Issue Brief 16 / 1997

Indigenous participation in higher education has increased steadily in recent years, yet a closer look at those increases reveals significant differences when Indigenous students are compared with other Australian students.

Growth in enrolments

Between 1988 and 1996, Indigenous enrolments in higher education grew by 171 per cent (from 2,565 to 6,956). Over the same period, enrolments for non-Indigenous students increased by 49 per cent (from 420,850 to 627,138). Yet even with these increases, Indigenous Australians comprise only about 1 per cent of all higher education students even though Indigenous people comprise about 2 per cent of the total Australian population.

Enrolment by sex

Indigenous female students continue to outnumber male students; in 1996, 63 per cent of enrolled Indigenous students were female while only 37 per cent were male. In contrast, 54 per cent of non-Indigenous students were female compared to 46 per cent for males.

Enrolments by State/Territory

Nearly half of all Indigenous higher education students study in New South Wales (27 per cent) and Queensland (20 per cent). Western Australia (15 per cent) and the Northern Territory (14 per cent) also have relatively high enrolments. Victoria (9 per cent), South Australia (8 per cent), Tasmania (3 per cent) and the ACT (2 per cent) enrolled the fewest students.

Enrolment by institution

Indigenous higher education enrolments are highly concentrated in the 'new universities' (the former Colleges of Advanced Education and Institutes of Technology). The ten higher education institutions with the highest Indigenous enrolments account for over 52 per cent of all Indigenous students, yet only one of these institutions was a university before the higher education restructuring of the late 1980s. In contrast, while over 31 per cent of non-Indigenous higher education students attend one of eight traditional research universities, only 16 per cent of Indigenous students do so.

Level of course

A comparison of Indigenous and non-Indigenous enrolments in 1996 by level of course reveals some significant differences:

• Over 75 per cent of non-Indigenous students are enrolled in Bachelor courses, while about 50 per cent of the Indigenous students are so enrolled.
• Only about 9 per cent of Indigenous students are enrolled for higher degree or other postgraduate qualifications compared to 21 per cent for non-Indigenous students.
• Nearly 20 per cent of Indigenous students are enrolled in one or two year diploma courses, while only about 3 per cent of non-Indigenous students are so enrolled.
• Over 20 per cent of Indigenous students are enrolled in non-credit courses, while only about 1 per cent of non-Indigenous students are enrolled in these courses.
• Thus, according to the level of course, nearly 40 per cent of Indigenous students in 1996 were studying for diplomas or taking non-credit courses that would not even have been classed as university courses prior to the institutional changes of the late 1980s.

Course completions

This research suggests there is a clear tendency for Indigenous students to undertake Arts and Education courses in preference to studies in Business, Engineering and Science. In the Arts, the highest concentration of completions (28 per cent) was in Aboriginal Studies.

The research indicates that postgraduate completions by Indigenous students are low and more often by coursework rather than research. In 1995, less than 1 per cent of Indigenous completions were research degrees (4 PhD and 3 MA); in comparison, about 3 per cent of non-Indigenous completions were research degrees.

Conclusions

These various patterns of enrolment, course choice and completion strongly suggest that the experience of Indigenous students differs significantly from that of non-Indigenous students. It is likely that these patterns arise not only from a history of educational disadvantage and a variety of structural obstacles, but they are also shaped by a range of culturally-based choices by individual students and communities, reflecting what are perceived to be appropriate and valuable courses of study. In order to expand Indigenous participation and ensure access to all courses of study, policy makers will need to look for ways both to overcome obstacles and to facilitate a range of educational options and choices, especially at the post-graduate level.

While there is certainly good news in the patterns of increased Indigenous participation in higher education, this study suggests there is much to learn by looking closely and critically at the nature of these increases. In particular, this research reveals that Indigenous students are over-represented in a handful of 'new universities', and they are under-represented in the 'established' research universities. In addition, Indigenous students are markedly over-represented at the lowest end of the course continuum in non-credit courses and under-represented at the upper levels. While there is certainly progress evident in the increased enrolments, they tell only part of the story. Educational disadvantage of Indigenous students has certainly not disappeared, and one should be cautious in celebrating these advances; much more progress is needed if equality in education is to be achieved.

This Issue Brief summarised CAEPR Discussion Paper No. 122, 'Indigenous participation in higher education: culture, choice and human capital theory' by R.G. Schwab published in 1996. It was prepared by R.G. Schwab and edited by Lynette Liddle.