Getting the Measure of the VET Professional

Résumé du livre

This report draws on analyses of Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data from the Survey of Education and Training (SET) and the Census of Population and Housing to provide an updated demographic profile of vocational education and training (VET) professionals and VET practitioners. A number of caveats are attached to this analysis, all relating to changes made to the primary source of data, the Survey of Education and Training. Caveats aside, a number of clear findings emerge, or rather are reinforced: (1) VET professionals are increasingly involved in direct activities; that is, activities that are directly concerned with the development, delivery and assessment of courses/modules; (2) VET professionals are increasingly older, and older VET professionals are increasingly found in technical and further education (TAFE); (3) There are roughly equal numbers of male and female VET practitioners in TAFE, with more of both employed part-time than full-time; (4) The proportions of full- and part-time staff have been stable for ten years; and (5) An increasing proportion of VET professionals are self-employed. In addition, there may have been a shift in the qualification profile of professionals in TAFE providers with, in particular, an increase in the proportion holding postgraduate qualifications. A range of reasons are suggested to explain why such a change might have come about, but the authors also suggest that further work is needed to understand if and why such a change in qualification profile has occurred. (Contains 3 tables, 1 box, and 9 figures.) [This report is complemented by two other pieces of work: "National TAFE Workforce Study 2008" (Lisa Nechvoglod, Peter Mlotkowski, and Hugh Guthrie) and "VET Workforce Collection: Feasibility Report" (Katherine McGregor). These three reports are published together by NCVER in "Vocational Education and Training Workforce Data 2008: A Compendium," edited by Hugh Guthrie.].