ON CAMPUS campusreview. com. au
The employability gap
M @ CateGribble
In the past decade, Australia has been successful in expanding the number of students from backgrounds with low-socioeconomic status enrolling in tertiary education. The 2008 Bradley Review highlighted the critical need to expand tertiary educational opportunities to students from low-SES backgrounds. Targets were set and funding created to increase participation by these students. However, the employability of such students after graduation may have been overlooked.
Policy has largely focused on access and retention. While some funding allocated through the Higher Education Participation and Partnerships Program( HEPPP) has concerned career-related activities, the focus has been on increasing participation of domestic students from low-SES backgrounds in accredited undergraduate qualifications, and supporting the retention and success of these students. Those efforts have made a difference. The number of people of lower socioeconomic status enrolled in higher education in Australia increased from 16.3 per cent in 2007 to 17.3
Higher education access and retention for students from disadvantaged backgrounds is improving, but there is more to do to help them prepare for the job market.
By Cate Gribble and Judie Kay
per cent in 2012. This growth is significant, as the percentage had been static at about 15 per cent for many years before then. However, recently released studies by the National Centre for Student Equity in Higher Education at Curtin University and the Foundation for Young Australians suggest more needs to be done to develop the employability of such students and to facilitate their transition into graduate employment.
BARRIERS TO EMPLOYABILITY Students from low-SES backgrounds often overcome disadvantage just to enter university. Success in the graduate labour market poses additional challenges. Low-SES students arrive at university with lower stocks of social and cultural capital than their peers. This lack of capital may hurt not only their academic performance, but also their capacity to plan for a career or postgraduate study. Students from higher-SES backgrounds are more likely to benefit from career advice from their parents, workplace, friends, career services, the internet and other resources.
Increasingly, it is the‘ extra’ skills and experiences that lead to enhanced employability. However, the types of activities students engage in beyond the classroom stem from their different backgrounds. This means low-SES students are less likely to participate in work-integrated learning and volunteering, due to financial and time constraints. Similar barriers prevent low-SES students from participating in co-curricular activities that provide opportunities for personal development and social engagement.
Australian universities actively promote learning abroad as part of their internationalisation agenda, which aims to help students enhance personal growth, intercultural skills, global outlooks and employability. Low-SES students are under-represented in such outbound mobility programs.
The situation is similar within work-integrated learning. It plays a critical role in improving the employability of graduates by giving them valuable practical experience. Graduates say it has a positive impact on the transition to work and competitiveness in the labour market; they often identify the practical experience they gained through work-integrated learning as crucial to getting a job. Yet, low-SES students have lower levels of participation in this area. This stems from family commitments and a lack of the networks required to access placement opportunities and casual employment.
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