University student finances in 2012

Around two-thirds of students have reported incomes below the poverty line as student debt soars by almost 30 per cent in just six years according to the findings of the University Student Finances in 2012 report.Summary:According to Universities Australia\u27s comprehensive report, soaring personal debt levels - that have risen from $28,861 in 2006 to$37,217 in 2012 - have also resulted in far greater levels of financial distress among students, with more than two-thirds of respondents now reporting worries about their financial situation.The level of financial distress is even greater amongst students from low socio-economic backgrounds and indigenous students, where it jumps to over three quarters and four out of five students respectively.The survey also finds that the financial demands for almost half of all university students outstrip their earnings.Other findings include:The number of students who believe that the requirements of external work negatively affect their performance at university has jumped 10 percentage points to 50 per cent since 2006.Over a quarter of employed full-time undergraduates work over 20 hours per week.Two-thirds of full-time domestic undergraduate students have incomes of less than $20,000 a year, below the poverty line, including 21 per cent who have incomes of less than$10,000. Half of all undergraduate students rely on some form of financial support from their family.These new findings build on previously announced highlights from the report including that: 80 per cent of full time undergraduates work an average of 16 hours a week; a third of students report regularly missing classes because of work and 17 per cent said they regularly went without food or other necessities."This report clearly shows that financial stress on university students is increasing," said Belinda Robinson, Chief Executive of Universities Australia, the peak body representing Australia\u27s universities."While the impact of this on dropout rates and future enrolments is unclear, it is of sufficient concern to justify close monitoring - particular in the context of meeting the government\u27s goal to have 20 per cent of students from low SES backgrounds enrolled by 2020," she said.The survey drew responses from 11,761 domestic, international, undergraduate and postgraduate students Australia-wide. The last time this survey was undertaken was 2006.Authored by: Emmaline Bexley, Suzanne Daroesman, Sophie Arkoudis and Richard Jame

Regenerating the academic workforce: the careers, intentions and motivations of higher degree research students in Australia

Abstract The main findings of this report are based on the outcomes from the National Research Student Survey (NRSS) conducted in June 2010 across 38 of the 39 universities in Australia. In total 11,710 Higher Degree by Research students (those enrolled in PhD and masters by research degrees, also referred to simply as ‘research students’ in this report) responded to the NRSS, providing a 25.5 per cent response rate across the country. These response numbers represent the largest collection of survey responses from research students ever undertaken in Australia. The report primarily explores the career intentions and motivations of these students. It provides particular emphasis on the interests of Higher Degree by Research (HDR) students (referred to in this report as ‘research students’) in following an academic career on completion of their degree and the support they have received in terms of preparation for university teaching during their candidature. In the context of growing student enrolments and the large numbers of predicted retirements associated with an ageing academic workforce there is a need to examine the career intentions of research students. This report explores the extent to which the current cohort of research students may be a source of replenishment for the academic profession in the context of an ageing academic workforce. It is important to remember that the traditional notion of an academic being someone who has made a linear transition from school to university, to a HDR and on to academia is outdated. Research students come to the HDR from a diverse variety of professional backgrounds and have equally diverse aspirations for their careers after gaining their qualification. Some research students m y already be working in universities in an academic capacity. Many intend to use their research degree as a springboard to a career outside of the university sector. Others undertake a research degree out of interest in the subject matter and simply for the pleasure of studying at an advanced level. Nevertheless, those research students who aspire to an academic career do represent an important source of future academics. The findings of this report raise a number of crucial issues relating to the research degree in Australian universities, the career aspirations of research students and potential issues for the future of the academic workforce over the coming decade. Recommended Citation Edwards, Daniel; Bexley, Emmaline; and Richardson, Sarah, "Regenerating the academic workforce: the careers, intentions and motivations of higher degree research students in Australia: findings of the National Research Student Survey (NRSS)" (2011). http://research.acer.edu.au/higher_education/2

Participation and equity

A review of the participation in higher education of people from low socioeconomic backgrounds and Indigenous people

The Impact of English Language Proficiency and Workplace Readiness on the Employment Outcomes of Tertiary International Students (Full Report)

This project examines the influence of English language proficiency (ELP) on workplace readiness and employment outcomes for international students and graduates who seek to work in Australia. The study adopts a mixed method approach involving a detailed review of relevant literature, semi-structured individual interviews and focus groups, and quantitative analyses of three statistical data sets — Australian 2006 Census data, Australian Education International (AEI) data from January 2002 to June 2008, and the former Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA) Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Australia (October 2005 and October 2006). The qualitative data from the interviews enabled the authors to analyse the topic of investigation from several different perspectives including those of: international students and graduates; local (permanent resident or citizen) students and graduates; representatives of tertiary institutions and VET providers; recent offshore graduate job seekers with overseas qualifications; and Australian employers and regulatory bodies in five professional and three trade fields. The findings show that international students employment outcomes are not as good as their Australian domestic counterparts and that they face greater challenges in finding full-time employment after graduation. While ELP is a key factor influencing their employment outcomes — particularly if graduates have low levels of ELP — the findings from this study show that ELP is not the only or principal issue. Employers\u27 first priority is to engage graduates with strong profession-specific skills and then to consider their ‘well-roundedness’. The ‘well-roundedness’ includes graduates’ personal characteristics and attributes, the diversity of their experiences and skills, as well as their ‘cultural fit’ into the workplace. There is potential to respond to this expectation through policies and practices that support integrated approaches for enhancing ELP and workplace readiness within educational institutions, as well as increasing international students’ awareness of the value of the experiences and skills they can develop outside of their studies

The Impact of English Language Proficiency and Workplace Readiness on the Employment Outcomes of Tertiary International Students (Executive Summary)

This project examines the influence of English language proficiency (ELP) on workplace readiness and employment outcomes for international students and graduates who seek to work in Australia. The study adopts a mixed method approach involving a detailed review of relevant literature, semi-structured individual interviews and focus groups, and quantitative analyses of three statistical data sets — Australian 2006 Census data, Australian Education International (AEI) data from January 2002 to June 2008, and the former Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA) Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Australia (October 2005 and October 2006). The qualitative data from the interviews enabled the authors to analyse the topic of investigation from several different perspectives including those of: international students and graduates; local (permanent resident or citizen) students and graduates; representatives of tertiary institutions and VET providers; recent offshore graduate job seekers with overseas qualifications; and Australian employers and regulatory bodies in five professional and three trade fields. The findings show that international students employment outcomes are not as good as their Australian domestic counterparts and that they face greater challenges in finding full-time employment after graduation. While ELP is a key factor influencing their employment outcomes — particularly if graduates have low levels of ELP — the findings from this study show that ELP is not the only or principal issue. Employers\u27 first priority is to engage graduates with strong profession-specific skills and then to consider their ‘well-roundedness’. The ‘well-roundedness’ includes graduates’ personal characteristics and attributes, the diversity of their experiences and skills, as well as their ‘cultural fit’ into the workplace. There is potential to respond to this expectation through policies and practices that support integrated approaches for enhancing ELP and workplace readiness within educational institutions, as well as increasing international students’ awareness of the value of the experiences and skills they can develop outside of their studies

The Impact of English Language Proficiency and Workplace Readiness on the Employment Outcomes of Tertiary International Students (Executive Summary)

This project examines the influence of English language proficiency (ELP) on workplace readiness and employment outcomes for international students and graduates who seek to work in Australia. The study adopts a mixed method approach involving a detailed review of relevant literature, semi-structured individual interviews and focus groups, and quantitative analyses of three statistical data sets — Australian 2006 Census data, Australian Education International (AEI) data from January 2002 to June 2008, and the former Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA) Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Australia (October 2005 and October 2006). The qualitative data from the interviews enabled the authors to analyse the topic of investigation from several different perspectives including those of: international students and graduates; local (permanent resident or citizen) students and graduates; representatives of tertiary institutions and VET providers; recent offshore graduate job seekers with overseas qualifications; and Australian employers and regulatory bodies in five professional and three trade fields. The findings show that international students employment outcomes are not as good as their Australian domestic counterparts and that they face greater challenges in finding full-time employment after graduation. While ELP is a key factor influencing their employment outcomes — particularly if graduates have low levels of ELP — the findings from this study show that ELP is not the only or principal issue. Employers\u27 first priority is to engage graduates with strong profession-specific skills and then to consider their ‘well-roundedness’. The ‘well-roundedness’ includes graduates’ personal characteristics and attributes, the diversity of their experiences and skills, as well as their ‘cultural fit’ into the workplace. There is potential to respond to this expectation through policies and practices that support integrated approaches for enhancing ELP and workplace readiness within educational institutions, as well as increasing international students’ awareness of the value of the experiences and skills they can develop outside of their studies

Absolute time before Newton

This thesis provides a new analysis of early contributions to the development of the theory of absolute time—the notion that time exists independently of the presence or actions of material bodies and has no material cause. Though popularly attributed to Newton, I argue that this conception of time first appeared in medieval philosophy, as a solution to a peculiar theological problem generated by a widespread misrepresentation of Aristotle. I trace the subsequent evolution of the theory of absolute time through to the seventeenth-century, and argue that Newton, if anything, retreats from a full endorsement of the doctrine

Social capital in theory and practice

A report which explores the use of social capital theory in understanding educational advantage/disadvantage from a public policy development perspective

Regenerating the academic workforce: the careers, intentions and motivations of higher degree research students in Australia: findings of the National Research Student Survey (NRSS)

The main findings of this report are based on the outcomes from the National Research Student Survey (NRSS) conducted in June 2010 across 38 of the 39 universities in Australia. In total 11,710 Higher Degree by Research students (those enrolled in PhD and masters by research degrees, also referred to simply as ‘research students’ in this report) responded to the NRSS, providing a 25.5 per cent response rate across the country. These response numbers represent the largest collection of survey responses from research students ever undertaken in Australia. The report primarily explores the career intentions and motivations of these students. It provides particular emphasis on the interests of Higher Degree by Research (HDR) students (referred to in this report as ‘research students’) in following an academic career on completion of their degree and the support they have received in terms of preparation for university teaching during their candidature. In the context of growing student enrolments and the large numbers of predicted retirements associated with an ageing academic workforce there is a need to examine the career intentions of research students. This report explores the extent to which the current cohort of research students may be a source of replenishment for the academic profession in the context of an ageing academic workforce. It is important to remember that the traditional notion of an academic being someone who has made a linear transition from school to university, to a HDR and on to academia is outdated. Research students come to the HDR from a diverse variety of professional backgrounds and have equally diverse aspirations for their careers after gaining their qualification. Some research students m y already be working in universities in an academic capacity. Many intend to use their research degree as a springboard to a career outside of the university sector. Others undertake a research degree out of interest in the subject matter and simply for the pleasure of studying at an advanced level. Nevertheless, those research students who aspire to an academic career do represent an important source of future academics. The findings of this report raise a number of crucial issues relating to the research degree in Australian universities, the career aspirations of research students and potential issues for the future of the academic workforce over the coming decade