Is SES really that important for educational outcomes in Australia? A review and some recent evidence

This paper demonstrates that the emphasis on students’ socioeconomic status (SES) in research and policy circles in Australia is unwarranted. The bivariate relationships between SES and educational outcomes are only moderate and the effects of SES are quite small when taking into account cognitive ability or prior achievement. These two influences have much stronger relationships with students’ outcomes than SES and their effects cannot be attributed to the influence of SES at earlier points of time. The theoretical explanations for socioeconomic inequalities in education (e.g. schools and cultural factors) are problematic and are not supported by empirical work. The much weaker than assumed effects of SES has implications for research and policy.     

University and vocational education,and youth labour market outcomes in Australia

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of university and vocational education, and other influences on a variety of labour market outcomes for Australian youths aged between 16 and 25. The six labour market outcomes investigated are: occupational status, hourly and weekly earnings, employment, unemployment and full-time work. The study finds that a bachelor’s degree has clear positive effects on each of these youth labour market outcomes, in contrast to vocational qualifications. Among men, vocational qualifications show no sizable positive effects on these outcomes. Among women, the higher-level vocational diploma is beneficial for employment and unemployment. In no instance are the positive effects of vocational education stronger than that for a bachelor’s degree. Many of these labour market outcomes are strongly associated with prior experiences of employment and unemployment. The findings suggest that policies, rather than focusing on expanding and reforming vocational education, should aim to ensure that young people quickly secure employment, preferably full-time, and avoid unemployment.     

Structural properties of perceived power relations in an educational setting

Students' perceptions of the social power of twelve representative figures on the college campus were analyzed using the Tucker-Messick individual differences model for multidimensional scaling. Based upon the work of Cliff and Pennell, the power judgments of four real individuals who spanned the four-dimensional space of individuals were scaled. These perceptual spaces were then interpreted in terms of the other variables studied. Of the four spaces examined, all contained a component which reflected the judged overall power of the figures. For two of the spaces in which subjects were also highly external in their locus of control beliefs, overall power was the only reliable dimension. The remaining two spaces were more complex and contained dimensions reflecting in one case expertise and in the other propinquity as bases of social influence.     

Psychological and demographic predictors of undergraduate non-attendance at university lectures and seminars

Absenteeism from university teaching sessions is increasingly becoming a common phenomenon and remains a major concern to universities. Poor attendance has significant and detrimental effects on students themselves, their peers and teaching staff. There is, however, a lack of previous research investigating demographic and psychological predictors of non-attendance alongside salient reasons students offer for their absence; it is this ‘gap’ that the present study attempts to fill. We approached 618 undergraduate university students from a single UK university studying various courses to complete a bespoke questionnaire assessing their estimated percentage attendance at lectures and seminars over the academic year. Students answered demographic questions, completed psychometric tests of perceived confidence (Perceived Confidence for Learning) and university belongingness (Psychological Sense of School Membership), and rated the degree to which possible reasons for non-attendance applied to themselves. Multiple regression analyses were carried out separately for estimated attendance at lectures and seminars. Results demonstrated that significant predictors of poorer attendance for both scenarios were experiencing a lower sense of belongingness to university; working more hours in paid employment; having more social life commitments; facing coursework deadlines; and experiencing mental health issues. Improving a sense of belonging to university and targeting interventions at students working in paid employment may be effective means of increasing attendance. Providing support for students with mental health issues, structuring courses around coursework deadlines and helping students to organise their attendance around social activities could also be advantageous.