BRADLEY AND BUSINESS SCHOOLS

1. BRADLEY AND BUSINESS SCHOOLS ANZAM WORKSHOP 2009 Peter Noonan

2. Framework for Review • Terms of Reference • Excluded innovation and research which was to be dealt with in Cutler Review • Included focus on broader tertiary sector • Starting point was the future economic and social needs of Australia and the role of HE in that context not HE system and institutions in the first instance. • Review of HE not just universities • Need for a shared long term vision • Importance of building population and workforce knowledge and skills • Consistency with COAG human capital agenda • This drove both growth, attainment targets and focus on equity

3. Framework for Review • A National Framework for Higher Education • Encompassing policy, funding, governance and regulation • An enduring framework – transparent, competitive and dynamic • Dealing with essentially mature system and institutions • No case for government mandated and driven restructuring as was the case in 1980s • Internationally competitive • In broad terms – student outcomes, experience, attainment levels, equity, research, sustainability • Focus today on aggregate demand, growth and demand driven funding and broader tertiary sector • Focus on domestic rather than international students

4. Attainment participation and productivity • Important links between educational attainment, effective labour force and social participation and productivity. • Increaser participation directly linked to equity objectives • Powerful connection between Human Capital and Equity Agendas • COAG outcomes and targets: • Halve the proportion of Australians aged 20-64 without qualifications at Certificate III and above between 2009 and 2020; • Does not specifically address contribution of Higher Education • Need to now align undergraduate targets and broader COAG targets

5. Aggregate supply and demand • Access Economics report for Review modelled the demand and supply of graduates • Supply of graduates depends upon • Population growth (including migration) • Year 12 completion • Higher education participation rates • Completion rates • Labour market demand for skills depends on: • Overall levels of economic activity; • Future levels of skills needs and ‘skills deepening’. • Access projections suggest an additional 36,000 graduates per year (across all age groups).

6. Growth and participation • Average annual increase in domestic HE students of 1.7% between 2002 and 2007, compared to average annual growth of 3.7% through the 1990s. • Access projections and government target suggest return to 1990s growth levels: • Governments response • By 2025 40 of 25-34 year olds hold Bachelor Degree or above • 217,000 additional graduates by 2025

7. Growth and participation • Australian population will also continue to grow including in prime participation age cohorts • 200,000 required just to keep pace with population growth • Growth is also important in relation to population aging as the actual and relative size of older age cohorts increases. • Without growth, age participation rates in HE will decline

10. Supply and demand for courses • Skills shortages a major issue at commencement of Review. • Economic downturn highlights dangers of detailed central planning • Student choices highly sensitive and responsive to labour market conditions and demand • Review focus on student centred and demand based funding • Removal of caps • Governments response • Phased removal of caps

11. Supply and Demand for Courses • Attempts to influence choice through controls on course intakes won’t succeed. Choice must be shaped by active engagement by business, government, professional associations. • e.g. recent decisions on teachers pay, conditions and career structures. • Recent enrolment trends and preliminary 2009 data suggests swing back to areas of skills shortages.

12. Supply and demand for courses • Collaboration and engagement with business essential help shape demand and understand emerging skills needs. • Workforce retraining and development a critical priority • Challenge to both traditional delivery methods and qualification structures • Differing needs of older learners • Demand for specific skills sets; • Bundling of units; • Flexible delivery • Importance of informal learning and tacit knowledge • Competition from private providers and corporate sector particularly in business, management, governance, finance IT etc

13. Supply and demand for courses • Need for high quality and evidence based information on emerging industry and occupational needs: • To assist with informed student choice; • As an input to planning at the institutional level; • To monitor aggregate trends relative to evidence.

14. Challenges and Opportunities for Business Schools • Core offerings are essential to the current and future workforce but domestic demand reported to be sluggish • Key domestic markets will be increasingly driven by capacity to stimulate demand from older age cohorts • Importance of enterprise markets and relationships and capacity to package programs tailored to meet enterprise needs • Importance of understanding enterprise needs • Demand for likely to be strong for shorter and flexible qualifications rather than longer and less flexible qualifications • Importance of equity and participation agenda; • What are relative participation levels in business schools from low SES and low participation groups?

15. Challenges and Opportunities for Business Schools • Potential across broader tertiary sector • Need for coherent and integrated qualifications framework • Reference to AQFC to revised AQF and also improved credit transfer and student pathways between VET and HE in both directions • Importance of links and better integration with secondary schools • What are the flows from students with business related Year 12 subjects into business schools • Is there potential to remodel upper secondary and initial HE provision?