Participation in tertiary education 2002 Publications
Publication Details
The first of two annual reports looking at trends in participation rates for formal students in tertiary education over the period 1994 to 2001. From 2004 onwards the analysis included in this report was incorporated in New Zealand's Tertiary Education Sector Report - Profile & Trends.
This report analyses recent trends in participation rates (enrolments per capita) for formal students in tertiary education. The report includes information up to 2001 on Māori and non-Māori participation across a range of topics including age, gender, provider type, level and field of study.
Author(s): David Scott, Tertiary Sector Performance Analysis, Ministry of Education.
Date Published: August 2002
Summary
Key Findings
All discussion relates to students aged 15 and over enrolled with a tertiary education provider in a formal programme of study of greater than 0.03 EFTS regardless of level of study. Total year rates exclude formal students with providers who were neither Ministry of Education funded nor approved for student loans and allowances. Refer to Data, Definitions and Methods section for further information, in particular for differences in how tertiary is measured in OECD comparisons.
- 9.7% of the population aged 15+ were in tertiary study at July 2001, an increase of 15% from the participation rate at July 1999.
- 13.2% of the population aged 15+ were in tertiary study at some time during 2001, an increase of 21% from the participation rate during 1999.
- Around two in five 18-24 year olds participated in tertiary education during 2001, compared to one in six 25-39 year olds, one in six 15-17 year olds and one in 20 people aged 40 or over. Students aged 25 and over now make up over half of all students (54% in 2001).
- Māori participation has been growing steadily over the 1990s, but grew significantly in 2001 from 14.1% to 18.9% of the population aged 15+. Non-Māori participation grew from 11.4% to 12.4% over the same period. Māori now have higher participation than non-Māori, even after adjusting for age. (See page 14 for more about age adjustment).
- Growth in Māori participation has occurred mainly in wānanga (57% of growth in 2001) and private providers (38% of growth). Around 51% of Māori students in 2001 were at private providers and wānanga, compared to 18% for non-Māori.
- Te Wānanga o Aotearoa dominated growth in 2001, with 55% of the growth in Māori students and 27% of all growth in students in 2001. Nearly one in five of all Māori students in 2001 studied at this provider.
- Māori participation rates are twice that of non-Māori at private providers, and rising, but around two-thirds that of non-Māori at universities, and falling, despite absolute increases of about 200-300 more Māori a year at universities.
- Māori participation is higher than non-Māori for all age groups except the 18-24 year olds. In particular, 18-24 year old Māori participation at university is just 30% of the non-Māori participation rate.
- Females participate at a higher rate than males both for Māori and non-Māori and across all age groups and provider types. In particular, nearly a quarter (23.4%) of all Māori females aged 15+ participated in tertiary at some time during 2001 compared to 14.2% for Māori males, 13.1% for non-Māori females and 11.5% for non-Māori males.
- Participation rates in part-time study have risen sharply since 2000 after falling since 1997. Over 75% of the growth in enrolments in 2001 was in part-time study, making it more popular than full-time study again.
- Māori have a higher proportion of part-time students than non-Māori (56% compared to 51% for 2001). Māori participation in part-time study rose 77% in 2001 with growth occurring mainly in wānanga and private providers.
- About 59% of students were studying below degree level in 2001, 33% at degree level, and 8% at post graduate level.
- At public providers (excluding wānanga) there has been a marked trend towards higher level study, but when recent growth in sub-degree level study at private providers and wānanga is considered, sub-degree study as a proportion of all enrolments has risen.
- Māori are participating in sub-degree level study at over twice the rate of non-Māori. Conversely, although Māori participation at degree level has grown over 40% since 1994, the difference in rates with non-Māori has remained about the same. Despite good growth, the Māori participation rate at post-graduate level is still about 57% of that of non-Māori.
- About one in five students (22%) in 2001 studied extramurally. Although extramural study has increased in recent years, the proportion of students in extramural study has stayed about the same.
- Māori extramural participation is about twice that of non-Māori. In fact, there were more Māori doing part-time study extramurally than intramurally in 2001.
- The rate of participation for intramural study was also higher for Māori than non-Māori, but when adjusted for age differences, the rate was about the same.
- About one in five students in 2001 were at school the previous year in 2000, two in five were in the workforce, one in five were unemployed or in the non-labour force, and the remainder in tertiary study or overseas in 2000.
- Participation rates have risen since 1994 across all previous year activities except for students who had previously been in tertiary study where rates have stayed the same.
- When adjusted for age differences, Māori participation is lower for students who were at school the year before, noticeably higher for those unemployed or in the non-labour force the year before, and about the same for those working or in tertiary study the year before.
- About three in ten (31%) of all students in 2001 were participating as first year students.
- The proportion of Māori students participating as first year students in 2001 was over double that of non-Māori.
- Wānanga and private providers had the highest proportion of first year students (45% and 49%) while universities and colleges of education had the lowest (21% and 9%).
- Over half of all students in 2001 were studying management & commerce, society & culture, and mixed field programmes.
- Māori participate more than non-Māori in education-related fields but less in health, sciences, engineering & architecture.
- Females participate noticeably more in education, health, food & hospitality, but noticeably less in engineering, agriculture and architecture.
- International students represented 6.8% of all students during 2001, up from 2.3% in 1994. Most of this growth has occurred since 2000.
- Nearly half of all international students were at university in 2001, and almost 30% at polytechnics. Private providers have increased their share of international students to nearly a quarter in 2001, with a corresponding decline in share mainly at universities.
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