Campus Review Vol 29. Issue 11 | November 2019 | Seite 20

industry & research
campusreview.com.au
Rank decisions
The ATAR issue and factors that
influence course decisions.
Sarah James interviewed by Wade Zaglas
D
r Sara James is a lecturer and cultural
sociologist at La Trobe University
and has completed research on the
factors that influence students’ degree and
course choices. According to James, one of
the key factors influencing course choices
are the opinions of families and friends.
James is also interested in the changing
nature of work in the future, leading to a
new age of automation, lifelong learning and
“micro-accreditation” through short courses
offered by providers like LinkedIn Learning.
For James, the ATAR discourages students
from enrolling in subjects they really
enjoy or are good at. Instead, students are
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encouraged to “maximise their ATAR” or, in
other words, “spend their score” by securing
a high-paying job in the future.
But as anecdotal and research findings
suggest, ATAR-driven choices often lead to
students pulling out of courses or switching
over to ones they find more interesting
or are more suited to. This research is
particularly timely given NSW’s decision
to overhaul the ATAR over concerns from
stressed-out parents and the disputed
merits of the score.
Campus Review spoke with James to find
out more about her research.
CR: Does the ATAR accurately indicate a
student’s ability to succeed at university,
or should it be replaced?
SJ: The way the ATAR is understood in
society and explained to students is a bit
problematic. The chief scientist, Alan Finkel,
put it well when he said that the ATAR is a
tool, but students treat it as a goal.
There’s a big emphasis in most schools
on students trying to maximise their ATAR.
The way this tends to be explained is that
getting a good ATAR will allow you to get
into a good course and then a good job.
So you have students choosing subjects
to try and maximise their ATAR and not
necessarily following their interests or
talents. And then when they get their
magical number, they try to get the best
value they can with their score.
We’ve got research that shows that
students will always want to try and spend
their ATAR. Basically they’ve worked very
hard for it, so they don’t necessarily pick a
course based on what they enjoy or feel
suited to, but one with the highest ATAR
they can get into.
This is probably influential in what we see
happening in first year with students either
dropping out of courses or transferring
into a different degree. So, if there was
less emphasis placed on the ATAR, we’d
probably see less of this.
Much of your research focuses on the
changing role of work in people’s lives,
in an era of precarious employment and
fragmentation. What can uni students do
to ensure they’re better equipped for this
brave new world?
Work has become less secure, and career
pathways are now more fragmented. So,
rather than the older model of going to uni,
studying one thing and then going into a
company in that industry and working your
way up over time, maybe moving into a