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Higher Education Review ProcessAchieving Equitable and Appropriate Outcomes: Indigenous Australians in Higher Education2. background7 In considering the participation of Indigenous Australians in higher education, it is important to acknowledge that mainstream educational provision in Australia does not naturally support traditional Indigenous approaches to learning. For most non-Indigenous Australians, entry into primary school, progression through secondary school and perhaps through tertiary education or training before workforce entry is quite the norm. This has not been the case for many Indigenous Australians and any policy development or policy evaluation needs to take this into account. 8 Most Indigenous Australians including urban, rural and remote families, have to deal with, discrimination, grief, violence, drug and alcohol dependence, feelings of being second rate and discrimination in education and employment. This impacts significantly on decisions to participate in higher education. 9 Improved participation of Indigenous Australians in higher education is highly dependent on addressing the range of inequities they face and in increasing awareness of the benefits of a higher education. It is also highly dependent on improving participation in education from early childhood through to secondary education and vocational education and training. 10 A snapshot of education overall in 2001 indicates that for many Indigenous people, the path through to Year 12 is not an easy road. University studies can be a world away. 11 In 2001, there were 2 620 Indigenous students in Year 12, or 1.4 per cent of the Year 12 cohort. By contrast Indigenous children represented 2.6 per cent of those aged 15 to 19 years. The retention rate from Year 10 to Year 12 for Indigenous students, whilst showing improvement over previous years, is still only 43.6 per cent. This compares with a corresponding retention rate for non-Indigenous students of 76.2 per cent (ABS National School Statistics Collection, unpublished data). 12 Relatively high proportions of Indigenous people study in vocational education and training (VET). Indeed, between 1996 and 2001 numbers increased by 82.1 per cent. By then they comprised 3.3 per cent of total students at the vocational level. However, the largest group of Indigenous VET students was enrolled in subjects from within the VET ‘multi-field education’ area of study (22.6 per cent as compared with 11.3 per cent of all VET students in 2000). Multi-field education is not directly associated with a recognised ‘field of study’, but rather encompasses a range of enabling courses, addressing generic study, interpersonal and job-search skills. Only 13.3 per cent of Indigenous VET students were studying at the Australian Qualification Framework Certificate IV level or above in 2000 compared with 21.3 per cent of all VET students (NCVER, 2002). 13 An appropriate benchmark for assessing Indigenous participation in tertiary education is the proportion of Indigenous people in the Australian population aged 15 to 64 years, which when adjusted for the age distribution of the Indigenous population is 2.5 per cent1. In higher education in 2001, there were 7 341 Indigenous students, comprising 1.2 per cent of domestic students2 in the higher education sector. This is a significant achievement, representing a 44.4 per cent increase in the number in higher education since 1992, and a 5.5 per cent increase since 1996. Some 1.5 per cent of commencing students are Indigenous. 14 The Indigenous higher education population shows a somewhat different profile to that of other students. In general, Indigenous students are older than non-Indigenous students and are more likely to come from rural and isolated parts of Australia. Indigenous students are more likely to enter higher education through special entry schemes and to enrol in bridging courses or diploma courses than in bachelor or postgraduate courses. Indigenous students are more likely to be enrolled externally or in a multi-mode attendance (that is, partly internal or on-campus and partly external) (Encel, 2000). 15 In summary, Indigenous education has increased considerably since 1989 when agreement was reached on the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Policy (AEP—Aboriginal Education Policy). At that time, Indigenous students in Year 12 comprised just 0.5 per cent of all Year 12 students. In VET, although proportions of Indigenous students at all levels (excluding the recreational stream) compared favourably with their proportion in the community of a similar age, only a very small number were enrolled in courses subsequent to initial vocational courses. In higher education, Indigenous students comprised 0.8 per cent of domestic students. (In 1991, Indigenous people comprised 1.6 per cent of the Australian population and 1.4 per cent of the Australian population aged 15 to 64 years (ABS, 1993).) 1. This calculation takes account of the relatively high proportion of young people in the Indigenous population (see appendix b). 2. The term ‘domestic students’ in this paper includes Australian citizens, Australian permanent residents and New Zealand citizens. |
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Any comments or
queries should be sent to:
highered@dest.gov.au
Department of Education, Science and Training
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