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The Post-School Education Choices of Young Women in Australia and Canada

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

Siobhan Austen  and
Fiona MacPhail
Siobhan Austen
Affiliation:
Curtin University, Perth
Fiona MacPhail
Affiliation:
University of Northern British Columbia
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Abstract

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Young Canadian women engage in post-school study at a much higher rate than their Australian peers, with a large part of the difference in this rate attributable to differences in rates of participation in the non-university sector. This article uses data from the Australian Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth and the Canadian Youth in Transition Survey to generate a unique cross-country comparison of the characteristics of young women engaged in different types of post-school education. The results highlight important differences in the role played by academic ability and parental resources in the allocation of educational ‘slots' in the non-university sectors of the two countries. The results suggest that ‘second-tier’ post-school institutions could play a role in boosting rates of post-school education in Australia, with important consequences for the design of policy on this sector.

Keywords

I24Cross-country comparisonlongitudinal datamultinomial logit modelpost-school education
Type
Articles
Information
The Economic and Labour Relations Review , Volume 22 , Issue 3: Australia's Transfer and Tax System Under Review , November 2011 , pp. 141 - 157
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2011

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