The Adult Literacy and Life Skills (ALL) Survey: Numeracy Skills and Education in New Zealand & Australia

Participation in up-skilling in New Zealand and Australia

In Figure 3 and Table 1 below, the distribution of participation in up-skilling in New Zealand is compared with that in Australia. In Figures 5 and 6, the distribution of participation in up-skilling by education level in New Zealand is compared with that in Australia.

In the graphs and analysis of ALL data provided in this section, the following definitions are used.

Up-skilling refers to training and educational activities undertaken in the twelve months prior to participation in the ALL survey.

• Formal full-time up-skilling refers to full-time participation in any course that is part of a programme of study towards a certificate, degree or diploma (for example, participation in a plumbing apprenticeship).
• Formal part-time up-skilling refers to part-time participation in any course that is part of a programme of study towards a certificate, degree or diploma (for example, part-time participation in a Bachelor of Arts degree).
• Non-formal up-skilling refers to participation in any course that is not part of a programme of study toward a certificate, degree or diploma (for example, participation in a photography course at night-school).
• Self-directed up-skilling refers to frequent participation in up-skilling activities such as guided tours, trade fairs, learning from instructional media, etc.

Respondents who reported undertaking up-skilling both formally (either part-time or full-time) and in any other way were recorded as undertaking up-skilling formally. Respondents who reported undertaking up-skilling non-formally and in a self-directed manner were reported as undertaking up-skilling non-formally.

Figure 3: Participation in up-skilling in New Zealand and Australia (percentages of adult populations)

Figure 3 shows the percentage of the adult populations of New Zealand and Australia in each of the up-skilling categories described above.

The distributions of participation in New Zealand and Australia exhibit some similarities. The biggest difference is that New Zealand had a higher proportion of adults who reported as participating in self-directed study, and a lower proportion who reported as doing no education or training activity at all.

Adjusting for the proportions⁵ of those who report as participating in no up-skilling shows distributions which look even more alike. These are given in Table 1.

Table 1 shows that after adjusting for non-participation in up-skilling activities, New Zealand still had a higher proportion reporting as participating in self-directed up-skilling activities, but that Australia had a higher proportion reporting as participating in non-formal up-skilling activities.

Figure 4: Participation in up-skilling by education level in New Zealand (percentages of adult population)

Figure 4 shows the percentage of the adult New Zealand population with a given education level in each of the up-skilling categories described above.

Figure 4 depicts very different patterns of participation in up-skilling for people with different education levels. The clearest differences are:

• Very small proportions of people with tertiary education reported as doing no study at all compared with much higher proportions for people with secondary education or less.
• Large proportions of people with tertiary education reported as doing non-formal study compared with those who have achieved only secondary education.
• There were high proportions of self-directed study at all levels.
• The highest proportion who reported as doing formal full time study were those that already had upper secondary education, many of whom will have been young.
• A significant proportion of people who already had a tertiary qualification were doing formal study – aiming to get yet further qualifications.

Figure 5: Participation in up-skilling by education level in Australia (percentages of adult population)

Figure 5 shows the percentage of the adult Australian population with a given education level in each of the up-skilling categories described above.

Figure 5 depicts patterns of participation in up-skilling for Australia that are broadly similar to those of New Zealand. The main inter-country differences are:

• Lower educated Australians reported as being less active in up-skilling than their New Zealand peers. A higher proportion of Australians with lower secondary education or less reported as doing no up-skilling at all – 38 percent in Australia and 27 percent in New Zealand.
• In Australia, self-directed study was quite even across education levels compared with NZ where there was a higher proportion for those with low education levels than those with higher.

In both countries those with little education had low rates of formal and non-formal study, and had high rates of non-participation in any form of up-skilling. However, sizable proportions of all education levels participated in self-directed study.

In both countries, people who already had tertiary level education undertook yet further training and study at a much higher rate than those with lower levels of education. In both New Zealand and Australia, skill maintenance and development was sought and obtained most intensively by those already with the highest education levels and skills.

Again, adjusting for the proportions who report as participating in no up-skilling provides another perspective on this data. This is given in Table 2.

Table 2 shows that the effect of controlling for non-participation in up-skilling activities is most obvious for those with at most a lower secondary education level. This is because this group has the largest proportion of non-participation in up-skilling activities. Note in particular the changes in the percentages participating in non-formal up-skilling for this group after controlling for non-participation in up-skilling activities.

Despite these small changes after controlling for non-participation in up-skilling activities, Table 2 confirms that the patterns of participation in Australia are broadly similar to those in New Zealand.