Profile & Trends 2008: New Zealand's Tertiary Education Sector

Outcomes of tertiary education

Fifty percent of the New Zealand population aged 15 years and over held a tertiary qualification in 2008, with one in six people holding a   bachelors or higher qualification. Comparing 2008 with 1998 shows that the New Zealand population has become more highly qualified. In 1998, only 44 percent of those aged 15 years and over held a tertiary qualification and fewer people – one in ten – held a bachelors or higher-level qualification.  

The proportions of Māori and Pasifika holding a bachelors or higher qualification doubled over the last 10 years, although these groups   remain considerably lower qualified than other groups, at less than half the national average. The proportion of males and females in the adult population holding a bachelors or higher qualification were equal in 2008, however, males are still more likely to hold ‘other’ tertiary qualifications than females.³ In the younger age groups – those under 40 years of age – proportionately more women than men held a bachelors or higher qualification. On the other hand, more young men than women held a non-degree tertiary qualification, but the gap between them has narrowed between 2007 and 2008 to just over one percentage point. 

In the year ended June 2008, the labour force participation rate decreased slightly for those with only a school qualification or other   tertiary qualifications, but increased for those with no qualifications and those with bachelors and higher tertiary qualifications. This suggests that the contracting economy in 2008 had begun to weaken the labour markets, further increasing the gap in the unemployment rate between people with bachelors and higher qualifications and non-degree tertiary qualifications.

People with higher-level tertiary qualifications continued to show a significant earnings advantage over those with a lower-level qualification or no qualification. From 2007 to 2008, the median hourly earnings premium increased only for those with bachelors or higher qualifications. This suggested a weakening of the labour market for people with lower qualifications compared with those with tertiary qualifications.  

The proportion of youth not in employment or formal and informal study decreased slightly for those aged 15 to 24 years, when comparing the June 2008 quarter with the June 2007 quarter. 

Figure 1.3: Population aged 15 years and over (June quarter) by highest qualification

Footnote

3. This refers to the Household Labour Force Survey definition of ‘other tertiary’ qualifications (see chapter 4, footnote 2).