The low Australian Tertiary Admissions Ranks (ATARs) of Initial Teacher Education (ITE) students are routinely highlighted in the media and in reviews of ITE, with the perception that such students will be unable to become effective teachers. As part of the NSW Government's "Great Teaching, Inspired Learning" (GTIL) Framework, minimum…

Universities are increasingly utilising social media for student recruitment, the most highly used channel for prospective students. However, research on information gathering and electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM)-seeking behaviours on social media is generally absent. This paper explores the information sought by prospective students on social…

The focus of recent Australian political and media reports on the selection of candidates for initial teacher education programs has focused on the Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) score as one of the key indicators of worth. This narrative study conducted in an Australian regional university focuses on the life stories of twelve…

The history of universities in the twentieth century is, at least from the perspective of growth, a massive success. Australian higher education is no exception. Prior to the Second World War, Australia had six universities and approximately 10,500 students. Now there are in excess of one million students attending 39 institutions. In each phase…

A range of imperatives underpin university selection practices. These include demonstrating merit based on prior academic achievement and supporting successful graduate outcomes in the professions and in broader fields of endeavour. They also include improving diversity of participation and equality of educational opportunity. Selection for…

Our paper contributes to explore differences in high-education systems, and to highlight the role of competition among tertiary education providers and more generally of tertiary education systems viewed from a general equilibrium perspective to explain changes in returns to skill, wage inequalities and output. An objective function is introduced…

For more than a decade professional doctorates in Australia have continued to grow and diversify across a broadening array of disciplines. An empirical study of "The Doctoral Education Experience" in Australian universities included an examination of doctoral experiences in departments offering both PhD and professional doctorates. This…

This article presents findings from a national study on doctoral education undertaken at a time of new government policies on funding of higher education and doctoral research in particular. The article discusses the overall policy developments in Australia and then examines the impact of policy on practice in doctoral education. Particular focus…

An attempt at the Footscray Institute of Technology to involve students from local schools in its tertiary courses is described. The ways in which the Institute recruited potential students of mathematics and science from pools of students who experience significant difficulty obtaining entry to higher education are described. (MLW)

A University of Western Australia market segmentation study for the masters program in business administration examined the relationship between Graduate Management Admission Test scores, work experience, faculty of undergraduate degree, gender, and academic success in the program. Implications of the results for establishing admission criteria…

An evaluation project investigated the Vocational Preparation Programme conducted in 1981 by the South Australian Department of Technical and Further Education (TAFE). The vocational preparation program was designed to increase the employability of young unemployed people aged 15 to 19 by providing them with an understanding of a family of related…

This paper looks at the selection of students in Australia for trades-based prevocational or pre-apprenticeship courses. Selections for two types of courses are considered in the paper: (1) pre-apprenticeship courses that focus on a particular trade area and usually lead to credit in only one apprenticeship course; and (2) prevocational courses…