Vocational studies in school - does it matter if I'm a girl and if I'm poor?

Project Details

The growth of VET in Schools has been associated with government policy to promote an innovation culture and economy, to increase secondary retention, and to strengthen transition from school to tertiary study, training and work. This study seeks to examine the effectiveness of VETiS, from a gender and SES perspective, in strengthening participation, fostering student engagement and facilitating effective transition. It does so by analysing national VETiS data, followed up by a longitudinal study of students in 12 schools (small, large, single sex, co-educational, metropolitan and non-metropolitan). It uniquely combines a system-wide perspective with a detailed and qualitative school-level view.

Researchers

Associate Professor John Polesel (Project leader and CI) is a Principal Research Fellow within EPLU and the Coordinator of Graduate Coursework Programmes for the Melbourne Graduate School of Education.

Dr Veronica Volkoff (CI) is a Senior Research Fellow within the Education Policy and Leadership Unit and Academic Coordinator of the Teach for Australia Program.

Professor Jack Keating (CI) Leader of the Education Policy and Leadership Unit.

Kira Clarke (SRA) is a Research Fellow within the Education Policy and Leadership Unit.

Funding

ARC Discovery Grant (2010-2012)

Published Research

CLARKE, K. & POLESEL, J. (2013) “Strong on retention, weak on outcomes: The impact of Vocational Education and Training in Schools”, in Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, Vol. 34 (2).

KEATING, J., SAVAGE, G. & POLESEL, J. (2012) “Letting schools off the hook? Exploring the role of Australian secondary schools in the COAG Year 12 attainment agenda” Journal of Education Policy, pp. 268-286.

POLESEL, J. & CLARKE, K. (2011) “The Marginalisation of VET in an Australian Secondary School”, in Journal of Vocational Education and Training, Vol. 63 (4) pp. 525-538.

POLESEL, J. & KEATING, J. (2011) “School completion targets and the “equivalence” of VET in the Australian context”, in Oxford Review of Education, Vol. 37 (3).

POLESEL, J. (2013) “Australia’s Transition System in an International Comparative Context”, refereed paper published in conference proceedings of ICERI 2013 Conference, 18-20 November 2013, Seville.

POLESEL, J. (2012) “The gap between secondary school students’ motivations for doing vocational programs and actual transitions to the labour market in Australia” refereed paper published in conference proceedings of LICE Conference, 19-20 November 2012, London.

CLARKE, K. (2013) “Building foundations for youth in transition: How effective are Australian senior secondary certificates of education in facilitating access to further education and training?” at the SCUTREA Conference, Mobilities and Transitions: Learning, Institutions, Global and Social Movements, 25-27 June 2013, Glasgow Caledonian University, Scotland.

CLARKE, K. (2013) “Policies, pathways and partnerships: How effective is VET in Schools in supporting the transitions of young Australians?”, paper presented at Journal of Vocational Education and Training (JVET) Conference, July 5-7, Worcester College, Oxford.

CLARKE, K. (2013) "Building foundations for occupations or one-way tickets to low skilled jobs? How effective is VET in Schools?" paper to the 16th annual Australian Vocational Education and Training Research Association (AVETRA) Conference, 3-5 April: Fremantle.

CLARKE, K. (2012) Understanding the “in school” in VETiS: conceptualising a role for VET within the senior certificates, refereed paper at 2012 NCVER ‘No Frills’ Conference, Adelaide July 11-13.

CLARKE, K. and VOLKOFF, V. (2011) ‘Australian Vocational Education and Training (VET) in schools: the impact of jurisdictional policies and curricular contexts on the provision of quality VET in Schools ‘ in Symposium presentation Vocational knowledge in Australian senior secondary certificates: rationalisation, regulation, implementation and expectation (Keating, Clarke, Savage and Volkoff), Australia Association for Education Research (AARE) Conference November 27-Dec 1 2011, Hobart.

VOLKOFF, V. and CLARKE, K. (2011) ‘Vocational Education and Training in Schools: school expectation, student aspiration and pathway efficacy’ in Symposium presentation Vocational knowledge in Australian senior secondary certificates: rationalisation, regulation, implementation and expectation (Keating, Clarke, Savage and Volkoff), Australia Association for Education Research (AARE) Conference November 27-Dec 1 2011, Hobart.