VET pathways in Tasmania: collaborating for successful participation

The imperative to increase pathways from vocational education and training (VET) to higher education is clear in Tasmania, where it is recognised that the development of effective education and trainingpathways is critical for workforce development and retention in skill areas of identified need. In Tasmania, like other rural and regional areas in Australia, students are more likely to have lower socioeconomic status than those living in mainland metropolitan areas and less likely to move to higher education directly from school: also more likely to articulate to university from vocational education and training. However, the level of post-compulsory participation in the state is low, with approximately 40% of the age cohort completing Year 12 and fewer students completing either higher-level VET qualifications or entering university. The barriers to participation and pathways are significant. This paper reports on the outcomes of a study of the pathways of students admitted to the University of Tasmania (UTAS) on the basis of previous VET, over a period of 7.5 years, from 2004 to semester one 2011. The study used a mixed-methods approach combining statistics collected from admission and enrolment data from UTAS and completion data from the VET sector (Tasmanian TAFE and subsequently the Tasmanian Polytechnic and Tasmanian Skills Institute) from 2003-2010, with qualitative data from a sample of current UTAS and current Tasmanian Polytechnic/Tasmanian Skills Institute students. Sources of qualitative data were focus group and individual interviews with a sample of current UTAS students (Human Research Ethics Committee [Tasmania] Network, approval no. H11280) and open-ended questionnaires completed by a sample of current Tasmanian Polytechnic /Tasmanian Skills Institute students./p Examination of the student experience, effective pathways and lessons learnt nationally gives educators in Tasmania some strong guidance for collaboration in delivering the desired outcome of greater and more successful participation in Tasmania.