Search

Governments recognise that careers guidance, underpinned by accurate labour market information, can help learners make post-secondary education choices that match their interests, aptitudes and abilities, and lead to rewarding employment. For this reason, they have invested in building linked education/employment information systems and other information resources which are displayed on websites targeted to learners and their families. However, researchers and governments agree that these efforts are often ineffective in informing learners' decisions -- access to information is not sufficient to provide effective support to student choice. Drawing upon the insights of behavioural economics, this paper examines how learners access and use information, and what this implies for the design of public study and career choice websites that aim to effectively support student choice. The report also takes stock of the career guidance websites in use in the majority of OECD countries, and sets out to provide actionable advice for policy makers to guide the design of effective information policy levers that support student choice.

This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of the link between age and proficiency in information-processing skills, based on information drawn from the Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC). The data reveal significant age-related differences in proficiencies, strongly suggesting that proficiency tends to "naturally" decline with age. Age differences in proficiency are, at first sight, substantial. On average across the OECD countries participating in PIAAC, adults aged 55 to 65 score some 30 points less than adults aged 25 to 34 on the PIAAC literacy scale, which is only slightly smaller than the score point difference between tertiary educated and less-than-upper-secondary educated individuals. However, despite their lower levels of proficiency, older individuals do not seem to suffer in terms of labour market outcomes. In particular, they generally earn higher wages, and much of the available empirical evidence suggests that they are not less productive than younger workers. Older and more experienced individuals seem therefore able to compensate the decline in information processing skills with the development of other skills, generally much more difficult to measure. On the other hand, proficiency in information-processing skills remain a strong determinant of important outcomes at all ages: this makes it important to better understand which factors are the most effective in preventing such age-related decline in proficiency, which does not occur to the same extent in all countries and for all individuals. Two broad interventions seem to be particularly promising in this respect. First, it is important to ensure that there is adequate and effective investment in skills development early in the life-cycle: as skills beget skills, starting off with a higher stock of human capital seems also to ensure smaller rates of proficiency decline. Second, it is equally important that policies are in place that provide incentives to individuals (and firms) to invest in skills across the entire working life. In this respect, changes in retirement policies can not only have the short-term effect of providing some reliefs to public finance, but have the potential to radically reshape incentives to stay active, to practice their skills and to invest more in training, thus helping to maintain high levels of proficiency. One table, Age Differences and Age Effects, is appended.

Using the 2012 PIAAC data, our analysis confirms that there are significantly higher earnings and employment returns to "both" increasing levels of formally recognised education, and to increasing levels of numeracy, literacy and information and communication technologies (ICT) skills proficiencies controlling for the level of education. Unsurprisingly, the labour market returns to changes in formally recognised levels of education in general exceed the labour market returns associated with increasing levels of skills proficiency. In the case of literacy and numeracy proficiencies, improved literacy and numeracy skills narrow the labour market outcomes gap between individuals with different levels of formally recognised education, but do not close it completely. The analysis demonstrates more substantial returns to ICT skills. Furthermore, possession of higher levels of ICT skills and lower levels of formally recognised qualification are often associated with higher returns compared to individuals with higher levels of formally recognised education but lower ICT proficiency levels. In other words, ICT skills proficiencies often entirely compensate for lower formally recognised qualifications in the labour market. Contains the following annexes: (1) Country Literacy and Numeracy Profiles; and (2) Demographic Control Variables.

Using data from the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies, this paper compares the earnings premium and employment share of jobs in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) across 11 member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The results reveal that the STEM wage premium is higher in the United States than in any of the other comparison countries, despite the fact that the U.S. has a larger share of workers in STEM jobs. We also find evidence that the premium varies significantly across STEM sub-fields and education levels, and that the premium tends to be higher in countries with lower unionization rates, less employment protection, or a larger share of employment in the public sector. [This is the online first version of an article published in "New Horizons in Adult Education and Human Resource Development."]

The "Research messages" annual series presents a summary of the research-focused reports produced by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) each year. In addition to presenting the research reports published by NCVER during 2016, NCVER has expanded this edition to include other relevant and informative resources, including summaries, infographics and statistical papers. A key focus area of this research is the learning needs and educational pathways of students, who are at the heart of the VET system, and supporting individuals and organisations to make informed choices in skills development through the VET system. Based on the research prospectus, NCVER has organized their research program into four priority areas: (1) Productivity; (2) Participation and outcomes; (3) Teaching and learning; and (4) The place and role of VET. The following provides summaries of projects that were published under each of these priorities. They include: (1) Beyond mentoring: social support structures for young Australian carpentry apprentices (John Buchanan, Catherine Raffaele, Nick Glozier and Aran Kanagaratnam); (2) Costs and benefits of education and training for the economy, business and individuals (Tabatha Griffin); (3) Cross-occupational skill transferability: challenges and opportunities in a changing economy (Darryn Snell, Victor Gekara and Krystle Gatt); (4) Defining "STEM" skills: review and synthesis of the literature (Gitta Siekmann & Patrick Korbel); (5) Evaluation framework measuring return on investment (ROI) in TVET (Jane Schueler); (6) Firms' motivation for training apprentices: an Australian-German comparison (Harald Pfeifer); (7) The Australian literacy and numeracy workforce: a literature review. Foundation Skills Literature Review Project (Joanne Medlin); (8) Exploring perspectives on adult language, literacy and numeracy: foundation skills literature review project (Daniella Mayer); (9) Foundation skills policy contexts and measures of impact: foundation skills literature review project (Jane Newton); (10) The salience of diversity in foundation skills contexts, pedagogies and research: foundation skills Literature review project (Lynda Cameron); (11) Measuring STEM in vocational education and training (Patrick Korbel); (12) Providing social support for apprentices: good practice guide (NCVER); (13) What is STEM? The need for unpacking its definitions and applications (Gitta Siekmann); (14) When one door closes: VET's role in helping displaced workers find jobs (Bridget Wibrow and Michelle Circelli); (15) Work-based learning and work-integrated learning: fostering engagement with employers (Georgina Atkinson); (16) Can VET help create a more inclusive society? (Hielke Buddelmeyer and Cain Polidano); (17) The impact of disadvantage on VET completion and employment gaps (Duncan McVicar and Domenico Tabasso); (18) Increasing survey engagement through gamification and the use of mobile devices (Maree Ackehurst and Rose-Anne Polvere); (19) Shedding light: private "for profit" training providers and young early school leavers (George Myconos, Kira Clarke and Kitty Te Riele); (20) Uptake and utility of VET qualifications (Patrick Korbel and Josie Misko); (21) VET program completion rates: an evaluation of the current method (NCVER); (22) Graduate programs for VET students: is there a need? (Bridget Wibrow and Laura Jackson); (23) Apprenticeships and vocations: assessing the impact of research on policy and practice (Jo Hargreaves); (24) The development of Australia's national training system: a dynamic tension between consistency and flexibility (Kaye Bowman and Suzy McKenna); (25) Jurisdictional approaches to student training entitlements: commonalities and differences (Kaye Bowman and Suzy McKenna); (26) Making sense of total VET activity: an initial market analysis (Alison Anlezark and Paul Foley); (27) Student entitlement models in Australia's national training system: expert views (Kaye Bowman and Suzy McKenna); (28) Trends in VET: policy and participation (Georgina Atkinson and John Stanwick); (29) VET provider market structures: history, growth and change (Patrick Korbel and Josie Misko); (30) 24th National Vocational Education and Training Research Conference "no frills": refereed papers (Laura Jackson, Ed.); (31) Improving VET teachers' skills and their approach to professional learning 24th National Vocational Education and Training Research Conference "no frills": refereed paper (Anne Dening); (32) Learning preferences of Enrolled Nursing students: Educational preparation and training for workplace readiness. 24th National Vocational Education and Training Research Conference "no frills": refereed paper (Kalpana Raghunathan, Sonia Allen and Elisabeth Jacob); (33) Profiling the institutional diversity of VET providers in Australia, across four broad dimensions 24th National Vocational Education and Training Research Conference "no frills": refereed paper (Peter Bentley, Leo Goedegebuure and Ruth Schubert); (34) Skills needed for innovation: a review. 24th National Vocational Education and Training Research Conference "no frills": refereed paper (Michael Walsh); (35) Understanding the needs of VET students articulating to second-year university 24th National Vocational Education and Training Research Conference "no frills": refereed Paper (Mark Symmons, Paul Kremer and Alvin Rendell); and (36) Data on total investment in VET: what should be collected (Gerald Burke).

This report brings together research publicly released by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) over the year. The 2017 compilation reflects an extensive collection of NCVER research activities undertaken during 2017, comprising reports, summaries, infographics, occasional papers, presentations and webinars. NCVER has organized their research program into three priority areas: (1) Structures and systems for skilling and learning; (2) The impact of vocational education and training; and (3) Teaching and learning. Summaries of projects that were published under each of these priorities are presented in this report. [For the previous year, "Research Messages 2016," see ED573529.]