Vocational Voices

In this interview, Steve Davis talks with former NCVER Managing Director, Tom Karmel, about his report Apprenticeships and traineeships in the downturn. The essence of the apprenticeship is the contract of training - a legal contract between an individual, an employer and a training provider. The defining characteristic is the combination of employment and training. The purpose of this paper is to describe what we know about apprenticeships and traineeships, with a view to assessing the likely

In this interview, Steve Davis talks with researcher Cain Polidano about his report on the role of vocational education and training in the labour market outcomes of people with disabilities. Low levels of education generally among people with a disability is one of the factors contributing to their lower rate of labour market participation. What role vocational education and training (VET) plays in ameliorating this is the focus of this report. Using data from the Household, Income and Labour

In this interview, Steve Davis talks with researcher Michael Dockery about his report, Cultural dimensions of Indigenous participation in education and training. This study provides an important innovation to the existing literature by explicitly attempting to measure 'cultural attachment' and its relationship with post-compulsory education and training. Original broadcast date: 4 November 2009

In this interview, Steve Davis talks with researcher, Berwyn Clayton, about the report Industry currency and professional obsolescence: what can industry tell us?. The purpose of the study is to take an industry focused approach to investigating the issues of professional obsolescence and industry currency and how they apply to VET practitioners. Issues covered included, the importance of industry currency for practitioners training and assessing in the VET sector; strategies used by employers to

In this interview, Steve Davis talks with researcher Cain Polidano about the report Outcomes from combining work and tertiary study. This study investigates the motivations for and the education and employment outcomes from working while studying for both VET and higher education students. While, in general, tertiary students who work while studying are less likely to complete than those who do not, being employed in the final year of study significantly improves the chances of finding full time

In this interview, Steve Davis talks with author Francesca Beddie about her paper, What next for tertiary education? Some preliminary sketches, which presents the culmination of the ideas discussed between prominent tertiary education thinkers who came together to reflect on the Committee on the Future of Tertiary Education report (the Martin report). These ideas are intended to generate discussion on the possibilities for the future of tertiary education in Australia. She emphasises the importance

In this 13 minute interview, Steve Davis talks with Leesa Wheelahan about the report Shaken not stirred? The development of one tertiary education sector in Australia. This report examines universities that offer a small amount of VET and private providers that offer both VET and higher education, building on previous research examining TAFE intitutes that offer higher education. This research suggests that mixed-sector and dual-sector providers are likely to become more important but they face

In this interview Steve Davis talks with former NCVER Managing Director, Tom Karmel, about his report Is VET vocational?, which explores the issue of how vocational education and training (VET) is actually used in the labour market and in particular the match between what graduates study and the jobs they get. Original broadcast date: 29 July 2008