The Grattan Institute has released a new report, entitled Risks and rewards: when is vocational education a good alternative to higher education?, which recommends that male students with lower school results would be better off doing vocational education and training (VET) rather than going to university:
Vocational diplomas in construction, engineering, and commerce typically lead to higher lifetime incomes than many low-ATAR university graduates are likely to earn, especially those with degrees in popular fields such as science and humanities.
Especially for low-ATAR men, some vocational alternatives to university are worth considering. Schools need to give them better career advice alerting them to these possibilities – and governments should end funding biases against vocational education.
The full text of this article is available to MacroBusiness subscribers
Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness.
Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.
