Returns to education for those returning to education: evidence from Australia

Abstract

There is widespread support for expanding access to universities for underrepresented groups, such as students from lower socio-economic backgrounds and older students, because of the higher rates of return to university degrees. This study examines whether this assumption holds true for mature-aged graduates who have received their degrees in an era of mass participation. Using data from Australia, where around a quarter of university students are now over 25 years of age, the returns to higher education of mature-aged and younger graduates between 2001 and 2009 were compared. It was found that mature-aged graduates are more likely to reside in less-advantaged areas and to be the first person in their family to attend university but are less likely to be employed in the year before graduation, compared to younger graduates. However, in the year after graduation, employment status and earnings do not differ significantly for graduates regardless of their age at graduation.

Graduate views on access to higher education: is it really a case of pulling up the ladder?

“…Work in the area of earning power of graduates is well established and seductive. Chesters and Watson (2013), for example, suggest that those individuals who graduate with a degree will be able to demand -and, moreover, be offered -higher wages and that this will continue throughout their working lives.…”

The Fallacy of the Bolted Horse: Changing Our Thinking About Mature-Age Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander University Students

“…Daniels (2011) makes a similar point and also suggests that a growing number of Australian women in their 40s and 50s are engaging with university education as a way to reinvent their personal and professional lives after fulfilling their home-based primary carer obligations. When inclusive of the data demonstrating that investing in university education significantly improves an older individual's position in the labour market (Chesters & Watson, 2013), the overall assessment of mature-age university students and their value to society is optimistic, encouraging and celebratory.…”

“…Internationally, most universities define a mature-age student as aged 25-64 at the time of commencement and not immediately following full-time secondary studies (Chesters & Watson, 2013;Krause, Hartley & McInnis, 2005;Tones, Fraser, Elder & White, 2009), although some Australian universities define a mature-age student as aged 21 and over (O'Shea & Stone, 2011. Despite this variation in definition, the age of 25 years is seen as an appropriate cut-off point due to the significant differences in life circumstances between students aged less than 25 years, who are classed as school leavers, and mature-age students (Tones et al, 2009).…”

Lifelong career mobility and change options in knowledge occupations: career pathway implications of initial degree choices

“…For example, using graduate survey data, Sarason (1977) noted prejudice against mature-age new graduates in some fields, particularly law, as an obstacle to occupational change. However, in a study of Australian bachelor degree graduates, mature age was found to be an asset rather than a liability in obtaining degree-related employment on graduation, though personal attributes and field of study were also relevant (Chesters & Watson, 2013).…”

“…The economic feasibility of occupational mobility depends not just on the costs of training, but also on the accumulated costs of the change referred to as the 'opportunity cost' (Blau et al, 2009;Chesters & Watson, 2013;Neapolitan, 1980;Packard & Babineau, 2009;Robbins, 1978;Robst, 2008). As it is very difficult to simultaneously qualify for multiple occupations, or to justify the additional expense of further education, reduced mobility in knowledge occupations is implicit in human capital theory (Campbell & Banerjee, 2013;Freeman, 1971).…”