of Educators
• Adelaide
• 15 September 2005