Unpacking the career aspirations of Australian school students: towards an evidence base for university equity initiatives in schools

Abstract

Demand for higher education in Australia has doubled since 1989, increasing the number of students from diverse social, economic and academic backgrounds. Equity targets have seen a proliferation of programs and interventions aimed at encouraging school students, particularly those from low socio-economic status backgrounds, to participate in higher education. However, little is known about the specific occupational interests of school students upon which targeted strategies might effectively be designed and implemented. This paper examines school students' aspirations for specific careers that require a university education, in relation to student background and school-related variables. The analysis draws from a study of 6492 students from Years 3 to 12 in 64 New South Wales public schools. We found a complex array of factors relating to interest in different careers. Year level at school, gender and prior achievement were stronger predictors across many careers than factors such as SES, Indigenous status and school location. We argue that rather than taking a one-sizefits-all approach to encouraging participation in higher education, outreach activities should be targeted to take account of student diversity and inequalities that foster differing aspirations. ARTICLE HISTORY

Are university widening participation activities just-in-time or just-out-of-time? Exploring the (mis)alignment between the timing of widening participation activities and university decision-making among students from low socioeconomic backgrounds

“…Perhaps it is less to do with the frequency, reach, breadth and depth of WP outreach design, but rather the timing of WP exposure to high school students and whether it is in sync with high school students decision making processes and the streaming of students into either a university stream or nonuniversity stream for senior high school. The recent work of Gore et al (2017b) found that the decision to go to university among people from LSES backgrounds occurs at a younger age today that has either been assumed or was the case in the past. This suggests that the timing rather than the design of WP may need to harmonise with the decision-making process of today's high school students.…”

“…High school academic achievement is influenced by socioeconomic status but still tends to be used as a predictor of interest in going to university to acquire a qualification that is required for careers that typically lead to higher incomes (Gale et al, 2010;Gore et al, 2017b). Simply, most people identify a preferred career in the first instance and then ascertain if a university qualification is required or advantageous to entering their preferred career.…”

“…In terms of identification of a preferred career, until recently it has been presumed that career interests were predominantly shaped during senior high school (Year 11 and 12). However, Cupitt et al (2016) and Gore et al (2017b), for example, found that career aspirations among people from LSES backgrounds develop much earlier, perhaps even as early as Year 5 (late primary school). Gore et al's (2017b) seminal work found that different careers were most appealing at different stages throughout a student's education.…”

“…Furthermore, career interests also differed by gender. Gore et al (2017b) found that both males and females develop interests in careers typical of their gender stereotypes. Boys were found to prefer science, mathematics and computing, while girls favoured humanities, social sciences and home sciences (Fleming & Grace, 2014).…”

“…However, people from LSES backgrounds often (but not always) achieve lesser educational outcomes (Gale & Parker, 2013). Lower grades in high school are at odds with the perceptions of students from LSES backgrounds that they needed to be 'smart' to succeed in certain, higher-status careers that required a university qualification (Gore et al, 2017b). Where students from LSES backgrounds perceive themselves to be below average in terms of academic ability, they are more likely to study at a Vocational Education and Training (VET) institution despite knowing that a university qualification was the better option in terms of entry to their preferred career (Cupitt et al, 2016;Gore et al, 2017a).…”