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Community Attitudes to TAFE Quantitative Research April 2009. DEMOGRAPHICS. Who we surveyed…. A random sample of 800 people aged between 16 and 64 years from across metropolitan and regional Victoria were surveyed via Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing system (CATI)
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Community Attitudes to TAFE Quantitative Research April 2009
DEMOGRAPHICS Who we surveyed…. A random sample of 800 people aged between 16 and 64 years from across metropolitan and regional Victoria were surveyed via Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing system(CATI) From 4th - 21st March 2009
KEY FINDINGS • The following slides detail the results of the research, which is divided into four sections: • Section 1: Awareness and Participation in TAFE • Section 2: Attitudes to TAFE • Section 3: Attitudes to TAFE Relative to University • Section 4: Matters Raised by the Bradley Review
SECTION 1: AWARENESS AND PARTICIPATION IN TAFE Question 1: What is the Likelihood of undertaking training or re-skilling over the next five years?
Question 2: If you had to undertake any training or re-skilling in the next five of years where would you most likely go get that training?
Question 2.1: Why would you choose TAFE? • Close by/ closer than another type of institute (17%) • TAFE offered the course that they wanted to undertake (16%) • Been there before/ already studied or trained there (10%) • Offer shorter courses (10%) • Cheaper/ not too expensive (10%)
Question 4: Have you ever undertaken or are you undertaking a course at a TAFE institute?
Question 4.2: TAFE course undertaken • Uptake of IT courses was higher for those who were: • Living in inner metro and regional areas • Working on a part-time basis • Employed in a professional occupation • With a higher degree • Uptake of business services courses was higher for those who were: • Living in outer metro areas • Full-time self employed • Employed in a professional occupation • With a Diploma or BA
SECTION 2: ATTITUDES TO TAFE Question 5: Positive TAFE statements These results – particularly those regarding the statements on course quality and availability - indicate that the community does not hold negative attitudes toward TAFE; it simply lacks knowledge about the courses and programs available at TAFE institutes. There is a real opportunity for the sector to market its services to an engaged an eager community
Question 5: Negative TAFE statements This statement attracted the highest agreement rating of the 7 negative statements tested
You can get just as good a qualification going to a private training provider as you can going to a TAFE (25% disagree, 50% agree and 23% don’t know) This demonstrates the competition between TAFE institutes and their private counterparts, however, it is evident that the community does not regard TAFE qualifications as inferior to those gained from private organisations. The opportunity also exists to shift the don’t know group into the ‘disagree’ camp. If a private training provider was a fair bit cheaper than an equivalent TAFE course, I’d always choose the private training provider (53% disagree, 39% agree, 7% don’t know) Agreement more likely amongst the young and those of lower income and apprentices Employers don’t rate TAFE qualifications very highly (49% disagree, 31% agree, 20% don’t know) This may suggest there is a disconnect in community attitudes regarding the quality of a TAFE educationand qualification versus the acceptance of the qualification in the workplace. Although the general sentiment among these respondents is fairly positive towards TAFE institutions, there may be a hint of apprehension about how these qualifications are received in the workplace – perhaps these views are based on the experience of some of the respondents involved in this research. An opportunity exists for the Victorian TAFE Association to further educate employers by promoting the high quality of the education and skills training that it delivers.
SECTION 3: ATTITUDES TO TAFE RELATIVE TO UNIVERSITY Question 6: Statements: University courses are better, the same or worse than TAFE courses at… Universities were not considered to be substantially better than TAFEs for most of the five statements tested.
Question 6: Individual statements – University courses compared to TAFE courses
SECTION 4: MATTERS RAISED BY THE BRADLEY REVIEW Question 7: If you were to enrol in a university course, how important is gaining credit for previously related TAFE study, to you?
Question 8: Will the equivalent diploma undertaken at a TAFE get you a worse, similar or better job than the equivalent diploma undertaken at a university?
Question 9: To what extent would upfront fees be a barrier to you studying at TAFE? There was not a great difference between those likely and unlikely to undertake training in the next five years, indicating that reasons for not undertaking training or re-skilling is not necessarily based on access to finances
Question 10: If the tuition fees for a TAFE diploma were about $1,500 to $2,000 per year would you: Even though 80% of the young couple demographic group have previously stated that upfront fees are a barrier, the majority would still choose to pay the fee upfront. Perhaps the actual dollar amount posed in this question ($1,500-$2,000) was not as expensive as they had initially assumed ‘upfront fees’ to be.
