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Grouping students into separate classes according to their 'ability' is an inequitable practice that does not, overall, improve academic outcomes. Research has continued to show that class ability grouping widens the educational gap between students from disadvantaged and privileged backgrounds. PISA data analysis suggests that class ability grouping continues to be used in Australian schools, at least in Year 10. However, no research has characterized the existing class ability grouping practices being used in secondary schools from Years 7 to 9. The findings reported in this paper add quantitative evidence to the literature, showing that students are experiencing different class ability grouping practices according to their year group, subjects, and locations. An across-state survey about class ability grouping was conducted with respondents from 143 schools providing data about the schools' class ability grouping practices. The findings reveal variations in how class grouping practices are used by schools in Australia that have been not captured in other research: Class ability grouping was activated differently in different schools, increased as students' year levels increased, was most prevalent in Maths and English, and was used more extensively in Western Australia than in Queensland. The findings use descriptive statistics to show that students in Australia are experiencing different grouping practices, with discussion of how some practices are more inequitable than others. This raises questions about how the varied forms of class ability grouping that are being employed are contributing to educational inequalities in Australia and how future research can address this problem.

We use a random-effects dynamic probit model to estimate the effect of overskilling dynamics on wages. We find that overskilling mismatch is common and more likely among those who have been overskilled in the past. It is also highly persistent, in a manner that is inversely related to educational level. Yet, the wages of university graduates are reduced more by past overskilling than for any other education level. A possible reason for this wage effect is that graduates tend to be in better-paid jobs and therefore there is more at stake for them if they get it wrong. (Contains 9 tables and 12 notes.)

This paper examines the outcome of over-skilling and over-education on wages and job satisfaction of full-time employees in Australia between 2001 and 2008. We employ a random effects probit model with Mundlak corrections. We find differences by type of mismatch, education pathway, and gender. We categorise reported mismatches as genuine mismatches, weak mismatches, and no evidence of a mismatch. There is evidence of unobserved individual heterogeneity as in some cases wage and job satisfaction become insignificant using panel estimation as opposed to pooled ordinary least squares or probit analysis. Furthermore, genuine mismatch derives more from over-skilling than from over-education. (Contains 10 tables and 5 notes.)

Using longitudinal data from the Household, Income, and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey (2001–2013), we examine the relationship between the dynamics of work-limiting disability, employment, and life satisfaction. By employing two alternative classifications of the dynamic trajectories of disability, we are able to explicitly consider the influence of disability exit in addition to examining onset by chronicity and severity. After controlling for unobserved individual heterogeneity, we find pronounced declines in the probability of employment and life satisfaction at disability onset. Further, while individuals are found to recover rapidly and completely from a one-period disability, there is little evidence of recovery even after 10 years for those whose disability is chronic, defined as evident for three or more years post-onset, and severe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine the relationship between disability, job mismatch, earnings and job satisfaction using panel estimation on data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey (2001–08). While we do not find any relationship between work-limiting disability and overskilling, it appears that there is a positive relationship between work-limiting disability and overeducation, which is consistent with disability onset leading to downward occupational movement, at least in relative terms. We find a negative correlation between work-limiting disability and both earnings and job satisfaction. However, there is only evidence of a causal relationship in terms of the latter, where the impact of disability is found to be multifaceted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Turnover in the Australian aged-care workforce is lower than in the United States but is still of concern. This research examined the effects of worker satisfaction, worker characteristics, work conditions, and workplace environment on intention to leave, using data from a 2007 national census of the aged-care workforce. A probit model was used to estimate the probability of care workers leaving their jobs in the next 12 months. While workers were satisfied, overall, with their work, improving some components of satisfaction and converting casual contracts to permanent work would reduce intention to leave. To these ends, a shift in focus is required away from worker characteristics and the nature of care work to job conditions and organizational matters amenable to management and policy action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]