Education. Industry Training Monograph No. 14.

Overview & Synopsis

Nearly 590,000 persons are employed in education in Australia, two-thirds of whom are women. One-third of education jobs are part time, and 40% of the work force is over age 45, suggesting that labor shortages may emerge in the next decade. As would be expected, this sector employs more persons with bachelor's and higher degrees than any other industry. In the vocational education and training (VET) sector, demand has been driven by the changing nature of the labor market and increases in government funding. Education placed in the top three industries in terms of employer satisfaction with VET graduates. Employers identified three areas for improvement: content relevance, work ethic, and flexibility in course delivery. Graduates in education felt that their qualification was less well regarded by employers than did other graduates. They were also very unsatisfied with the provision of information on careers and jobs. (An appendix contains seven tables of statistics: national shifts in employment in various industries in Australia; numbers of persons employed by occupations in the education field, 1987-96; higher education students and growth rates by state; age profiles of higher education students, 1980-95; overseas higher education students by field of study and sex; higher education students by field of study; and educational attainment of persons in occupations within the industry.) (KC)