25 YEARS of LSAY Research from the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth
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Department of Education, Skills and Employment 25 YEARS OF LSAY Research from the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth Edited by Cameron Forrest and Charotte Scobie, NCVER Acknowledgments We thank the authors who agreed to summarise their research into chapters for this publication: Alison Anlezark Manager Advancement Services, University of Adelaide Dr Jenny Chesters Lecturer/Research Fellow, MSGE, The University of Melbourne Dr Chesters’ research interests include: inequality in educational attainment according to socioeconomic status, transitions between education and employment throughout the life course, and social stratification. Emerick Chew Data Analyst, National Surveys, National Centre for Vocational Education Research Dr Grant Cooper Lecturer, School of Education, RMIT Dr David D Curtis Principal, Transforming Education (Australia) and Associate Professor (Adjunct) College of Education Psychology & Social Work, Flinders University https://www.flinders.edu.au/people/david.curtis Adjunct Professor Tom Karmel Future of Employment and Skills research centre, University of Adelaide Research interest: the link between education and the labour market. Dr Helen Law Postdoctoral researcher, Department of Sociology, University of Tübingen Dr Helen Law is a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Sociology at the University of Tübingen. She is a recipient of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Individual Fellowship from the European Commission. She completed her PhD in sociology at the Australian National University. Her research interests focus on gender differences in educational and occupational choices, educational inequalities and quantitative methods. Dr Jung-Sook Lee Senior Lecturer, School of Social Sciences, University of New South Wales https://research.unsw.edu.au/people/dr-jung-sook-lee Professor Philip Parker Deputy Director and Program Lead, Institute for Positive Psychology and Education, Australian Catholic University Philip Parker is the Deputy Director of the Institute for Positive Psychology and Education at the Australian Catholic University. His research is on the way psychology and society interact and how this interaction affects people’s life chances. He is particularly interested in educational inequality. Associate Professor Francisco Perales Institute for Social Science Research, The University of Queensland Dr Cain Polidano Senior Research Fellow, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, University of Melbourne https://melbourneinstitute.unimelb.edu.au/staff/research Rasika Ranasinghe Office of the South Australian Productivity Commission (OSAPC) Dr Joanna Sikora School of Sociology, Australian National University Dr John Stanwick Senior Research Fellow, National Research, National Centre for Vocational Education Research Domenico Tabasso Technical Office (Economist), Research Department, International Labour Organization https://sites.google.com/site/domtabasso/ Associate Professor Wojtek Tomaszewski Research Group Leader, Institute for Social Science Research, The University of Queensland Dr Ning Xiang Institute for Social Science Research, The University of Queensland 25 years of LSAY: Research from the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth Edited by Cameron Forrest and Charlotte Scobie NCVER LONGITUDINAL SURVEYS OF AUSTRALIAN YOUTH The views and opinions expressed in this document are those of the author/project team and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Australian Government or state and territory governments. Publisher’s note The views and opinions expressed in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Australian Government, state and territory governments or NCVER. Any interpretation of data is the responsibility of the author/project team. To find other material of interest, search VOCEDplus (the UNESCO/NCVER international database <http://www.voced.edu.au>) using the following keywords: aspirations; attainment; career choice; career guidance; data analysis; educational level; employment; entry into working life; gender; higher education; longitudinal data; longitudinal study; outcomes; outcomes of education and training; participation; pathways; qualifications; school leavers; secondary education; socioeconomic background; survey; tertiary education; transition from education and training to employment; transition from secondary to further education and training; university; VET in schools; vocational education and training; young worker; youth; youth transitions. © Commonwealth of Australia, 2020 With the exception of the Commonwealth Coat of Arms, the Department’s logo, any material protected by a trade mark and where otherwise noted all material presented in this document is provided under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia <http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/au> licence. The details of the relevant licence conditions are available on the Creative Commons website (accessible using the links provided) as is the full legal code for the CC BY 3.0 AU licence <http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/legalcode>. The Creative Commons licence conditions do not apply to all logos, graphic design, artwork and photographs. Requests and enquiries concerning other reproduction and rights should be directed to the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER). This document should be attributed as Forrest, C & Scobie, C 2019, 25 years of LSAY: Research from the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth, NCVER, Adelaide. This work has been produced by NCVER on behalf of the Australian Government and state and territory governments, with funding provided through the Australian Government Department of Education, Skills and Employment. COVER IMAGE: GETTY IMAGES. ISBN 978-1-925717-37-2 TD/TNC 137.02 Published by NCVER, ABN 87 007 967 311 Level 5, 60 Light Square, Adelaide SA 5000 PO Box 8288 Station Arcade, Adelaide SA 5000, Australia Phone +61 8 8230 8400 Email [email protected] Web <https://www.ncver.edu.au> <https://www.lsay.edu.au> Follow us: <https://twitter.com/ncver> <https://www.linkedin.com/company/ncver> Foreword The Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) are a series of nationally representative surveys of young people, which follow their transitions from compulsory schooling to post- school education and into employment. The survey program is administered by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) on behalf of the Australian Government Department of Education, Skills and Employment. LSAY commenced in 1995 and follows over 10 000 young Australians from each of six cohorts from the ages of 15 to 25. As one of the few longitudinal surveys in the world with multiple cohorts, LSAY gives researchers and policymakers insight into the diverse pathways taken by young people in Australia and how these have changed over time. This publication presents research highlights from the past 25 years of the LSAY program, with a focus on schooling, VET in schools programs, the influences of socioeconomic status and demographics on later opportunities, and pathways taken from school into further education and the workforce. This publication is not an exhaustive reflection of LSAY’s long research history but aims to showcase the value of the data. Research has been chosen to demonstrate the broad utility of LSAY, and we are grateful to the authors both within and outside NCVER for agreeing to showcase their research. More than 300 studies have been published using LSAY data, and an additional 2400 studies have cited work published under the LSAY research program. Interest in LSAY data continues to increase, with 2018 and 2019 setting consecutive records for numbers of applications from prospective researchers. The past two and half decades of LSAY research have generated a wealth of interesting, insightful, and sometimes surprising findings. With the newest cohort incorporating even more diverse modules about life experiences and the issues facing those making the transition from secondary school through to employment, LSAY continues to be an invaluable resource for learning about the experiences of young people in Australia. Simon Walker Managing Director, NCVER Executive summary 25 years of LSAY: Research from the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth Edited by Cameron Forrest and Charlotte Scobie, NCVER The Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) are a series of nationally representative surveys of young people that follow their transitions from compulsory schooling to post- school education and employment. The program has been conducted since 1995 and comprises six separate cohorts of more than 10 000 young Australians each. LSAY aims to understand the lives of young people, and as a longitudinal dataset spanning more than 25 years, it provides detailed information relating to the transitions and pathways of young people. Survey items focus on education, employment, and changes in life circumstances as young people leave school and prepare to enter the work force. The content of the LSAY datasets can be loosely organised into four major areas: • Demographics, such as gender, country of birth, indigeneity, socioeconomic status, and parents’ education and occupation levels • Education, including school characteristics, subject choice, post-school plans, higher education, and vocational education and training (VET) • Employment, including hours worked, wages and benefits received, job-seeking methods, and job satisfaction • ‘Social’, which broadly