Improving post-school outcomes for rural school leavers.

Kilpatrick, Sue

A study of Year 10 leavers from rural high schools in Tasmania has found that school pressures to remain in Years 11 and 12 have not necessarily solved the post-school career dilemmas of rural youth. Indeed, despite growing numbers of VET options in schools, these are not being taken up significantly by younger students despite student and family aspirations for a `steady job' and job related training, within an increasingly depressed and casualised regional labour market. Implications of family support and community `social capital' in negotiating a way through the trials and errors of the work/study mosaic are discussed in relation to national policy frameworks.

**********

Background and significance of the research

The main aim of the research to be discussed in this paper was to assess the impact of increasing vocational education and training (VET) options within high schools upon the post-school study and employment outcomes of rural school leavers. The research, supported by an Australian Research Council (small) grant, was conducted in 1999, in Tasmania, which has a highly dispersed and economically depressed rural population (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 1999). Despite significant gains over the last decade, the Year 12 completion rate in Tasmania at 66.7 per cent is substantially lower than national average at 72.3 per cent, and second lowest of the states and territories after the Northern Territory (ABS, 2000). The relatively low rates of Year 12 completion and high rates of unemployment of rural school leavers, especially in the north and north-west of the state, have been a continuing cause of concern among teachers and educators since the early 1980s (Abbott-Chapman, Hughes, & Wyld, 1986b) and were the subject of a longitudinal study to identify factors which might encourage educational participation (Abbott-Chapman, Hughes, & Wyld 1986a, 1991). If entry into VET, apprenticeships and other on-the-job training are included in statistics, however, Tasmanian retention rates are considerably improved. The participation rate of young people of low socio-economic and rural backgrounds in the VET sector is higher than that of their more affluent and urban counterparts, and is a reflection of a national trend (Fullarton & Ainley, 2000). National policy initiatives in the 1990s (AEC, 1991) which aimed to draw together the academic and vocational learning `pathways' at the post-compulsory (post Year 10) level recognised this.

Young people in Tasmania who wish to continue their studies after Year 10 must generally move to one of the eight senior secondary colleges around the state, located in Hobart (4), Launceston (2), Burnie (1) and Devonport (1). For students from rural and isolated areas, this often means a move away from home to live in student residences or to board with relatives. This move away from home and local community may act as an additional deterrent to rural youth with regard to further academic study (Choate, Cunningham, Abbott-Chapman, & Hughes, 1992; National Board, 1991). The Tasmanian Department of Education has introduced a number of initiatives over recent years within the comprehensive (rural) district high schools (K to 10), in an attempt to overcome this barrier and to retain young people in education and training. These include the introduction in some rural schools of Year 11 and 12 courses for the Tasmanian Certificate of Education (TCE), and most recently some VET options as an alternative to TCE. Efforts in this regard have been intensified since the study by the Tasmanian Department of Education (1998) showed that direct retention from Year 10 to Year 11 remains the lowest of any state, and within Tasmania is lowest in the rural north and north west. Although it is perhaps too early to be able to assess the full impact of VET in schools on post-school outcomes, the current research was designed to monitor from the outset student choices and responses to these new options. The study was also conducted in tandem with others of the Centre for Research and Learning in Regional Australia which focus upon the national impact on regional Australia of emerging vocational education and training priorities (Falk & Kilpatrick, 1999, 2000).

The Australian Student Traineeship Foundation's (1999) report for the Minister for Education, Training and Youth Affairs urges a change towards an integrated, coherent approach to post-compulsory learning and working opportunities in ways which will make post-secondary education and training more accessible to all young Australians. The Australian national training strategy, A bridge to the future (Australian National Training Authority, 1998) also recognises that access to opportunities for further education and training is limited for those living in remote and rural communities, and urges the development and delivery of new learning pathways and targeted education and training options in ways which are appropriate to them and their aspirations.

Vocational education and training in schools is recognised by national VET policy documents such as A bridge to the future as a way of tackling the training needs of young people making the transition from school to work (Lamb, Long, & Malley, 1998). In addition, the training opportunities may offer a second chance to those returning to school. In some rural schools in northern Tasmania, the majority of those enrolled in VET programs are aged over 19 years (Kilpatrick, Bell, & Kilpatrick, 2000). This suggests that there has been an unmet demand for education and training in rural communities which is now being satisfied by the mix of training options. Golding and Volkoff (1998) suggest that there are significant social as well as educational outcomes for individuals, families and communities beyond any employment outcomes that may follow acquisition of VET qualifications. These outcomes include improved individual and community self-confidence, and acquisition and/or development of skills which are used in community groups to benefit others.

Recognising that employers want both qualifications and work experience, a large majority of students in VET courses hold full- or part-time jobs. However most see their jobs as not relevant to their VET course and receive no recognition for their work experiences in their courses (Dwyer, Harwood, Costin, Landy, Towsty, & Wyn, 1999). A recent study by the Australian Council for Educational Research has shown that Australian students are increasingly choosing vocationally oriented subjects in Year 12 as evidenced by national surveys in 1993 and 1998 (Fullarton & Ainley, 2000). Participation in VET subjects however is greater for those from lower socio-economic backgrounds, for those with parents of lower levels of education and those with lower levels of school achievement in literacy and numeracy.

Research findings from Tasmania, which have lessons for other regions of Australia, show that, although there is general recognition of the benefits to rural school leavers of VET options, there are still school and teacher pressures towards academically oriented Year 11 and 12 study, especially for higher achieving students. It appears that this orientation has not yet given way to increased take up of VET options even for students and parents who would in retrospect have liked to choose those options. Some `successful' students who seek to go straight into work after Year 10 report they are made to feel by their teachers that they have made an inferior choice and this perception may be at odds with those of leavers and parents for whom a steady job and a regular pay packet are seen as a very solid achievement. The paper compares and contrasts these different readings of the situation, the links with family socio-economic status, parental education levels, family support and students' prior attainment levels in maths and English.

Post-school pathways--issues raised by the literature

Over the last decade or so, the notion of post-school `pathways' as a description of education and training outcomes has been increasingly criticised by researchers as being too linear and too bureaucratic, and unable adequately to convey the complexity of young people's lived experience (Dwyer, 1993; Dwyer, Harwood, & Tyler, 1998,1999; Williamson & Marsh, 1999; Wyn, 1998). This trend towards complexification and fragmentation is related to the increasing casualisation of the youth labour market (ABS, 1999; Jamrozik, 1998; Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, 1996). Not only the early leavers, but also those who stay on at school, will increasingly compete for jobs for which in previous decades they would have been regarded as over-credentialled (Wyn, 1998). Students, understanding this, believe that the sooner they get their `toe in the door' of employment the better their vitae will look when they are seeking their first `real' or `serious' employment (Abbott-Chapman, 1999; Abbott-Chapman, Hughes, & Wyld, 1991). A study of post-school outcomes through analysis of the Australian Youth Survey data revealed that, although family socio-economic status and gender influence the initial study or work destination within the first year of leaving school, the most significant variable affecting post-school outcomes two years out of school is the initial study or work destination in the first year out of school (Abbott-Chapman, Easthope, & O'Connor, 1997). Individual initiative and motivation, usually with family support, and community social capital (Falk & Kilpatrick, 2000) are of paramount importance in overcoming obstacles presented by social background.

Dwyer, Harwood, and Tyler (1999) have emphasised the complexity young people face in `organising life's priorities', and in `having to determine their own unique pathway--to shape it for themselves' (p. 11). The economics and politics of uncertainty (Beck, 1992), the increasingly competitive market place for jobs and training, and `risk in being able to negotiate life successfully, when there are no apparent rules or guidelines' have resulted in complex `choice' biographies, which make generalisations increasingly invalid. `Schooling means choosing and planning one's own educational life course. The educated person becomes the producer of his or her own social biography' (Beck, 1992, p. 93).

From a series of case studies of life patterns taken from their longitudinal life patterns project, Dwyer, Harwood, and Tyler (1999) conclude that `having a steady job ranks as the main priority for the majority of respondents in the 1998 survey. What "having a steady job" can actually mean to them, though, can have a multitude of interpretations' (p. 24). Job security, explain respondents, helps you to plan other things in your life--so the value of education is seen as providing a gateway to a more secure job future, whatever the student's family background, and whatever the job. Post-school outcomes for rural school leavers involve even more risk and uncertainty than is general across the population because of more restricted work and lifestyle choices, and the economic and labour market uncertainties associated with rural and remote regions.

The longitudinal study of post-compulsory retention in Tasmania (Abbott-Chapman, Hughes, & Wyld, 1986a, 1986b, 1991) discovered the variety of work, study and employment outcomes of students in the mid 1980s which, even then, challenged the notion of linear pathways, especially for low socio-economic and rural students. This study tracked over a number of years the 14 000 students from the Year 10 cohorts of 1981 and 1986 and, on the basis of questionnaire data, and the apparently infinite array of patterns and combinations of post-school outcomes two years after leaving school, developed a 6-category model called the `study/work mosaic'. This drew together individual experiences in a way which took account of both horizontal and vertical transitions (Abbott-Chapman, Hughes, & Wyld, 1986b, pp. 316-331). Despite the vast difference in population numbers in the two Tasmanian surveys, and with a view to monitoring changes in post-school outcomes over time, this `mosaic' model has been used in the analysis of the 1999 data.

Research methods, survey sample and indices constructed

The research was conducted by postal questionnaires sent to Year 10 school leavers from three rural high schools in the north of Tasmania, and to their parents. In-depth interviews were also conducted with a sub-sample of both leavers and their parents, and in some cases also with leavers' siblings. The study was conducted during 1999 among young people (aged between 15 and 17 years) who had left Year 10 in 1998, whose contact address was provided to the researchers by the schools, and to whom the principal of the school sent a letter inviting participation and explaining the purposes of the research. The role of the parents in giving advice on post-school options, their reactions to options available, and the degree of their influence on students' choices, as compared with other significant adults such as school counsellors and teachers, was a main focus of the research.

The three schools were chosen because they had already introduced some VET units into the curriculum, and were sited in rural areas of relatively low socio-economic status and high levels of youth unemployment. One of the schools had introduced VET options for Years 11 and 12 in 1998, and two schools had introduced VET options from the beginning of 1999. None of the schools offered TCE options at this time. The school principals agreed to supply the researchers, on a confidential basis, with the Year 10 TCE English and maths results of the survey respondents, on the basis of which a combined index of student attainment was developed (the English and maths a combined score category or EMCAT). This took account of the difficulty of the syllabus, as well as the student's results. Although the EMCAT score is not by any means an exhaustive measure of student attainment, the scores in English and maths have been found to be highly correlated with post-compulsory participation right through to university (Abbott-Chapman & Wyld, 1993).

Data discussed here come from the 84 completed leavers' questionnaires, the 19 in-depth one- to two-hour long interviews with leavers and their siblings, and 11 equally long interviews with their parents. The 84 survey respondents (45 females and 39 males) comprise 35 per cent of the 240 Year 10 leavers from the 3 rural high schools, and are representative of the school population in terms of gender and locality of residence.

The students' socio-economic background was measured by our index of family socio-economic status based on parental occupational data. The construction of this index was made difficult by the largely undifferentiated sample-that is, high proportions of both mothers and fathers (42%) who went with their education no further than Year 10, and the high proportions of mothers and fathers in routine manual and unskilled work or without work. As few parents in this sample are professionals, executives or land-owning farmers, given the small size of the sample, it was decided to categorise the sample basically into skilled and unskilled workers (i.e. jobs requiring qualifications or not) and those who were not in paid employment (including retired, deceased, student or unemployed). Fathers' and mothers' employment or lack of employment was taken into account and single working mothers were made a separate category, which seemed to improve index efficacy. Maternal and paternal education were not combined with occupation in the index as occupation and education were not significantly correlated. The four categories of the Family SES Index (with numbers involved) are:

1 father in skilled job, whatever mother does (35)
2 father in unskilled job, whatever mother does (24)
3 wage earning mother only (10)
4 no wage earning parent (15).

The pathways categories of the study/work mosaic were constructed for 77 out of the 84 respondents who provided us with a detailed month by month diary of study and work activities, using the established binary-weighted sum technique. Despite the small numbers involved, five out of the six original pathways were identified across the sample, the exception being the `late entry' into study or work. This category is missing because the research did not cover a long enough time period to be able to observe students taking `time out' then `re-entering' work or study some months later. The percentage of students in each category in the mosaic are compared for 1984 and 1999.

Those in Pathway 1 (full-time study) are not engaged in-any paid work of any kind, but they are engaged in various sorts of unpaid work and/or domestic duties at home. (None of these students was engaged in full-time unpaid work outside the home.) Those in Pathway 2 (full-time study and work) combine full-time study with a part-time job and/or unpaid work in the home--the part-time job not necessarily being continuous over the period. Pathway 3 (mainly full-time job) is of particular interest for VET. The students in this category combined full-time work with vocational training or apprenticeship, or part-time job and part-time study, while three students were occupied solely in a `training/apprenticeship' over the four months and five students occupied solely in `a full-time job'. We are dependent upon the students' description of what they are doing for this analysis. Pathway 4 (mainly part-time job) is the first of what we have previously called (Abbott-Chapman, Hughes, & Wyld, 1986b) `fragmentary' careers. It is made up of either a mixture of part-time, casual or unpaid work; short-term full-time job; or short-term full-time and part-time work and shows a risk of moving to unemployment. Pathway 5 (mainly unemployed) consists of unemployment, unpaid work and/or the occasional casual job.

Comparison of the two samples over time shows that a much higher proportion of the 1984 Year 10 rural school leavers (two years after leaving Year 10) were in full-time or part-time employment (50 per cent compared with 22.6 per cent) but far fewer were in full-time education or training (16.2 per cent compared with 46.5 per cent), more experienced fragmentary pathways than the 1998 Year 10 leavers (19.4 per cent compared with 9.5 per cent) and less unemployment (3.2 per cent compared with 8.3 per cent). Although the time periods differ, the findings are indicative of the swing away from work and towards study retention. In 1999 the Tasmanian Year 12 apparent retention rate was 66.7 per cent (ABS, 2000) and had more than doubled since 1984 when it was only 28 per cent--the lowest of all the states and territories.

Summary of findings on post-school outcomes using the Constructed Indices

Findings in Table 2 reveal the expected level of highly statistically significant relationship between family SES and student pathway mosaic. The findings show that the presence of a sole wage-earning mother reduces the chance of the student being unemployed by over half compared with `no wage-earning parents', but the unemployment rate is still significantly higher than for students with a skilled or unskilled working father. Proportions for the four categories are 2.9 per cent, 4.2 per cent, 10 per cent and 26.7 per cent, though there is a high rate of non-response among students with a sole wage-earning mother. The proportion of students in full-time study is significantly lower for students with only a working mother, although numbers are small and can only be regarded as indicative.

The highest proportion of students going into `FT study' pathways is drawn from the `Father skilled' category, as well as students in `FT study and work' pathways. The proportion of students in a `Mainly unemployed' pathway is highest from families where neither mother nor father is a wage earner. The highest proportion of students in a `Mainly full-time job' pathway is drawn from the `Father unskilled' SES category. Since it is the characteristics of the post-school pathways rather than enrolment alone which are associated with a range of subsequent life chances, it is the family SES influence upon the student's post-school pathway which is of crucial importance. Family influence upon and involvement in the construction of post-school pathways has emerged clearly in both student and parent interviews. The type of student enrolment in study or training is not however correlated with family SES and perhaps reflects the dominance which senior secondary studies still have (as reported in parent interviews). The highest proportion of student enrolments in `other' education including VET and traineeships of various kinds is from among those whose father is in an unskilled occupation (Family SES 2).

Table 3 shows that the EMCAT score is significantly correlated with type of student's post-school enrolment in senior secondary or other education and training, including VET.

Most leavers enrolled in TCE in the senior secondary colleges (62 per cent), a further 25 per cent went into TAFE/VET and trades training and only 13 per cent were not enrolled in any further study or training. The increased pressure to retention in Years 11 and 12 now means that students entering senior secondary colleges represent a very wide range of academic attainment, though of the few who did not enrol 73 per cent were of low or below average EMCAT score.

Some parents expressed the view in interview that too much pressure to enrol in senior secondary college is sometimes exerted when not all students are academically inclined and may want to go straight into a job, even a low level job, or to go into TAFE or try to find an apprenticeship. In addition, the perceived disincentives for parents and children of students having to move away from home to attend college, the costs of transport and accommodation, and some of the disadvantages of boarding out or staying in a hostel have been highlighted. The problems of the home/college transition and the unsettling effect of living away from home at age 16 are sometimes reflected in the fragmentary mosaic and underline the views of some students and families that a VET strand in the local school is the better option at this age. The students shown by the figures to have re-enrolled in their high school have chosen this option.

There were mixed reactions in some families to the value of staying on at school, with the view that `academic' careers and university are not suitable for everyone--some leavers do better in going straight into a job, or having on-the-job training. This is why VET is a `good idea especially for country kids'. In addition, VET programs and work experience (whether paid or unpaid) help to `clarify goals' for many students and `help them to sort out whether they want to be "academic" or more "hands on"'. Parents felt strongly that students should not be `pressured one way or the other'--and that parents and teachers should `help them to choose for themselves what's right for them'. The ability to stay on to study VET at the same school was seen as a real plus since moving and living away from home to study in a senior secondary college, at the age of 15 or 16, had proved a trial for some students (and their families) and the adjustment period for instance of living in a hostel had caused upset, loss of study motivation and achievement, and in a few cases early `dropout'. This meant for some a return home to unemployment or fragmentary casual work with the possibility of a return to study later. Only the 12 senior secondary students who combine study with part-time or casual paid work are doing work which is not directly related to their studies, and only 6 of the students out of the total sample of 84 (or 7%) are in full-time jobs without a study or training component.

Table 4 correlates student pathways with EMCAT scores, and also shows the characteristics of the missing high flyers who do not go on to further study, despite high attainment at Year 10 (Abbott-Chapman, Hughes, & Wyld, 1991, pp. 72-76). The lack of association between EMCAT scores and post-school pathways underlines the wide range of academic abilities of students entering Year 11 at the senior secondary colleges, a number of whom are marking time until they can `get a job'.

Despite the policies and pressures to encourage young people with their education and training, 22 per cent of those with high attainments (though numbers are small) have started on typically fragmentary pathways, heading towards unemployment. This phenomenon was observed among the 1981 Year 10 leavers in which a small but significant proportion of students of high ability went into trial and error mode in terms of both work and study, became dissatisfied and were in danger of developing a fragmentary career, which becomes off-putting to potential employers (Abbott-Chapman, Hughes, & Wyld, 1986b, chap. 18). The highest proportion of students combining paid work with study tend to be the higher ability students (Abbott-Chapman, 1999).

Findings show that girls have significantly higher EMCAT scores than do boys--which reflects general educational trends in recent years. Not surprisingly therefore there are significant gender differences in post-school pathways. As many as 57.8 per cent of the female students are following a full-time study pathway (mainly in senior secondary colleges) compared with 33.3 per cent of male students. Male students are more concentrated in the `Mainly FT job and training' pathway and more are combining part-time work with study. Involvement of rural students in part-time paid employment is much lower than observed in towns (Abbott-Chapman, 1999). Female students in paid work are concentrated in sales, clerical and hospitality whereas males are concentrated in trades and labouring jobs. About a third of students, male and female, report working on family or other farms. Overall 53.8 per cent of the male students report having a job, whether or not combined with study or training, compared with only 22.2 per cent of female students. The majority of those in work had one job over the four months of the survey, though a very small number had two or more. About 20 per cent of the students reported themselves as having been `unemployed' over the previous 4 months for varying periods of time--7.1 per cent for up to four weeks, 9.5 per cent for five or six weeks and 2.4 per cent for eight weeks.

Conclusions: Family influence on post-school outcomes

Findings show that the significantly increased retention rates in Tasmania are reflected in the post-school outcomes of rural students, most of whom have gone on to some form of study or training. Despite education gains, Tasmania remains on a number of indices the most economically depressed state and the youth unemployment rate is consistently the highest (ABS, 2000). This has impacted upon the aspirations of school leavers who have said they are not very hopeful that increased educational qualifications will guarantee them employment, especially if they wish to remain in Tasmania. In addition, despite the increased opportunities for VET in school and on-the-job training, school leavers and their teachers still tend to see post-compulsory participation especially in terms of the more academic options which can be pursued at senior secondary college, away from home. Perhaps this will change as teachers themselves become more informed about VET options and associated job opportunities, and less hesitant to guide the brighter students into this track.

Interviews revealed that deciding which way to go seems to many students `a bit of a lottery' involving considerable trial and error. The parents' interviews illustrated the keen interest and involvement of parents, many of them having been early school leavers themselves, in advising and supporting their children's career choices. The over-riding reaction of parents was to `let kids have a go, and try not to dominate them' in a situation which is regarded as a `bit of a gamble' with regard to getting a job. Few students aspire to a `stable' career path, at least in the early stages, and older siblings often learn to live on solely part-time or casual wages, particularly if they are able to live at home.

Findings from the survey and the interviews suggested that the continuing influence of parents and family on post-school choices is very strong, and is emphasised by the close-knit networks of the communities in which the students live. The example as well as advice of parents who are `managing' despite low socio-economic status and lack of post-school qualifications within volatile labour markets is also influential and may operate within quite a different discourse from that of the formal education system, which still emphasises `paper' qualifications rather than `hands on' skills. This has resulted in some tensions between the `academic' pressure of the schools and the desire of students and families to get a steady job. Students asked to rank the importance of the views and advice of a number of different people on their current work or study participation and in `planning your future' showed that by far the most influential person on both initial pathway choices and on planning the future is the student's mother--88 per cent of respondents rate her influence as `important' or `very important' in `choosing current work or study' and 89.3 per cent as `important' or `very important' in `planning the future'. This compares with the father's influence of 76.3 per cent and 81.5 per cent and only 37.4 per cent and 30.5 per cent for career advisers, and 36.6 per cent and 27.1 per cent for classroom teachers. In interviews with both students and parents, the collaboration, cooperation and self-reliance of families emerged as important in the development of post-school pathways to an even greater degree than had been anticipated from earlier work in Tasmanian rural areas (Choate et al., 1992). Mothers more than fathers are keen on the importance of study and qualifications, even if they have none themselves, and this includes the single mothers. They represent a source of student encouragement and guidance which should not be underestimated by schools in developing family/school partnerships. Issues of closeness of relationship, degree of trust and mutuality established in the post-modern society and other issues of the development of `social capital' (Falk & Kilpatrick, 2000) are relevant here. They are particularly important when, as now, times are hard and when families learn to manage with job uncertainty and part-time work.

Despite the gloom and doom cast by the media over discussions of the future of the regions, the young people in our sample emerge as essentially optimistic about the future and satisfied with their current post-school pathway. Overall 94 per cent say they are `satisfied' or `very satisfied' with what they are doing now. Because of the very high levels of satisfaction, there are no statistically significant differences in terms of pathways pursued. The parents interviewed said overall they are satisfied with the `way things are turning out' for their son or daughter, mainly because of the way their son or daughter is `coping' with the stresses and strains of study away from home and/or employment, rather than being dissatisfied with a system they see as geared basically towards the needs of urban youth. There are equally high levels of optimism about the future--only 7.1 per cent are not confident--and of these not surprisingly the highest proportion is among the mainly unemployed (although numbers are too small to draw broad conclusions). The pathway in which the highest proportion of respondents are `very confident' is that of full-time study--a finding to please the hearts of teachers and of policy makers! The impact of the introduction of VET seems to be seen by students and parents as a positive move in opening up training, job-related options near to home, with the potential to improve outcomes for rural youth in the future. A repeat of this study in a couple of years might show how far the potential has been achieved.

Keywords

aspirations

family attitudes

outcomes of education

rural youth

school leavers

vocational education

Table 1 Year 10 leavers study/work pathways

Pathway 1999 1984

1 Full-time study 46.5 16.2
2 Full-time study and work 14.3 17.7
3 Mainly full-time job 13.1 30.6
4 Mainly part-time job 9.5 19.4
5 Mainly unemployed 8.3 3.2
6 Non response 8.3 --
7 Late entry -- 12.9
Table 2 Family SES by student pathways

 Family SES

 Only
 Father Fthr mthr
Pathway skilled % unsk. % empl. %

FT study 20 57.1 10 41.7 3 30.0
FT study/work 8 22.9 4 16.7 0 0.0
Mainly FT job 2 5.7 5 20.8 1 10.0
Mainly PT job 4 11.4 1 4.2 1 10.0
Mainly unemployed 1 2.9 1 4.2 1 10.0
Non response 0 0.0 3 12.5 4 40.0
Total 35 100.0 24 100.0 10 100.0

 Non Total
Pathway waged % %

FT study 6 40.0 39 46.5
FT study/work 0 0.0 12 14.3
Mainly FT job 3 20.0 11 13.1
Mainly PT job 2 13.3 8 9.5
Mainly unemployed 4 26.7 7 8.3
Non response 0 0.0 7 8.3
Total 15 100.0 84 100.0
Table 3 Combined English and maths rank by students'
post-school enrolment

 Student enrolment (N=84)

EMCAT score Sen. sec % Other ed. %

Low 8 15.4 7 33.3
Below average 15 28.8 7 33.3
Above average 14 27.0 6 28.6
High 15 28.8 1 4.8
Total 52 100.0 21 100.0

EMCAT score No ed. % Total %

Low 6 54.5 21 25.0
Below average 2 18.2 24 28.6
Above average 1 9.1 21 25.0
High 2 18.2 18 21.4
Total 11 100.0 84 100.0
Table 4 Combined English and maths rank and post-school
pathways (% only)

 EMCAT score

Post-school pathway Low Below av. Above av. High Total

FT study 33.3 58.3 47.6 44.5 46.5
FT study/work 4.8 12.5 19.1 22.2 14.3
Mainly FT job 28.6 12.5 9.5 0.0 13.1
Mainly PT job 14.3 12.5 0.0 11.1 9.5
Mainly unemployed 4.8 4.2 14.3 11.1 8.3
Non response 14.2 0.0 9.5 11.1 8.3
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

References

Abbott-Chapman, J. (1999). The work, study and unemployment mosaic for youth: The search for adult status. Paper presented to the National Social Policy Conference, SPRC, University of NSW, 21-23 July.

Abbott-Chapman, J., Easthope, G., & O'Connor, P. (1997). The influence of student gender and parental socio-economic status on post-school careers. Australian Journal of Social Research, 4(), 3-26.

Abbott-Chapman, J., Hughes, P., & Wyld, C. (1986a) The identification and development of intellectual ability (1). Hobart: University of Tasmania, Centre for Education.

Abbott-Chapman, J., Hughes, P., & Wyld, C. (1986b) Participation and retention rates and social and educational factors which are related to them in Tasmania (1 and 2). Commonwealth Schools Commission. Canberra: AGPS.

Abbott-Chapman, J., Hughes, P., & Wyld, C. (1991) Improving access of disadvantaged youth to higher education. E.I.P. DEET Higher Education Division. Canberra: AGPS.

Abbott-Chapman, J. & Wyld, C. 1993) Schools, disadvantage and access to English and mathematics. Unicorn, 19 (2), 24-32.

Australian Bureau of Statistics. (1998). Tasmania's young people 1996 (Cat. no. 4123.6). Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia in Association with National Youth Affairs Research Scheme.

Australian Bureau of Statistics. (1999). Australian social trends 1999 (Cat. no. 4102.0). Canberra: Author.

Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2000). Schools collections statistics Australia (Cat. no. 4220.0).Canberra: Author

Australian Education Council Review Committee (B. Finn, Chair). (1991). Young people's participation in post-compulsory education and training: Report. Canberra; AGPS.

Australian National Training Authority. (1998). A bridge to the future: Australia's national strategy for vocational education and training 1998-2000. Canberra: Author.

Australian Student Traineeship Foundation. (1999). Bright futures for young Australians: Community partnerships for the future of successful transitions. Canberra: Department of Education and Youth Affairs.

Beck, U. (1992). Risk society: Toward a new modernity. London: Sage.

Choate, J., Cunningham, R., Abbott-Chapman, J., & Hughes, P. (1992). Rural disadvantage and post-compulsory participation: Parents' views of school and work. Hobart: University of Tasmania, Youth Education Studies Centre.

Dwyer, P.J. (1993). Pathways or uncharted territory? The post-compulsory experience of early school leavers. In After competence: The future of post-compulsory education and training (Conference Papers No. 1). Centre for Skill Formation, Research and Development. Brisbane: Griffith University.

Dwyer, P.J., Harwood, A., Costin, G., Landy, M., Towsty, L., & Wyn, J. (1999). Combined study and work pathways in VET: Policy implications and analysis. Adelaide: NCVER.

Dwyer, P.J., Harwood, A., & Tyler, D. (1998). Life patterns, choices, careers 1991-1998. (Research Report 17). Parkville: University of Melbourne, Youth Research Centre.

Dwyer, P.J., Harwood, A., & Tyler, D. (1999). Seeking the balance: Risk, choices and life priorities in the life patterns project 1998-99 (Working Paper 19). Parkville: University of Melbourne, Youth Research Centre.

Falk, I. & Kilpatrick, S. (1999). Refocusing on learning regions: Education, training and lifelong learning for Australia's wellbeing (CRLRA Reprint Series R9). Canberra: Centre for Research and Learning in Regional Australia.

Falk, I., & Kilpatrick, S. (2000). What is social capital? A study of interaction in a rural community. Sociologia Ruralis, 40(1), 87-110.

Fullarton, S. & Ainley, J. (2000). Subject choice by students in Year 12 in Australian secondary schools (Longitudinal Survey of Australian Youth (LSAY) Research Report No. 15). Melbourne: ACER.

Golding, B. & Volkoff, V. (1998). Creating outcomes: Individuals and groups on the vocational education and training journey, 1-3. Brisbane: ANTA.

Jamrozik, A. (1998). Transformation in the youth labour market: An empirical examination 1945-1996. In J. Bessant & S. Cook, Against the odds--young people and work (chap. 7). Hobart: Australian Clearinghouse for Youth Studies.

Kilpatrick, S., Bell, R., & Kilpatrick, P. (2000). Vocational Education and training in rural schools: Education for the community. Paper presented at the AVETRA Conference 2000, 22-24 March, Rydges Hotel, Canberra.

Lamb, S., Long, M., & Malley, J. (1998). Access and equity in vocational education and training: Results from longitudinal surveys of Australian youth (ACER Research Monograph No. 55). Melbourne: ACER Press.

National Board of Employment, Education and Training. (1991). Towards a national education and training strategy for rural Australians. Canberra: AGPS.

Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. (1996). Employment outlook. Paris: Author.

Tasmanian Department of Education. (1998). Post-compulsory education in Tasmania. http://www.dvet.tas.gov.au/pub_res/POCO/1999/index.htm

Williamson, J. & Marsh, A. (1999). Educational pathways: Or tracks that lead nowhere? CRLRA (Discussion Paper D2/1999). Canberra: Australian National Training Authority.

Wyn, J. (1998). Young people and the transition from school to work: New agendas in post-compulsory education and training. In J. Bessant & S. Cook, Against the odds--young people and work. Hobart: Australian Clearinghouse for Youth Studies.

Joan Abbott-Chapman is Associate Professor in Education, University of Tasmania and Coordinator of the Youth Studies Group. Sue Kilpatrick is Senior Lecturer in Education, University of Tasmania and Deputy Director of the Centre for Research and Learning in Regional Australia. University of Tasmania, GPO Box 252-66, Hobart, Tasmania 7001. Email: J.AbbottChapman@utas.edu.au