The Council of Australian Postgraduate
Associations
Represents Australia's 340,000+ postgraduate students, with over
60,000 undertaking research degrees and over 280,000 pursuing
coursework or combined research programs. Founded in 1979.
Context
Think of higher education is a system, where a change
to one part is likely to effect others.
+ ? =
Participation and Engagement
We should be encouraging enrolment from as diverse a
group as possible, and supporting them throughout their
degree.
What does the 21st century
postgraduate look like?
Patterns of participation2013 Enrolments by level of course and age group
DET (2015) 2013 All students, Retrieved
from
https://docs.education.gov.au/node/35961
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
50%
19 andunder
20 o 24 25 to 29 30 to 39 40 to 49 50 to 59 60 and over
Doctorate by Research
Doctorate by Coursework
Master's by Research
Master's by Coursework
Bachelor
Patterns of participation
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
19 andunder
20 o 24 25 to 29 30 to 39 40 to 49 50 to 59 60 andover
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
19 andunder
20 o 24 25 to 29 30 to 39 40 to 49 50 to 59 60 andover
Doctorate byResearchDoctorate byCourseworkMaster's byResearchMaster's byCoursework
20082013
Enrolments by level of course and age group
Patterns of participationA comparison of part and full time enrolments over time
DET (2015) 2013 All students, Retrieved from
https://docs.education.gov.au/node/35961
0
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
25,000
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Full-time Domestic Part-time Domestic Full-time Overseas Part-time Overseas
Characteristics
• Live much more independent lives
• Often have carer responsibilities
Issues
• Living expenses
• Social isolation
• Working environment
•Resources (minimum standards)
•Suppervision
Patterns of participation
Patterns of participation
Income Support
Access to and flexibility with income support is one of the most
critical factors in supporting participation. A lack of support erodes
a persons ability to participate in higher education and engage
with their studies.
A lack of access to income support is also associated with
patterns of part-time enrolment.
•How many postgraduates are in receipt of
a scholarship or award with a living
allowance?
•How many have access to write-up
scholarships?
?
Patterns of participationThe difference between the APA stipend and poverty line
-$200.00
-$150.00
-$100.00
-$50.00
$0.00
$50.00
2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005
Single Person Single Person +1
Melbourne Institute of Applied Economics and Social Research (2014) Poverty Lines: Australia,
EngagementPolicy and context
• The pressures of funding models and performance
measures
• Bologna and standardised masters degrees
• Student Services and Amenities Fees (SSAF)
Funding is tied to policy, funding drives the need for
completions and enrolments. It effects services and
resources which improve the student experience and in
turn attracts students.
EngagementSSAF Survey 2014
The survey ran from Oct 2013 – Nov 2014, final response rate
was N=733 postgraduates.
• how representative of postgraduate concerns the list of
student service and amenities encompassed by the
legislation was;
• the utilization of services and amenities by postgraduate
students;
• how important student representation and advocacy was
to postgraduates;
• the necessity of maintain independent student
representation for postgraduates, and of Universities
providing adequate SSAF funding for this purpose.
EngagementSSAF Survey 2014 Results
The majority of respondents said that they were seeing the
benefits of their SSAF dollars spent through Social events,
academic networking events, and student-run bas, cafes or food
services.
Significantly the top five most important student services
according to respondents (in no particular order) were:
• Libraries and reading rooms,
• Advocacy,
• Support services for overseas students,
• Legal services, and
• Health and Welfare services.
EngagementSSAF Survey 2014 Results Cont.
Close to 95% of respondents supported postgraduate
representative bodies engaging with political issues which affect
postgraduates.
Over 90% of respondents said that it was important to critical
that postgraduate issue were represented by an independent
postgraduate student body.
A significant majority, 80% of respondents said that they
engaged with the activities of their postgraduate association,
and over 50% did so regularly..
• Evaluate the impacts of policy and don’t just implement and
ignore
• Support postgraduates through income support and servies
that recognise their unique situation and status
• Collect data and share it with your postgraduates
• Engage postgraduates through their representatives and
treat them collegially
Engagement and participationConclusions and opportunities
•How many postgraduates are in receipt of a
scholarship or award with a living allowance?
•How many have access to write-up scholarships??