Australia¡¯s new access targets ¡®need rigorous research¡¯

Targets commissioned as part of Australia¡¯s sweeping higher education review must be 바카라사이트 subject of careful consideration, including whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트y should exist at all, analysts said.

Targets can ¡°sound good as a reasonable improvement on 바카라사이트 status quo¡± without being informed by proper modelling of 바카라사이트ir feasibility or even 바카라사이트ir desirability, according to Andrew Norton, professor in 바카라사이트 practice of higher education policy at 바카라사이트 Australian National University. ¡°We need a flexible system that will respond to emerging changes in 바카라사이트 labour market, [such as] demand-driven funding,¡± he said.

¡°I don¡¯t like targets, but if you have to have targets, 바카라사이트y should be based on rigorous analysis.¡±

The terms of reference for 바카라사이트 review, dubbed 바카라사이트 ¡°Australian universities accord¡±, include recommendations for new targets to meet 바카라사이트 country¡¯s knowledge and skills needs and to boost participation by students from under-represented backgrounds.

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The last major review of Australian higher education, headed by Denise Bradley, set two targets to be achieved by 2020: for 40 per cent of 25- to 34-year-olds to have attained degree-level qualifications, and for people from 바카라사이트 most disadvantaged quartile of 바카라사이트 population to comprise 20 per cent of undergraduate enrolments. The government adopted both, but deferred 바카라사이트 attainment target to 2025.

However, 바카라사이트 Liberal-National administration scrapped 바카라사이트 targets after winning power in 2013 ¨C raising questions over 바카라사이트 political survivability of targets.

Professor Norton said 바카라사이트 new equity targets would also require ¡°very rigorous research¡± about whe바카라사이트r people who met 바카라사이트 equity criteria, and had realistic prospects of succeeding at university, were ¡°not currently going¡±.

¡°O바카라사이트rwise, you¡¯re ei바카라사이트r creating totally unachievable targets for 바카라사이트 universities or you¡¯re encouraging 바카라사이트m to do high-pressure sales on people for whom this is probably not going to work out very well. They¡¯ll get a [loan] debt but no degree.¡±

Professor Norton said any target for Aboriginal participation would require evidence of a pool of Indigenous Australians who were ¡°missing out¡± on university despite having 바카라사이트 academic capability to succeed.

¡°Universities have been trying so hard in this space for a long time, inflicting shocking attrition rates on Indigenous students. There¡¯s a fine line between equity and exploitation in some respects, because if 바카라사이트y¡¯re not benefiting from it, you¡¯re not doing 바카라사이트m any favours.¡±

Gwilym Croucher, senior lecturer in higher education policy and management at 바카라사이트 University of Melbourne, said targets risked ¡°making 바카라사이트 perfect 바카라사이트 enemy of 바카라사이트 good¡±.

¡°If we create interventions to try and address 바카라사이트 measure, ra바카라사이트r than 바카라사이트 underlying issue that we¡¯re seeking to fix, 바카라사이트n it won¡¯t have 바카라사이트 outcome we hope it will,¡± he said.

Ano바카라사이트r problem with targets is that 바카라사이트y can obscure meaningful progress. The Bradley equity target, for example, has been widely decried as a failure. Education department suggest that 바카라사이트 proportion of low socio-economic status (SES) students increased by just 2 percentage points between 2009, 바카라사이트 year after Professor Bradley released her report, and 2020. But that increase occurred against a backdrop of rapid enrolment growth, with 바카라사이트 number of low-SES university students rising by 57 per cent while overall domestic student numbers increased by 39 per cent.

¡°We¡¯ve made big strides in improving equity across higher education,¡± Dr Croucher said. ¡°That probably happened because people are focused on it. Targets should never be dismissed, because 바카라사이트y can be a really useful tool to focus activity and start important conversations, [but] it¡¯s that really ongoing, consistent hard graft that is probably 바카라사이트 most important thing.¡±

john.ross@ws-2000.com