Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to develop a measure of soft skills suitable for use in a large survey of Australian adolescents. Design/methodology/approach: A survey was conducted with N = 4,704 Australians aged 15-19 over 2 years. Principal components analysis was performed on 14 self-report items, followed by generalised linear mixed…

Overskilling is the phenomenon whereby a worker's skills are underutilised in his or her job. Overskilled workers are employed, but they are underutilised and mismatched, in that their skills and abilities are not a good match with the requirements of the job. Overskilling can lead to decreased wages and job satisfaction, which suggests that the…

Differences in teacher quality are commonly cited as a key determinant of the huge international student performance gaps. However, convincing evidence on this relationship is still lacking, in part because it is unclear how to measure teacher quality consistently across countries. We use unique international assessment data to investigate the…

Apprenticeships and traineeships are useful pathways for people with a disability to obtain a qualification and gain employment. Based on a three-year program of research, this report explores the barriers and facilitators of course completion reported by students with a disability who have completed an apprenticeship or traineeship. Formal and…

Research messages 2010 is a collection of summaries of research projects published by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER). The summaries are clustered under five broad themes used by NCVER to organise its research and analysis: Industry and employers; Students and individuals; Teaching and learning: VET system; and VET in…

A study examined hourly earnings among Australian young people using three Youth in Transition cohorts from the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth project (birth years 1961, 1965, and 1970). It considered correlations between hourly earnings and measures of social background and school factors, qualifications, and labor market history;…

A study examined character and consequences of student part-time work using data from the 1975 birth cohort of the Youth in Transition project of the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth program. Findings indicated that most students worked because they liked the independence their job gave, enjoyed the work, and believed the experience would…

The overall participation and performance of disabled students in vocational education and training (VET) programs in Australia in 2000 were analyzed. The analysis was based on data from National Centre for Vocational Education Research collections and surveys. The following were among the key findings: (1) the number of VET students reporting a…

This study investigated psychosocial predictors of early pregnancy and childbearing in single young women, consistent with the Eriksonian developmental perspective. Two mail-out surveys assessing reproductive behaviour and sociodemographic, education/competence, psychosocial well-being, and aspiration factors were completed 4 years apart by 2635…