1 Education and Training PolicyAlan France Sociol231The sociology of youth policy Lecture five and six

2 Emerging issues https://www.lawsociety.org.nz/news-and-communications/news/law-society- recommends-fundamental-rewrite-of-child-protection-legislation

3 Should young people go to university?Seminar debate Should young people go to university?

4 The Knowledge economy From Bloody wars to Knowledge wars….a new world order? Its emergence on the global stage The need for knowledge workers Human capital theory Some observations….

5 From bloody wars to knowledge wars…From bloody wars to knowledge wars….success in the knowledge wars rests on outsmarting economic rivals – schools, colleges, universities, think tanks. Design centres and research laboratories stand on the frontline for competitive advantage….a global search for advantage ‘…countries that succeed in the 21st century will be those with citizens who are creative, adaptable and skilled. The so called ‘new’ economy is demanding new things from us. The need for ingenuity, creativity and hard work has not changed. How we do our work has. (Government of Canada, 2002, pp.5–6) ‘…education is our best economic policy…this country will succeed or fail on the basis of how it changes itself and gears up to this new economy, based on knowledge.’ Tony Blair, quote from France 2016 p67 A competitive edge on the ‘advanced economies’ – over developing economies i.e. China/ India and advantage – a belief that the west was well placed to win the knowledge war – and would create a new highly skilled workforce

6 The Knowledge Economy ‘the development of the knowledge economy can be understood in terms of increasing role of knowledge as a factor of production and its impact on skills, learning, organisation and innovation (Ball, 2005 p20) According to this perspective, nations such as the UK should concentrate on the value-added, niche market products and services utilising high skill, specialised labour processes. Typically, pharmaceuticals, information technology, bespoke manufacturing, the media and various other creative industries are cited as examples of employment in the knowledge economy (Simmons and Thompson, 2011 p 26)

7 ‘Knowledge workers’ ‘…the main feature of a knowledge-based economy is the increasing need to rely on highly-skilled workers [Knowledge workers] whose skills are not exclusively related to science and technology but also to the control, management and co- ordination of tasks….. knowledge workers are those employed in occupations considered to be white-collar, high-skilled and perform a set of tasks that revolve around creating and processing information (reading, writing and quantitative tasks) OECD, 2001p107

8 Knowledge workers? ‘Employees such as data analysts, product developers, planners, programmers, and researchers who are engaged primarily in acquisition, analysis, and manipulation of information as opposed to in production of goods or services. Popularized by the US management guru Peter Drucker (born 1909, in Austria).Read more: worker.html#ixzz47pg620vn ‘knowledge work goes beyond basic processing of information and cannot be based on strict adherence to rules; in other words, it can be assisted and enhanced, but not replaced, by computers. Thus, expert thinking, complex communication and analytical reasoning - as making effective oral and written arguments – help define knowledge work, as opposed to the routine cognitive along with routine and non-routine manual categories’ (the Work Foundation, 2009 p17.

9 Education and training: The need for investment in ‘human capital’‘Knowledge and skills are in great part the product of investment and, combined with other human investment, predominantly account for the productive superiority of the technically advanced countries. To omit them in studying economic growth is like trying to explain Soviet ideology without Marx (Schultz, T.W. (1964) Investment in Human Capital in Karabel and Halsey, ‘Power and ideology in education’, Oxford University Press p314) “A company’s human resources have typically been understood as the firm-specific stock of human capital – that is the sum total of individual knowledge, skills and know-how that an organisation has at its disposal within national economies…[Human Capital theory] rests on an analysis of the three factors of production, land, labor and capital goods …which are treated in isolation…( Brown et al, 2013 The Global Auction p 100

10 The ‘Massification’ of educationIncreased participation in post 16 education Increased levels of education across the globe The neoliberal project and the privatisation of post 16 education The shift from public funding to private responsibility Is this a global trend?

11 Figure 3.1 Percentage of 15–19-year-olds in education 2005–11

12 Figure 3.2 Percentage of 20–24-year-olds in education 2005–11

13 Table 3.1 Percentages of the population aged 25 to 34 years with post-secondary educational attainments (type A and B qualifications) in 2000 and 2011 Country 2000 2011 Australia 68 85 Canada 88 93 New Zealand 69 80 United Kingdom 67 83 Norway** 94 84 Spain 55 64 Japan 100 Poland 89

14 The growth of ‘human capital’In most OECD countries, younger adults (25 to 34 year olds) have attained higher levels of education than older adults (55 to 64 year-olds). On average, 82% of younger adults have attained at least upper secondary education compared to 64% of older adults. Younger adults also have higher tertiary attainment rates than older adults by about 15 percentage points. In some countries, the difference between generations is significant. (OECD, 2014a, p.31)

15 Graduate employment what has been happening?The growth of underemployment What is it? Graduate underemployment in the UK Graduate underemployment in Australia Graduate underemployment in New Zealand A Global trend? The low skills revolution?

16 What is underemployment?A problem of definition? Part time but want to work more hours Alternatively it can include the unemployed, or/ and those economically people who are inactive But for graduates it also includes those who are employed but not utilising their skills or qualifications (trained to be an engineer but making coffee for a living) Chances of getting your job of choice being delayed – can take up to 10 years and having to go through a range of jobs Can be determined by the university you went to….evidence shos those at the best universities in the UK and Australia stand more chance of getting the best jobs

17 Graduate employment – what has been happening?‘Those who went to university in the present century, when it has been government policy to increase the proportion of graduates in the workforce, were attempting to obtain employment when the number of well-paid jobs had not increased at anything like the rate that the graduate population had. In this respect the whole thrust of education policy , especially under New Labour, was at odds with the development of the British labour market.’ (Ware, 2015 p475)

18 Underemployment in the graduate market place‘…the idea that a global job market would accelerate the demand for highly paid knowledge workers and that Americans would monopolize the best jobs and leave emerging economies to become the new workshops of the world has proved false. We now confront the prospect of a high skill, low-wage workforce that poses a challenge to all affluent economies.’ Brown, Lauder and Ashton (2011) The Global Auction, Oxford University Press, p147

19 Graduate employment 4 months after graduating in Australia (Graduate Careers Australia (2014)

20 Underemployment New Zealand?

21 The low skills revolution‘In both the US and the UK around 25 per cent of the workforce are paid poverty wages, and welfare benefits are being reduced or disappearing…the low end, menial job of serving the more fortunate knowledge and creative workers for a minimum wage, offers little more than a ‘grueling struggle for existence’. These young people who were low attainers and with few qualifications were being more marginalized.’ (Tomlinson, S Ignorant Yobs? London, Routledge pp21-22)

22 Graduate underemployment – what impact?What is its impact? The chase for the best qualification….the devaluation of the degree….and the need for post graduate Increased debt Increased vulnerability not just for the low skilled and poor but also the middle classes The decline of the ‘career for life’ Declining wages and incomes Impact on time and leisure

23 Widening ParticipationWhat is widening participation and why is it seen as important? How have different countries gone approached widening participation? Who pays? From public good to private responsibility The introduction of loans, grants, scholarships and bursaries The problem of debt

24 https://www.glsnz.org.nz/latest-news/ 1% %20Laybying%20Our%20Future%20WEB.pdf https://www.theguardian.com/money/2016/aug/01/maintenance-grants- scrapped-for-poorest-students https://www.theguardian.com/money/2016/apr/13/richer-students-have- higher-graduate-income-study-finds

25 From public good to private responsibility‘…the new public management in applying quasi market or private sector microtechniques to the management of public sector organizations has replaced the ‘public service ethic’ whereby organizations were governed according to norms and values derived from assumptions about the ‘common good’ or ‘public interest’ with a new set of contractualist norms and rules. (Olssen and Peters, 2005, p.324)

26 Student Loans The student loan scheme is a good one. It improves access into university by providing a vehicle by which students can afford to pay the fees. They get the loan, the fees are paid. They get their education, go out into the workforce, and earn money. From those earnings they repay their loan over a 15 year period on average. That is very defensible. (New Zealand Parliamentary Debates 15/12/1992 vol. 532, 13234, quoted in Higgins, 2002, p.48)

27 Student debt New Zealand

28 Who Benefits? Is it still a preserve of the middle class?So what about; The ‘working class’ Indigenous populations Young women?

29 Who benefits from widening participation: The middle classes (Ellis and Purcell, 2012)‘ In other words, the major increase in participation in higher education that took place in recent years has arisen primarily because of the increased participation in higher education from children whose parents held white collar occupations’. ‘…the major increase in participation in higher education has come not from those whose parents held high level managerial jobs or were in the established professions, but from respondents whose parents held ‘Lower managerial, administrative and professional occupations’. This includes respondents who reported that, when they were aged 14, their parents held jobs such as school teachers, nurses, administrative grade civil service occupations and high level technicians – jobs which did not require a degree 20 to 30 years ago but which are now regarded as graduate jobs.’ ‘In other words, the major increase in participation in higher education that took place in recent years has arisen primarily because of the increased participation in higher education from children whose parents held white collar occupations’.