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Understanding career pathways in VET
This research activity will explore career pathways in VET. It will provide a life cycle perspective in the development of career pathways in VET, and research the implications these pathways might hold for labour supply, skill development and succession planning.
Check the details of this activity:
Meet the team
| Leader: Dr Michele Simons is a key researcher in the Centre for Research in Education, Equity and Work (CREEW), Education Campus Coordinator and Senior Lecturer in Post-compulsory Education and Training in the School of Education at the University of South Australia.
Her interests include apprenticeships and traineeships, workplace learning, competency-based training and VET policy in Australia. She also has expertise in conducting research across a range of issues including the role of teachers and trainers in VET, innovations in teaching and learning, professional development for VET staff, learning in the workplace, apprenticeships and traineeships and managing change in VET settings. Her research expertise is demonstrated in the number of projects including national surveys using techniques such as cognitive interviewing and computer aided telephone interviewing.
Recent research interests include workplace learning, apprenticeships and traineeships, and vocational education and training. Her publications can be viewed at http://www.unisa.edu.au/creew/
| | | Team Member:
| Ms Berwyn Clayton is Director of the Centre Undertaking Research in Vocational Education (CURVE) at the Canberra Institute of Technology. She is also one of the three program directors of the Research Consortium. She is a Fellow of the Australian College of Educators (ACE) and Immediate Past President of the Australian Vocational Education and Training Research Association (AVETRA).
Berwyn’s research interests are competency-based training and assessment, skills recognition, VET pedagogy and the changing roles and ongoing development of VET practitioners. Her recent research project publications and conference papers can be accessed at: http://www.cit.act.edu.au/curve/.
| | | Team member:
| Professor Roger Harris is the Director of the Centre for Research in Education, Equity and Work (CREEW), and Professor in Adult and Vocational Education at the University of South Australia. He is also one of the three program directors of the Research Consortium.
His professional activities include research and consultancy, teaching and supervision, journal editing and review, and national executive responsibilities. His career interest in research has gradually evolved after fulfilling roles in teaching, course coordination, acting headship of the former School of Human Resource Studies and several international consultancies for the university. A particular concern is the dissemination of research.
Research interests include: Adult and vocational education generally, Australian training reform, Workplace learning, Competency-based approaches, competency standards, VET professional development and Needs analyses and evaluations. His publication list can be viewed at: http://www.unisa.edu.au/creew/.
| | | Team member: Ms Phoebe Palmieri is Director of Phoebe Palmieri Pty Ltd. She specialises in research, professional development and training development in vocational education and training, with a particular focus on change management and the educational application of technologies.
Before establishing her own business at the beginning of 1996, she worked for many years in distance education and flexible learning, as an instructional designer, teacher and manager. She managed the statewide Centre for Flexible Learning, which provided policy advice, information and professional development to advance flexible delivery in the Victorian State Training System.
She has played a central role in a number of national and statewide projects: theTeaching in a Changing Environment program, the Change and Training Packages program, development of the TAFE Managers’ Guide to Staff Development, and the Evaluation of the Advocacy and Issues Management project of the Australian Flexible Learning Framework.
Her publication list can be viewed at: http://home.vicnet.net.au/~neptune/biogs.htm
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Research questions
- How and in what ways are careers conceptualised and managed in VET?
- How does this influence the workforce development needs of all categories of staff employed in VET providers?
Rationale
There is a pressing need to consider succession planning for a sector where part-time, casual and contract modes of employment predominate. While something is known about the changes to the VET workforce of the past ten years, little is known about the processes by which staff enter the sector, move through various job roles and then leave the sector. Additionally, information is lacking on the ways in which work changes via processes such as promotions, secondments, job rotations etc. that enhance or inhibit the career development process. The role that professional development (particularly the acquisition of higher education qualifications) plays in this progression is also unclear. This research aims to fill these gaps.
Participating RTOs will benefit from this research by:
- being able to access relevant data relating to specific groups of staff (e.g. teaching staff, support staff) within particular contexts (public, private RTOs)
- engaging in processes to develop and examine resources which can then be tailored to their particular needs and contexts
Methodology
- National survey of VET teachers, trainers and support staff from a representative sample of RTOs
- Supplemented with relevant data from in-depth interviews from research activities 4,5,6 and 8
- Extant data from the Graduate Destination Survey
Timeline
June 2005 - November 2006
Products
- A literature review (PDF 263Kb) will summarise the latest thinking on understandings of career and career pathways in VET and a number of like occupations
- Reports, conference papers and journal articles will capture data from the national survey to inform a range of decision-making processes within VET providers (labour supply, professional development, succession planning, relevance and importance of higher education qualifications in career pathways)
- Resources will include information sheets and a professional development kit for existing and potential VET staff to assist them in understanding career pathways and to facilitate their decision-making about planning career pathways within the sector
Taking part
You can become a committed and active participant in this broad research program in many ways:
- Take part in a National survey for research activity 2.
1. Read the Information Sheet for participants
2. Complete the survey
Have your say about your work history/career in VET. You can participate in the survey if you work:
- as a teacher/trainer/assessor
- in a general staff role that supports delivery of VET programs
- within an Australian Public or Private RTO
- within a VET-related area like State training authorities, VET in schools or DEST
- Email the leader of this research activity or one of the program directors
- Send the newsletter editor an item on good practice for the quarterly newsletter
- Have your say by making a comment on any part of this research and how it affects you
- Download a one-page flyer (PDF 30Kb) on this research activity and send it to someone you believe may be interested
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