Archive for the ‘Financial Management’ Category
Report: Australian Technical and Further Education (TAFE)
In the balance:
Participation and access in TAFE
Associate Professor Margaret Powles
Centre for the Study of Higher Education
University of Melbourne
and
Damon Anderson
Centre for the Economics of Education and Training,
Monash University-Australian Council for Educational Research
Paper presented to
Educational Research: Building New Partnerships
Conference jointly organised by
Education Research Association, Singapore
and
Australian Association for Research in Education
Singapore Polytechnic, Singapore
25-29 November 1996
In the balance:
participation and access in TAFE
by
Associate Professor Margaret Powles
Centre for the Study of Higher Education
University of Melbourne
and
Damon Anderson
Centre for the Economics of Education and Training,
Monash University-Australian Council for Educational Research
ABSTRACT
This paper provides an analysis of participation and access issues
which were identified by the Kangan Report of 1974 and which remain
significant in Australian Technical and Further Education (TAFE) in the
1990s. A conjectural and deliberately dichotomous ‘social
service’/'economic utility’ framework is superimposed upon some of
TAFE’s features in order to explore changes in the system and the
attendant assumptions about participation and access. Sectoral growth,
attendance patterns, and socio-economic shifts in the TAFE population
are examined within the framework, providing a basis for an exploration
of specific, but interrelated issues: women’s participation, access
courses, the emergence of selective admissions, academic drift, and
costs to the student. In each case it is shown how the notions of
participation and access may be interpreted and what might be the
future consequences of policies which tip the balance between social
service and economic utility in either direction.
Introduction
In this paper we examine participation and access issues which have
emerged in relation to Australian Technical and Further Education
(TAFE) since the early 1970s and which are likely to grow in
significance in the coming years. We draw upon a vast, but often
piecemeal, collection of information in the form of statistics from
various sources, research data, commentaries, commissioned reports and
policy documents. We do not merely marshal this information by theme
but take account of what Schofield (1994, p.60) refers to as ‘. the
sharp dichotomy between educational and social purposes on the one hand
and labour market purposes on the other.’ She argued that ‘an adequate
analysis of the impact of this split . [is] fundamental to an
understanding of TAFE within today’s debate around the national
training reform agenda.’ In this paper we construct a bipolar ‘social
service’ and ‘economic utility’ framework which owes much to Burgess’s
(1981) and Warren-Piper’s (1984) explorations of bias and fairness in
British higher education, to Hawke and Sweet’s (1983) writings on
access, and to Ryan and Scholefield’s (1990) series of models of TAFE
in Australia. Within our framework we examine first, sectoral growth,
attendance patterns and pertinent demographic and socio-economic shifts
in the TAFE population. These analyses provide the context for
exploring, secondly, a selection of specific, but interlinked, issues -
women’s participation, access courses, selective admissions, academic
drift, and fees. These issues, while not an exhaustive catalogue, have
been chosen to provide a barometer of systemic accessibility. Each was
identified originally in the Kangan Report (1974) in its consideration
of major barriers to access in TAFE and have been subject to a modicum
of research over time.
Our conceptual framework, to be explained in more detail below,
superimposed upon our analyses, promotes a better understanding of the
complexities inherent in the notions of participation and access, how
these might be interpreted, and in which ways TAFE policy can be
extrapolated against a backdrop of social, economic, and political
change.
Two conjectural views of TAFE
In a ‘social service’ view, the individual student is TAFE’s primary
focus and equity of access within a broad framework of social concern
is a guiding principle. With political commitment to social expenditure
and associated full public funding of tertiary education, TAFE’s
expansion is facilitated to cater for all needs and interests. The
system is characterised by a proliferation of courses which endorse
‘contextual’ (Kangan, 1974) or ‘generic’ (Beswick et al, 1983)
curricula; that is, those embracing adaptability, social responsibility
and personal development of the student in addition to the teaching of
specific vocational skills. It is not forgotten that the individual has
to get a job (Lloyd, 1976), yet students are not discouraged from
exploring different options before finding a suitable niche. The
concepts of recurrent education and life-long learning are emphasised.
An ‘open’ access system is therefore espoused in which:
everybody would be offered some way in, although not necessarily the
same way. However, each of the entry points would be equally accessible
to those whom they suited ¼ and each would give equal opportunity of
reaching one of a number of exit points. These exit points, giving
different levels and types of accreditation or implying different kinds
of educational expertise, would reflect the wishes and the capacities
of the students. (Warren-Piper, 1983, p.8).
Strategies to enhance equity of participation are not restricted to
particular groups, although the nature of disadvantage is examined in
order to inform special provision through transition, access and
bridging programs in conjunction with college-based social and
educational (along with public) support services. Equity of
participation is seen in the broader context of social justice.
Although it might be argued that such a view of TAFE bears no semblance
to reality, many of its features were explicit in the 1974 Kangan
Report and were facilitated by economic growth and fundamental
transformations in community values during the 1960s and early 1970s.
Writing in 1980, Kangan looked back to the conditions which were ‘just
right’ to receive the concepts of his Committee’s report. In this, the
central vision was that TAFE should not be perceived ‘mainly as the
supplier who meets the needs for skilled labour, but as supplying each
person with education to meet his freely-chosen vocational need ¼
within the context of the vocational world.’ (p.11). TAFE authorities
needed ‘to proclaim that they are educational authorities, not manpower
nor employment departments’ (p.12). If elements of the social service
view of TAFE and the Kangan Committee’s vision have left their mark on
today’s sector, few remain unquestioned.
In an ‘economic utility’ view, TAFE is seen by government as one
channel through which to promote national economic development. By
default, the economy drives enrolments, determines their social
distribution, and influences the nature of student demand. Government,
and the system itself, look beyond public funding to the private
sector, specifically industry and individual users who are defined as
the private beneficiaries of TAFE training. Fees, together with
competitive selection policies, deter ‘frivolous consumption’
(Marginson, 1988, p.80) and efficiency is stressed in terms of
maximising retention and completion rates. Credentials become the
currency of exchange between ‘suppliers’ and ‘clients’ in a context
where education and training are defined as a commercial transaction,
rather than as a process of social and cultural formation. Working from
a human capital paradigm, education and training become ‘skills
formation’ (Boomer, 1987; Marginson, 1993) the principal objective of
which is to ‘add value’ and boost the productivity and competitiveness
of industry rather than contribute to social and personal development.
Accordingly, curricula become decontextualised, market-tied and
hierarchical.
Although equity remains an issue, its definition differs markedly from
that specified by the social service view. It is not simply a matter of
‘meeting social objectives related to equity. Rather it is an economic
argument about increasing the pool of human resources.’ (Dawkins and
Holding, 1987, p.16). In this view, there is a tendency for
socio-economic inequality to be accepted as given so that broader
social equity questions wane in favour of what Marginson terms ‘market
equity’. This ‘extends to freedom to enter the market (in which TAFE is
a major supplier), not to enter it on equal terms and of course is not
concerned about equal outcomes.’ (Marginson, 1988, p.7). As opposed to
the social service view which advocates distributive justice and
needs-based approaches to resource allocation, the economic utility
view assumes that the market is a more efficient and equitable
allocator of scarce resources. In extremis, provision for disadvantaged
groups becomes one of many institutional performance indicators, given
lip service by government and unsupported by the public purse.
While this view in totality might be regarded as immoderate, clearly
many of its aspects have gained currency and are likely to remain
significant throughout the 1990s. The Scott Review (1990) of the TAFE
system in NSW, for example, argued that the ‘quasi welfare’ role of
TAFE had taken precedence over meeting the education and training needs
of industry. It criticised TAFE for having ‘overemphasised the
importance of individual skill requirements at the expense of workplace
relevance by pursuing an “open access policy”.’ (Scott, 1990,
pp.12-13). Although other versions of the economic utility view treat
economic growth and social equity as mutually dependant and
reconcilable objectives, they simultaneously re-define access and
equity as ‘community service obligations’, a truncated and
compartmentalised version of social justice concerns.
Some might argue that the emergence of the economic utility view was
inevitable, having its roots in economic downturn. From this
perspective, priorities need to be ordered, the most favoured order
being determined by what appear to be the most pressing macro-economic
considerations at the time. Others might argue that the way in which
priorities are determined is a matter of ideology. In either case,
tensions arise in which participation and access issues are central.
By way of summary and for later reference, some of the features and
access implications of these bipolar views of TAFE are set out in the
accompanying table. Although the social service and economic utility
views on the role of TAFE are represented as opposites, they do
nevertheless bear a close resemblance to actual policy configurations
and discursive positions adopted in the debate about vocational
education and training over the past few decades. It is conceded that
they are subject to myriad differences in emphasis and interpretation
and that in reality at any one time various policy prescriptions will
contain elements of both views. It is the balance that is of interest.
The accompanying table illustrates some of the points where the balance
might tip and tensions arise (see p.5).
Terms
Notions of participation, access and equity are linked. The ‘somewhat
over-used’ term ‘participation’ in education usually refers to the
number of people who are ‘in’ the system at any one time (Brewster,
1985; Brewster et al., 1985) or to the distribution of enrolments
according to various population categories, gender, age group and so
on. According to Warren-Piper (1984), population characteristics such
as these assume within-group homogeneity, so that arithmetical facts
can be revealed about the participation of each group at a particular
time or trends may be observed over a period. This approach does not,
however, reveal how a pattern comes about nor, as Williams puts it,
does it:
provide direct evidence of inequities but, rather, show[s] only that
participation rates vary (or do not vary) across sub population groups.
Where rates vary, we may choose to say they should not ¼ In some cases
we will want to say that these differences in participation rates are
evidence of inequities in access ¼ In other instances the
interpretation of between-group differences in participation as
evidence of inequities may not be clear-cut ¼ members of a group [may]
not participate at rates equal to other sub-population groups simply
because they do not want to. ¼ We might take the position ¼ that they
should – or would if they had not been ‘disadvantaged’ by family and/or
culture at an early age. (1987, pp.15-16)
Hayden’s definition of participation links with the notion of access:
‘the number of people likely to engage in ¼ education under certain
conditions.’ (1982, p.88). Hayden distinguishes economic conditions
(such as perceptions of costs and benefits and the ability to afford to
study), social and environmental conditions (such as social and
cultural background and geographical location), and psychological
conditions – all of which interact to affect individuals in different
ways. While access is therefore often perceived in terms of barriers to
participation (Powles, 1987a), individual choice needs to be added to
the complex equation.
Features and Access Implications of Two Conjectural Views of TAFE
Social Service
Economic Utility
Finance
public;
distributive justice
public/private;
user pays
System emphasis, goals
integrated social/ educational/ vocational objectives;
focus on individual requirements and outcomes;
lifelong learning
vocational/ instrumental/ training;
skills acquisition;
economic benefits to individual and industry;
recurrent training
Student enrolments
student driven
market driven
Entry
everybody offered some way in
restricted;
‘frivolous consumption’ discouraged
Courses
courses match people;
broad-based, transferable skills;
flexible, student-centred, socially critical;
participatory, contextualised, integrative
people match courses;
job-specific;
industry-determined;
standardised;
sequential;
decontextualised, non-reflective, hierarchical
Selection
open access;
non-competitive;
non-discriminatory;
flexible
rationed;
competitive;
ranked;
systematised
Equity goals
welfare-oriented;
inclusive with special provision based on nature of disadvantage;
needs-based, responsive to student diversity;
social equality
economy-oriented;
selective with subsidies based on levels of disadvantage;
deficit-based, targeted to designated groups;
market equity
Awards, credentials
descriptive, emphasis on achievements;
open and flexible outcomes
graded, emphasis on market value of credential;
pre-determined outcomes
Influencing factors
economic expansion;
ideological commitment to the public good and social development
economic restraint;
ideological commitment to economic growth and industry priorities
Extrapolating these definitions, refined categories can be established
and further facts about the population revealed. Obviously, great care
must be taken in establishing categories, and exploring their
characteristics, while bearing in mind that no matter how refined the
category, individuals are involved, and moreover, ‘facts are given
meaning only by the political significance of the category used’
(Warren-Piper, 1984, p.10). This said, some broad observations may be
made about the TAFE student population and some implications drawn.
As a basis for examining changes in the system and their impact on
participation and access, available data and published research on
sectoral growth, attendance patterns and socio-economic shifts in the
TAFE student population have been analysed. Five specific, but
inter-related, issues have been chosen to provide a barometer of
systemic accessibility in the context of these changes. The five issues
selected are women’s participation, access courses, the emergence of
selective admissions, academic drift, and costs to students. Each of
these specific issues was identified originally in the Kangan Report
(1974) in its consideration of major barriers to access in TAFE, and
have subsequently been the subject of research and evaluation (eg.
Hawke and Sweet, 1983). The particular selection does not constitute a
comprehensive or exhaustive catalogue of access issues. However, in the
absence of any more comprehensive bodies of research on access to TAFE,
these indices provide a sufficiently broad and inter-related framework
within which to examine whether post-Kangan policy developments have
reduced or reinforced discriminatory access with respect to gender,
social, economic and educational background.
Growth
The present observations begin in 1973, since when the overall growth
of the sector has been extraordinary. By 1973, TAFE catered for around
430,000 people (Kangan, 1974). Enrolments grew strongly throughout the
1970s, averaging 6 per cent growth per year until 1981 when numbers
reached over the million mark (CTEC, various years). In 1988,
enrolments stood at just under one and a half million. By 1992, almost
one and three quarter million students were enrolled in TAFE (DEET,
various years; NCVER, 1993).
The numbers of institutions and local annexes in major population
centres and country areas have increased accordingly, providing not
only the widest geographical accessibility of all post-secondary
sectors, but also a great range of vocational programs as well as
general education and leisure-interest courses. Growth in the diversity
of offerings, which came to include remedial and ‘equity’ provision
during the 1980s, led to increasing criticism that ‘TAFE’s diffuse
purposes dissipated its effectiveness at what it “really” should be
doing. TAFE was criticised as being “all things to all people”.’ (Ryan
and Scholefield, 1990) It was also argued that increasing enrolments
has no necessary virtue from any of a series of viewpoints, be they
enhancing productivity, improving prospects for people and so on -
unless growth is linked to greater social equity (Ashenden and
Costello, 1985).
Growth has given rise to a changing variety of pressure points on the
sector. The location of pressure points and associated access issues
may be illustrated by observing mode of attendance patterns,
socio-economic features, provision for particular sections of the
population, and the balance between vocational and non-vocational
education.
Attendance patterns
One wide-ranging way of observing participation in TAFE is to examine
attendance patterns. Ninety per cent of enrolments are part-time – a
proportion which, having remained around that level since the early
1970s, has led to many assumptions about the population as a whole.
Analyses of full-time participation rates by age and sex over time
illustrate the importance of this mode of study by single year of age
from fifteen to nineteen, for young females in particular. For
instance, in 1992, one third of female eighteen year olds in TAFE and
one fifth of males of the same age were enrolled full-time (NCVER,
1993). Full-time participation has peaked at age seventeen consistently
between 1975 and 1988, since when it has constantly peaked at age
eighteen. Between 1990 and 1992, there was a ten per cent increase in
the full-time participation of eighteen year olds. Since 1985,
full-time participation has been increasing steadily amongst eighteen
and nineteen year olds – the age group most vulnerable to the decline
in demand for full-time labour (see also Sweet, 1988, 1990). In 1992,
46 per cent of full-timers were aged nineteen and under; a further 24
per cent fell in the twenty to twenty-four age group, leaving 28 per
cent in a ‘mature age’ category, where the proportions who are women
increase with age.
Whereas early school leavers are highly vulnerable in the labour
market, TAFE provides an attractive full-time alternative to staying at
school for many young people – with its flexible entry requirements,
alternative curricula with an employment focus, lesser conformity to
the academic pattern, and greater emphasis on self-responsibility – a
more adult atmosphere generally (Powles, 1988). These attractions would
of course also apply to young people seeking part-time involvement.
Full-time attendance in TAFE has been strongly associated with low
socio-economic status (King, 1987), a finding which connects with
Williams’ observations that preference for education (in relation to
post-compulsory school retention, but which could just as well apply to
choosing the TAFE alternative) is ‘rooted in the complex of values,
orientations, attitudes and behaviour that characterise families in
different social status groups.’ (Williams, 1987, p.112). Williams
considers preferences to be more to do with social than family economic
circumstances, although he recognises that the latter have become more
important in influencing decisions to proceed or not since the early
1980s economic downturn. Clearly then, availability of places as well
as financial support for young people from less well-off families who
wish to proceed with full-time post-compulsory education in TAFE are
issues not only of access, but of social equity.
The full-time/part-time ratio varies considerably across streams of
study. It might be expected that the pre-vocational/pre-apprenticeship
areas (75 per cent full time enrolments in 1992) as well as the
educational preparation stream (13 per cent) would retain their
‘traditional’ full-time clientele of early school leavers and lower
socio-economic groups. On the other hand, since the early to mid 1980s,
post-compulsory school retention rates began their dramatic climb,
educational aspirations rose and excess demand for higher education
places began to escalate. These factors, combined with a dwindling
number of jobs in the youth labour market, unemployment and
economy-driven realisation amongst young people that post-school
qualifications meant jobs, have resulted in TAFE becoming an
increasingly common destination for school leavers with year twelve
certification, despite a large majority of them indicating preference
for university (ANOP, 1993). Excess demand has become more apparent in
full-time courses, at advanced certificate and associate diploma levels
in particular – entry qualifications for which have not, until
recently, been rigidly defined on higher school completion criteria
(Powles, 1990b). In this context, issues which will gain prominence in
the 1990s – to be considered later – are those concerning the demise of
open access, the possible displacement of the traditional full-time
youth clientele as applicant qualifications rise and the probability
that courses will be increasingly designed to cater for a more highly
qualified applicant group.
As for part-time participation, assumptions, hitherto made on the basis
of demographic variables and the simple fact of majority part-time
attendance, have only relatively recently come under scrutiny (King,
1987; STBV, 1987; Powles, 1990a; Sturman and Long, 1990).
The overall structure of the part-time population is an inversion of
that of full-timers: in 1992 only 12 per cent were aged nineteen years
and under; a further 12 per cent fell into the twenty to twenty four
year range; leaving 45 per cent aged twenty-five and over. The only
major deviations from this pattern are found in the trades streams: 83
per cent and 87 per cent respectively of the part-time component of
streams 3211 (pre-apprenticeship) and 3212 (apprenticeship) were under
twenty-five years of age, and mostly male (NCVER, 1993). However,
considering the large numbers involved, the part-time option is
critical in terms of access to training for young and older people
alike, and not only for those in employment.
Data from the Victorian TAFE system indicates that in stream 2000
courses, where 84 per cent of all students were part-time, 61 per cent
of female students (who comprised 58 per cent of the total stream 2000
population in 1990) were either in part-time work or unemployed. This
compares with only 37 per cent of the total population. In addition, 50
per cent of students in stream 2000 were over 25 years of age and
‘therefore more likely to have dependants and heavy financial
commitments. In many instances, for female students to be able to
participate in either full-time or part-time training in Stream 2000,
they would need financial assistance’ (STBV, 1992, p.69). Examination
of income support patterns, therefore, is crucial to the access issue.
While part-time study with its great number of students is likely to be
the only study option for the full-time worker, it may also be so for
those responsible for children (Powles, 1987a) or those seeking work.
Part-time courses may be doubly attractive to people wishing to
distance themselves from school regimentation – recently experienced or
recalled – in terms of reaching goals in their own way and at their own
pace (Kangan, 1974). For many young people, a full-time course may be
no option if costs form a barrier – which has been shown to be the case
for a significant proportion of younger students who may lack family
support, who are ineligible for student assistance, and who need to
work to support themselves when they move from the family home (Powles,
1986).
The above considerations of full-time and part-time students’
characteristics illustrate how common assumptions about their ages,
backgrounds, work patterns and income can be shown to be questionable,
and in many cases, invalid. Proponents of a social service view of
TAFE, by penetrating the surface of the category, would accommodate
heterogeneity in policy decisions. Conversely, emphasis on category,
characteristic of an economic utility view, would serve to mask
inequity and to marginalise disadvantage.
Socio-economic indicators
During its very early development, Australian technical and further
education had a distinct working-class orientation (Murray-Smith, 1966,
1968, 1971) and dual goals: to provide skills instruction for the
workforce and to offer people from lower social strata opportunities
for personal development and advancement. A major difference has been
detected between the latter specifically social goal and the
perspective of the Kangan Committee which ‘did not recognise that TAFE
clientele came from any particular social group or strata’ (Anderson
and Vervoorn, 1983). Around 1980, data from several major documents
(CDE, 1978; Williams, 1979; ACER, 1982) demonstrated that the
socio-economic profile of vocational streams paralleled that of the
total population and that in this it differed substantially from the
recreational stream and from higher education. Complexities were,
however, masked by treating the TAFE students in vocational streams as
a single group.
King’s (1987) pioneer work, utilising the Australian Bureau of
Statistics’ Socio-Economic Status (SES) postcode indicator, showed that
the 1986 population of metropolitan Sydney TAFE was representative of
the region. Yet it was also shown that low SES groups were concentrated
in preparatory and basic skills courses, not proportionally represented
in programs associated with the professional, para-professional and
technical labour markets, and very much under-represented in associate
diploma courses. The fields of art and design, food and rural studies
all exhibited high SES profiles. King proposed that these failed to
attract students from low SES groups because of high materials costs in
the case of art and the concentration of food and rural studies
programs in a college located in an above-average SES area. Also, in
the last two instances, a very high proportion of all Sydney
metropolitan associate diploma students were located in that college so
that a higher school certificate entry barrier was in effect. Thus,
once again, costs and credentials issues come to the fore.
Further observations on SES by stream, following King’s method (Powles,
1990a) revealed more variations and inconsistencies. For instance,
King’s analyses distinguished the Sydney professional stream from all
other old classification streams by its relatively high SES profile.
This was seen to hold for the 3600 category under the new
nineteen-stream classification system for each of the years from 1986
to 1989. In Victoria in 1987, however, the professional stream
exhibited a mirror image of the Sydney situation, with significantly
higher percentages in the low SES category than all but the preparatory
stream (a finding consistent with further indicators of socio-economic
disadvantage in Victorian TAFE – see STBV, 1988a). It was also shown
that significantly higher-than-expected percentages of high SES
enrollees were to be found in other streams in Sydney metropolitan TAFE
although the skew was not as marked as it was in the professional
stream. In several of these cases (3300 and 4500), the skew was
consistent between 1986 and 1989, but in other instances (3500, 4100
and 4300) the profile approximated more closely to that of the total
population in some years. The Victorian data revealed further
variations.
These exploratory studies have succeeded in demonstrating hitherto
undocumented, complex details about the population and points on the
stream classification grid where people from various socio-economic
groups are entering TAFE. Clearly, ‘the degree of equitable access to
education [must] be measured with reference to the nature of the
provision to which access is gained’ (King, 1987, p.17). With further
research, trends may be observed over time, more sophisticated
formulations of SES may inform the observations. It will still be
necessary to explore a plethora of relationships between SES, age, sex,
geographical location, educational preference and so on (Powles,
1990a). But while such research is needed to indicate where
socio-economic disadvantage might be broadly detected in the system,
the use of SES as a categorical concept will inevitably conceal people
who fall around the margins of groups with which policy is concerned.
Women
Women’s participation in TAFE has increased considerably since the
1970s to 55 per cent of total enrolments in 1992. However, only 44 per
cent in Streams 2100 – 4500 were women, whereas 75 per cent of the
recreational stream (1000) were women. Looked at another way, 47 per
cent of all females in TAFE were concentrated in stream 1000 (compared
with only 21 per cent of males). In Victoria, women’s participation in
streams 1000 and 2100 – 4500 increased from 38 to 41 per cent in the
five year period between 1985 and 1990, yet female enrolments in
streams 1000 and 2000 remained static. Moreover, although the number of
women enrolled in streams 3000 and 4000 almost doubled over the same
five year period, the proportion of women in each of these streams was
still less than 35 per cent in 1990 (STBV, 1992, p.13). A point to be
taken up later is that stream 1000 courses often act as a first taste
of post-compulsory education and often have vocational content. Women
are now a majority in basic skills, and preparatory streams (2100, 2200
and 3100) as well as in the professional stream (3600). They remain
severely under-represented in the trades and are a minority in the para
professional streams. The picture becomes far more complex when age,
mode of attendance and SES participation rates are superimposed upon
gender patterns by stream (Powles, 1990a) as indicated earlier.
Patterns such as these indicate little of barriers which are deeply
embedded in slowly changing community attitudes and values in relation
to gender roles in the workforce (Powles, 1987a). What the patterns
indicate is that women’s access to many areas of TAFE is not
necessarily a problem, but that occupational segregation is likely to
persist. However, just as means will continue to be sought to correct
imbalances (Pocock a&b, 1987; DEET, 1991), other questions must be
addressed.
Pocock suggests that the critical problems are not of access to TAFE,
but those of quality and inclusiveness of teaching, course content,
facilities, equipment and support services such as counselling and
child care. In addition to the vulnerability of special access programs
in which many women congregate, attention has also been drawn to
funding priorities which have always favoured the trades, and now also
technological areas, which continue to be largely unattractive to
women. (Powles, 1990a; STBV, 1992).
Wilson and Wyn (1987) challenge some of the assumptions inherent in the
way equality of opportunity is interpreted in relation to women’s
participation. By encouraging women to follow ‘male’ career paths,
their considered choices not to accept hierarchical, competitive
structures of the labour process are demeaned, their personal
identities are undermined, and the political character of social
relations within which education is acquired and perpetuated is left
unexamined.
More recently, debate about women’s participation in TAFE has broadened
beyond a consideration of structural and attitudinal barriers. While
issues such as income support, child care, timetabling, counselling,
information and the TAFE college culture and environment remain a
source of enduring concern, attention has focussed on the gender
construction of skill and the manner in which systems of skills
recognition and training devalue women’s knowledge and skills (Cox,
1992; Jackson, 1991; Probert, 1992). Although current evidence suggests
that male bias in the conception and articulation of skill and
competencies has a negative impact on women’s participation in
training, further research on the nature and extent of gender
inequities is required (Wallace, 1993).
Access courses
The Kangan Committee identified a series of psycho-social as well as
structural barriers to post-compulsory education participation which it
thought TAFE was in the best position to address. Barriers included:
individuals’ fear of failure, possibly experienced at school; fear of
tests and examinations by which apparent failure is publicly exposed;
rigidly defined course prerequisites; inflexible learning methods;
hierarchical structures appearing to favour higher academic achievers
and ‘those whose circumstances – social as well as economic – permit a
prolonged school life.’ (Kangan, 1974, p.11). The Committee located
educationally disadvantaged groups – women, people in country areas,
the handicapped, and minority groups such as Aborigines and immigrants
- within a broad context of societal disadvantage. From the mid 1970s
onwards an array of access programs were instigated on the premise that
TAFE had a vital role to play in redressing social imbalances.
Hawke and Sweet (1983) have observed that growth of special programs
depended ‘largely on the capacity of those concerned with equal
opportunity to capitalise upon a climate of overall expansion of TAFE
resources. Their capacity to do so was enhanced by a clear commitment
by the Kangan Committee to unrestricted, universal, or open access to
TAFE ¼’ (p.2). Whereas in Kangan’s view TAFE should provide more than
merely job preparation, by the early 1980s, the more prevalent attitude
was that general or non-vocational programs were somehow ‘the icing on
the TAFE cake’, separate from mainstream provision. Access programs for
specific groups were assigned to the recreational and preparatory
streams, were often ad hoc, short, non-certificated and therefore doing
little in terms of redressing social inequities. Many of them met their
demise because of inadequate understanding of the nature of need,
leading to targets being missed, and lack of planning and integration
with mainstream TAFE provision. Although participation rates in TAFE
courses rose rapidly over the post-Kangan decade, particularly by young
people enrolled in special program initiatives such as transition
education, Employment Programs for Unemployed Youth and related
courses, it became evident that increased participation per se had not
fundamentally altered traditional patterns of access to and
participation in mainstream TAFE courses. In this regard, special
access programs were based on a simplistic equation between
participation and equity. Although subsequent programs, particularly
the Participation and Equity Program, sought to enhance equity of
access to mainstream courses in TAFE by increasing participation of
certain disadvantaged groups, they continued to suffer from a failure
to address the structural and cultural barriers which arose from their
marginal status with respect to mainstream funding, course provision
and recognition (Sweet, 1985; Lechte, 1985; Noonan, 1985; Anderson,
1985).
In a context where Commonwealth funding for special program initiatives
was of short duration and peripheral in nature, amounting to less than
ten per cent of total recurrent expenditure, autonomous State TAFE
systems viewed special program funding as supplementary and uncertain.
Such initiatives failed to take account of the selective nature of
access to mainstream provision, entry requirements for which were often
determined by industry and/or State training authorities and which lay
outside the control of TAFE providers. Although individual program
providers were committed and creative, TAFE authorities and colleges
were often not persuaded as to the efficacy of access courses – a trend
that became more apparent in the 1980s as the flow of resources was
stemmed and calls for accountability and cost-effectiveness became
increasingly strident. Moreover, as Kell (1990) observes, the
paternalistic and technically-oriented ‘workshop culture’ of TAFE
colleges presented insurmountable barriers to acceptance.
Hawke and Sweet (1983) have argued that, although it is essential to
look beyond barriers to access (see also Beswick et al, 1983) special
program provision is appropriate in many circumstances. The nature of
the provision needs to be closely aligned to an understanding of
participation patterns and of the complexity of those social and
institutional factors that form barriers to initial and subsequent
participation. In addition, special programs for particular groups
‘should be justified by educational need rather than by group
membership’ (Sweet, 1985, p.92). Accordingly, access policies should be
based on an integrating principle which:
suggests that the question of access is broader than the needs of
specifically nominated groups; presumes fairness in resource
allocation; makes no distinction between fringe and mainstream; directs
attention to student selection, and implies a commitment to efficient
use of resources as a corollary of their equitable distribution.
(Sweet, 1985, p.90).
Special access courses with clearly defined objectives have had
positive outcomes and these need to be acknowledged. Work at the TAFE
National Centre for Research and Development provides insight into (and
valuable literature reviews of) provision for adult women with limited
education or outdated vocational qualifications (Richards, 1987; Binns,
1989); for women in isolated areas (Mageean, 1988); for rural
communities and non-metropolitan populations and particular sections of
them (Guthrie and Krzemionka, 1987; Parkinson, 1987; Budge, 1989;
Mageean, 1990); for Aboriginal people (Ensor, 1989); and the aged and
ageing (Nairn, 1985). These, together with the Victorian State Training
Board’s student profile survey reports on women, the unemployed, and
people from non-English-speaking backgrounds (STBV,1988 a,b & c)
demonstrate that while the needs of specific groups can be understood
and met, dangers remain that access courses are located at the margins
of the mainstream, and that provision may depend on a mere checklist by
which judgements are made as to whether needs are real or not.
The debate over access to TAFE for women and disadvantaged groups has
shifted considerable ground since the mid-1980s. Greater emphasis has
been placed on integrating special access programs into mainstream
vocational provision and facilitating the direct access and
participation of disadvantaged groups in mainstream courses by means of
participation targets and mechanisms which enable recognition of skills
acquired informally or overseas. Under the influence of human capital
theory and in a context where the needs of industry and individuals are
claimed to be converging, the rationale for specific purpose access
programs has come into question. The Deveson Review (1990), for
instance, advocated the selective use of targeted training subsidies
rather than specific purpose access programs in an attempt to balance
the conflicting objectives of promoting market competition and ensuring
fairer and more equitable access: ‘It is people who need to be
subsidised, not the courses in which they happen to cluster. Through
this approach, the causes of both equity . and efficiency can be served
simultaneously.’ (Vol. 1, p.10).
Such rhetoric, however, disguises the reality that social equity has
been subordinated to the efficiency concerns that dominate the economic
utility view. The argument for selectivity in the distribution of
benefits and services is essentially just a diluted version of the
economic rationalist faith in the superiority of market forces as a
mechanism for efficient resource allocation (Marginson, 1993). While
the need for educational recovery’ and ‘second chance’ opportunities is
recognised, such programs have been re-defined in economic terms and
subsumed within a corporate management framework which measures
effectiveness in terms of participation targets and completion rates
rather than the extent to which the social and educational needs of
disadvantaged groups have been met.
To a large extent, the debate over the need for special access and
equity initiatives in TAFE has been subsumed within the drive to reform
the entry level training system. The Finn Review (1991) and the
Carmichael Report (1992) proposed the development of a comprehensive
and integrated framework of entry level training opportunities and
pathways which would provide both broader coverage for women and
disadvantaged groups and more effective linkages with the workplace and
other educational sectors. In addition, both the Finn Review and
Carmichael Report recommended wider application of strategies for
setting targets to increase the access of specified groups to
mainstream vocational programs, such as the National Plan of Action for
Women in TAFE (DEET, 1991) and the Negotiated Targets Strategy in
Victoria.
In effect, ‘mainstreaming’ and participation targets in TAFE are
considered to obviate the need for special program provision. As Powles
(1992) argued in relation to the Finn Review, the problem with this
approach to access and equity – ie abandoning broad definitions of
disadvantage in favour of strategies to increase the participation of
smaller sub-groups of those identified ‘at risk’ – is that those on the
margins of disadvantage such as early school leavers may well miss out.
In 1992, forty-nine per cent of all enrolments were in vocational
streams (3100 -4500), fifteen per cent in preparatory streams (2100 -
2200) and thirty six per cent in recreational/ enrichment programs
(stream 1000) (NCVER, 1993). Stream 1000 has grown more rapidly in
recent times than vocational and preparatory streams (2100 – 4500),
numbers rising between 1985 and 1992 by fifty three per cent and twenty
one per cent respectively. It has frequently been observed that the
so-called recreational stream acts as a first, often tentative, contact
with post-school education, by which means many, particularly older
women, can overcome psycho-social barriers to further participation
(Martin, 1988; Barnett, 1993). Often these courses provide vocational
content and vocational outcomes or act as a point of transition to
mainstream courses (STBV, 1988a; Edgar, 1987), thereby potentially
offering access to, and progression through, the system. Despite
concerted attempts to attain national consistency in course
classification since 1985 some overlap remains. Nevertheless, stream
1000 courses are not recognised as having vocational content by TAFE
authorities (Stevenson and Mountney, 1985) and, by falling into the
‘hobby category’, attract fees. Neither of these factors would pertain
in a social service view of TAFE, whereas economic utilitarians would
argue that the (declared) recreational nature of these courses attracts
an older middle class clientele with the ability to pay. In this case,
it should be asked whether the higher socio-economic profile of stream
1000 is the result of these structural factors and, conversely, to what
extent and for whom they constitute barriers.
Selection
‘Open access’ policy recommendations in the 1970s were not the sole
preserve of the Kangan Committee (Beswick et al, 1983). They appeared
in various contexts in the Karmel Report on the Open University in
1975, in Dennison’s study for the Commission of Inquiry into Poverty in
1976 and in the Williams Report of 1979. None of these conceived all
courses being immediately open to all, but rather that everyone who
wished to enter might be offered some way in – a notion consistent with
the social service view of TAFE detailed earlier. From the early 1980s,
however, it became apparent as demand increased and resources dwindled
that access to TAFE was being limited by its available supply of
places. According to Hawke and Sweet:
At a time of growing pressure for accountability, a commitment to open
or unfettered access, with its implied emphasis on equity at the
expense of efficiency, becomes increasingly difficult to maintain. .
[I]n the climate of the early 1980s a commitment to more equitable
access to TAFE needs to rest on a rationale which recognises a need for
accountability and which at the same time avoids the risk of resulting
action being seen as marginal to the mainstream of TAFE’s provision.
(1983, p.2)
By 1990, the swing of the pendulum towards economic utility is quite
evident. The Scott Report disparages ‘an emphasis on “open access” to
TAFE with “enrolments for enrolment’s sake” taking precedence over the
education and training needs of industry and commerce.’ (1990, p.6).
Emphasis on vocational courses and industry destinations thus
supersedes concern about how people enter the system and how a measure
of fairness might be attained in selecting them.
Through national surveys in 1987, an attempt was made to explore the
nature of the shift. Powles (1990b) proposed that from the point where
a course can no longer accommodate all qualified applicants, a series
of ‘evolutionary’ phases ensue until selective admissions are adopted.
Although residual elements of open access were to be found in some
colleges, these tended to serve sparsely-populated rural communities or
were newer ones in developing outer metropolitan areas where community
response had not had time to advance. As demand for places began to
exceed supply, a first-come, first-served (fc-fs) for admissions was a
common first response and is still prevalent. Few colleges were
operating entirely on that system (these were predominantly regional),
but often it was used within the same college alongside other high
demand courses in which competitive selection procedures had been
introduced. When asked to list advantages and disadvantages of fc-fs,
Powles’ respondents were evenly divided. Those in favour mentioned
fairness – in that students with the prerequisite qualifications were
treated equally, the method was objective, free from values of
selectors, it was administratively simple, and thought to be acceptable
to the community. A majority of respondents who listed disadvantages of
fc-fs said it was unfair – to potentially suitable applicants who did
not make it to the queue because of employment, distance and family
responsibilities; queues were considered undesirable from the
applicant’s point of view and embarrassing for the college. Others
indicated that without selective admissions, standards would be
lowered, and because there would be more students who did not ‘match’
the course well, attrition would be greater. Clearly, their opinions
reflected notions about ‘appropriate’ clienteles.
Demand is now high and selective admissions are widespread. These ‘have
evolved at a faster rate and are relatively more prevalent in full-time
programs and higher level courses where demand has been precipitous,
and where there is a relatively higher human and monetary cost
investment.’ (Powles, 1990b, pp.62-63). Often, if queueing has been
abandoned, application or pre-enrolment forms have been introduced with
the purpose first, of culling applicants who do not meet course
requirements and secondly, in many cases, to choose amongst the
qualified according to specified criteria. Interviews may be used for
the same purposes, alone or in addition to forms such as those just
mentioned.
The next evolutionary development – competitive selection – is
described as ‘explosive’, resulting, however, in a ‘veritable dog’s
breakfast of different, most often locally-developed, selection
instruments, methods and processes, which have little consistency even
between similar offerings at the same level, in the same field, in the
same geographic area.’ (Powles, 1990b, p.63). Several survey
respondents confirmed an earlier observation (Hawke and Sweet, 1983)
that many of the methods in use were of dubious validity and intent.
Selection bias was apparent in many full-time middle level
(certificate) programs for which people who had completed a higher
school certificate were given preference over applicants who met lower
level stipulated prerequisites; the more articulate and ‘well
presented’ interviewee was favoured; those with a ‘more professional
approach’ (NSW TAFE, 1990b, p.35) were welcomed – all of whom are
likely to be socially advantaged. When asked to rate the importance of
a series of statements concerning purposes of selection, likely success
on the course was nominated most frequently by Powles’ respondents.
This subscale included selecting the most capable, the keenest and
selecting out those who were likely to fail or withdraw. Items on a
‘social equity’ subscale (matching the social composition of students
to that in the community, positive discrimination for disadvantaged
groups, effecting principles of social justice) received the lowest
ratings irrespective of course level.
The study emphasised that selection to a course is a process, each
stage of which needs to be critically examined for evidence of bias -
from published information about prerequisites and what lies in store,
to pre-course academic, career and welfare counselling, through to
application of a validated selection method with a rigorously defined
set of objectives (see also Haigh, 1987). All of these stages will be
affected by the way the balance tips in favour of social service or
economic utility. If it is to the latter, changes in the socio-economic
spectrum of the population would be expected, with a skew towards the
upper end.
Academic drift
A tendency towards academic drift is likely to hasten a shift in the
TAFE student population towards the upper end of the socio-economic
profile. As early as 1976, Lloyd (2.4) predicted that ‘the “standard”
of certificate courses [is likely to] drift upwards – resulting from a
misplaced drive among teachers for “academic respectability”‘ just as
Armstrong (1979) saw the colleges of advanced education abdicating
their role in the preparation of para-professionals in favour of
developing degree courses. The tendency in TAFE is apparent (whatever
the motive). It has been accelerated in part as a result of changes in
nomenclature and reorganisation of course offerings (Stevenson and
Mountney, 1985). Many courses traditionally conducted at year ten
admissions level have now been re-accredited as associate diplomas with
year twelve entry. High youth unemployment and excess demand for
post-school qualifications in recent years have fuelled credentialism,
thereby confirming the upward drift in TAFE provision. In NSW, for
example, TAFE enrolments increased by 75 per cent between 1989 and 1991
for courses leading to an associate diploma. In Victoria, the number of
20 to 24 year-olds commencing advanced certificate and associate
diploma courses increased by 73 per cent between 1985 and 1990. (ESFC,
1993). TAFE continues to look ‘upwards’ as articulation with higher
education and credit transfer become more of a reality (Beswick et al,
1983; Parkinson, 1985; Golding, 1995a & b).
The upwards drift in academic status of TAFE courses is compounded by
‘downward’ pressure from partially or fully qualified university
students seeking additional qualifications from TAFE. Golding (1995a &
b) has discovered that between 1990 and 1994 in Victoria, up to 25 per
cent of enrollees in TAFE associate diploma, diploma and certificate
courses had university backgrounds and the numbers far exceeded those
going on from TAFE to university. The combined forces of credential
creep and so-called reverse transfer are likely to displace TAFE’s
traditional clienteles.
Fees and financial assistance
In 1974, the Whitlam Government abolished tertiary fees. In that year,
and subsequently, States Grants Acts (under which TAFE monies were
allocated by the Commonwealth) included the condition that no tuition
fees would be charged. The definition of fees did not include those
payable to student organisations, or for services of a non-academic
nature. Ryan and Scholefield (1990, p.2) observed how ‘the late 1980s
saw a swing away from . the mood which accompanied the abolition. .
Reduction in public expenditures and the applications of user pays
principles became important government goals’. Significant policy
changes have since occurred, including the introduction of the tax
debit scheme for university graduates (HECS), removal of the fees
prohibition for TAFE courses, and an increased application of service,
administrative and materials charges. The last mentioned had become a
‘bewildering array’ of fees and charges under a variety of appellations
and a wide spectrum of levels – differing from college to college and
from state to state. The Deveson Review (1990) considered this
situation to have arisen because of the ‘need to avoid direct
confrontation’ with tuition fee provision under the Commonwealth’s
States Grants (TAFE Assistance) Act. In the Committee’s view, the first
step towards ‘the development of more open, rational and equitable
charging arrangements in TAFE’ would be the removal of the fee
restrictions under the Act accompanied by an ‘equity package’.
(pp.48-53, our italics). With the subsequent removal of the fee embargo
by the Commonwealth, however, it could be argued that these proposals
were the thin edge of the wedge, the consequences of which have been
documented in NSW and Tasmania.
Costs to the student increased dramatically from 1988 to 1989 in NSW,
when ‘administration’ charges were introduced on a state-wide basis.
They increased again in 1990 and further increases were mooted for
1991. In 1989, an extraordinary 17 per cent decrease occurred in
enrolments (NSW TAFE, 1989a) with a further decrease in 1990 – a total
estimated drop of 100,000 enrolments. In effect, total enrolments in
NSW TAFE fell from 474,051 in 1987 to 368,619 in 1990 – a 24 per cent
decrease. (NSW TAFE, 1990b). While administration charges and
associated problems have undoubtedly contributed to this trend, further
examination of where decreases occurred would seem to indicate a strong
price-sensitive effect. From NSW TAFE data (1989 and 1990) it can be
determined that enrolment drops were greater in: country regions
compared with more affluent metropolitan Sydney, with the former
showing enrolments falls of 19 per cent in 1988-89 and 7 per cent in
1990; isolated colleges servicing poorer communities, with West Wyalong
dropping 50 per cent and Moree falling by 75 per cent in 1989 and 1990
; external studies which attract a lower SES clientele than do
part-time or full-time modes (Anwyl et al, 1986); groups aged thirty or
more, many of whom are educationally disadvantaged women; the
para-professional stream where the fee increases were greatest; and
amongst full-timers in stream 2200, the largest ‘access’ point for
young people and notable for its low SES skew. Colleges with
predominantly female populations suffered serious falls in 1989 and
1990, with enrolments in the School of Fashion declining by 46 per cent
and similar falls in areas with high relative proportions of female
students, such as catering and nutrition management (50 per cent),
office administration (36 per cent), art and design (30 per cent) and
general studies (12 per cent).
The Tasmanian experience reveals similar trends in access and
participation rates, particularly for women, in the wake of fee
increases (Dallas and Wieranga, 1992; Potter, 1992). After the
introduction of fees in 1991, women’s enrolments declined by 18 per
cent in contrast to those of men which decreased by 13 per cent. By the
end of 1992, the gap between female and male enrolments had extended
from 6 per cent to 12 per cent. In particular, female enrolments in
commercial studies courses fell by 30 per cent from 1990 to 1991. While
the precise nature and relative importance of causal factors are
unclear, such data nevertheless suggest that these declines are in part
attributable to fee increases.
In this context, it should be mentioned that most of the groups who
were deterred from re-enrolling in higher education by the prospect of
HECS (Robertson et al, 1990) are more prevalent in TAFE – mature age
people, part-timers, external students, those from families in which
parents have low levels of education, non-native speakers, and those
who are economically disadvantaged. Obviously there are many overlaps
with the very groups amongst whom enrolment decreases were greatest in
NSW following the introduction of administrative charges. On the other
hand, it has been shown, albeit briefly, that TAFE’s population
characteristics are multi-dimensional, and that fees would, and are,
impinging on the circumstances of people who are less readily
detectable in terms of a disadvantage checklist or an equity ‘package’.
In NSW, the number of applicants (deemed disadvantaged on a range of
criteria) who qualified for exemptions from the charge was severely
underestimated: exemption quotas were introduced; selection amongst the
disadvantaged has to take place. However, ‘the qualifying cut-off point
for exemptions and concessional treatment raises further equity
concerns involving the likely displacement of those groups at the
margins of this point.’ (Barnett, 1994).
The thin edge of the wedge described above bodes ill for the less
privileged. This includes the many whose vocational goals are least
defined and who consequently fall into the economic utilitarian
category of ‘frivolous consumers’. The obverse is that fees can distort
the educational choices made by those least able to pay. Potter’s 1992
study of women with low incomes in Tasmanian adult education courses
identified a tendency amongst this group to select shorter, less
expensive and more vocationally oriented courses rather than
‘traditional’ adult courses in the wake of the fee increases since 1989
(cited in Barnett, 1994).
An apposite contrast may be observed with prevailing attitudes in 1974
when not only were fees abolished, but the Tertiary Education
Assistance Scheme (TEAS) was introduced. By providing non-competitive,
income-tested allowances for full-time tertiary students, TEAS was
underpinned by major concerns for expansion and reform in the public
sector. The Hon. K E Beazley’s Second Reading speech on the Student
Assistance Bill 1973 exemplified the social service function of the
scheme. He said:
student allowances ought to be sufficient to give students the leisure
to think as they pursued their studies¼[they] should therefore be
sufficient to meet basic living costs¼with the highest levels of
assistance directed to those who did not have access to family or
personal resources sufficient to keep them during their years of study.
(DEET, 1986, pp.4-5)
TEAS was not the only form of income support then available for TAFE
students. By the early 1980s, it was recognised that the multiplicity
of allowances and benefits paid to students or their parents required
rationalisation. Early documentation revealed how different levels of
financial assistance, the criteria attached to them and the sources of
that support could have perverse effects on incentives and considerable
inequity in distribution (Wilenski, 1983; DEET, 1983). Subsequent
research has highlighted the issue in TAFE with respect to gaps and
anomalies created by confused definitions of stream, course entry level
requirements, full-time or part-time status, and what constituted
‘secondary’, ‘post-secondary’ and ‘tertiary education’. (Powles, 1984;
Goozee, 1985, 1986).
Discrepancies between stipend levels provided under education and
training schemes at that time (administered by separate Commonwealth
departments) as well as between the types of courses designated to
attract allowances, prompted criticism that ‘training’ was somehow
accorded more value to the community in terms of public investment in
student support than general, basic, remedial or liberal programs
grouped as ‘education’ (Powles, 1984). Sweet (1987) observed, moreover,
that individual choice could be thereby manipulated.
Although changes to student assistance policy were introduced with
AUSTUDY in 1987 (Powles, 1987b), and modified, particularly in the
1992/3 Commonwealth budget, they did not include any emergency loans
scheme for TAFE as had been propounded from the early 1980s (eg. Powles
1984, Goozee 1985, 1986) and again recommended by the Deveson Review
(1990). As Goozee observes, ‘the changes . did not go far enough and,
yet again, only played around the margins.’ (1993, p.134).
How can student assistance schemes be allocated adequate funding? The
Yeatman Report from South Australia was certainly not the first to
express a view (Davidson, 1988; Farrar, 1987; Marginson, 1988) which
this paper endorses.
A taxation-funded public tertiary education sector which does not have
fees as one of its barriers to access is much more in accord with a
genuinely universal framework of income support. (Yeatman, 1988).
Conclusions
While access and equity in TAFE have received some attention in recent
policy developments, Powles argues in a discussion of the implications
of the Finn Review (1991), that ‘the concepts of “access” and “equity”
which often nowadays have little more depth of meaning than catchwords,
need some sustained debate.’ (1992, p.61). These issues have remained
largely peripheral in the development of national strategies for
increasing the participation of young people in post-compulsory
education and training. This apparent indifference can be attributed in
large part to the ascendancy of economic rationalism and the
preoccupation with economic objectives in debates about public
education policy. As Marginson puts it, ‘education is now seen as a
branch of economic policy rather than a mix of social, economic and
cultural policy. To the extent that there is a continuing concern about
social policy in education, it is mostly understood as labour market
policy.’ (1993, p.56). This observation is especially pertinent to TAFE
which occupies a strategic position at the education/labour market
interface. Both as a consequence and a contributing factor to the
current policy distance from the issues has been the dearth since the
early 1990s of any systematic analysis of participation and barriers to
access in TAFE. Moreover, the absence of any large-scale surveys of the
demographic and socio-economic profile of the TAFE student population
has contributed to an environment in which policy has been developed in
an effective vacuum of information regarding its potential social
implications.
By superimposing two conjectural (and deliberately dichotomous) ‘social
service’ and ‘economic utility’ perspectives upon some of TAFE’s
features, changes within the system have been explored as they relate
to notions of participation, access and equity. This is also a useful
device for questioning how these terms are interpreted under different
conditions. It has been argued in this paper that the terms are used
freely but less often debated. As Farrar (1987, p.21) puts it,
‘people’s ideas of what is politically or socially fair can be appealed
to precisely because it’s taken as self-evident.’
It has been shown that many elements of the hypothetical economic
utility view of TAFE, having gained currency from the mid 1980s, are
now much in evidence, and are likely to persist through the 1990s.
These need to be critically examined against ‘self-evident’
assumptions. It is not self evident that further enrolment increases
are desirable in the interests of developing a broader skills base to
underpin economic growth, unless it is asked: Whence the resources for
expansion? What are the limits to expansion? In setting limits, how are
priorities ordered? Who will benefit? Who will miss out, and why?
As this paper has revealed, it can no longer be assumed that the TAFE
population represents the wider community in microcosm. Nor can policy
rest on assumptions as to its older, part-time student/ full-time
worker majority clientele with a peppering of disadvantaged groups.
Instead, it needs to be asked, in terms of its demographic and
socio-economic profile: Who is entering the system and why? Who is not?
How, at what points of the sector, and for whom can barriers to
participation arise? What factors affect observed changes in the
population’s composition?
Through this paper’s approach to questions such as these, recurrent
themes have been identified. The nature of ‘access’, selective
admissions, credential creep, costs to the student, and targeting
remain important issues in TAFE for the next decade. Each will be
affected by the way the balance tips in favour of social service or
economic utility. If it is the latter, it is likely that an
accumulation of current trends will evidence further shifts within TAFE
to the disadvantage of the socio-economically under-privileged.
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Financial Management Terminology
Introduction
Asset Management can be defined as:
The financial management of a company or organization to achieve financial targets
When the operation of the most common organizational structure, the main objectives of financial management would be:
• Create wealth for businesses
• Generate cash
• Ensuring an adequate return, taking into account the risks that the Company has taken and the resources invested in
There are three key elements for financial management processes:
(1) Financial Planning
Management should ensure that sufficient funds are available at the right time to meet business needs. In the short term, funding may be required to invest in equipment and inventory, pay employees and sales of credit funds.
In the financing of medium and long term may be needed for significant additions to production capacity of the company or make acquisitions.
(2) Financial control
Financial control is an extremely important activity to help your company to ensure the company achieves its objectives. Financial control covers issues such as:
• Assets used effectively?
• Are the assets of the insurance business?
• Does management act in the best interest of shareholders and in accordance with management?
(3) Making financial decisions
The main aspects of financial decision making related to investments, financing and dividends:
• Investment must be financed somehow – but there are always financing alternatives that may be considered. For example, it is possible to raise funds from the sale of new shares, bank loans or credit providers taking
• The funding decision is whether profits earned by the company are maintained rather than distributed to shareholders as dividends. If dividends are too high, the firm can be starved of funds to reinvest in growing revenues and benefits.
European Financial Management
European Financial Management Association was founded in 1994 by Professor John DOUKAS promoting research and disseminating knowledge about financial decisions in all areas of finance, which deals with European companies, financial institutions and capital markets . To achieve its objectives, European Financial Management Association provides its members with a revised reading committee, European Financial Management, and holds annual meetings 2011 Call for Papers, where members exchange ideas, present and discuss their research.
European Financial Management Association is composed of faculty members, students and practitioners from Europe and around the world interested in the practice of financial management techniques and are committed to understanding and solving financial problems. Those interested in becoming members receive financial and in Europe.