A recently published research paper suggests that the overwhelming pressure to attend university compared to pursuing vocational career paths may lead to mental health issues for Australian students. The study, conducted by six pedagogical academics at the University of Newcastle, initially interviewed 692 high school students in New South Wales between 2012-2017 regarding their post-school aspirations. They then selected 22 of these same students to reinterview in 2021 to follow up on the pathways they eventually pursued.
The researchers found that the most common trend among participants was the glorification of university as the only post-school pathway worth pursuing, leading students to feel pressured to pursue higher education. One respondent admitted to feeling the expectation to go to university, saying that if they went to uni, they would be more successful compared to if they just did TAFE or an apprenticeship.
The study revealed that a majority of participants reported experiencing high levels of stress and forms of mental illness as a result of their time at university. Particularly, students from lower-income backgrounds suffered from a lack of support services, exacerbating their anxiety and depression.
According to a YouthSense survey conducted in 2019, 28 percent of young Australians report feeling deterred from vocational study due to social stigma. Meanwhile, higher education participation rates are at a record high, with enrolment having increased by 41 percent over the last decade. In contrast, the percentage of roles classified as professional in the labor force remains less than 20 percent. The country continues to face a prolonged skills shortage for employment in more vocational occupations.
The government’s Jobs and Skills Department released their annually curated Skills Priority List (SPL) in September. It found that across all three SPLs published between 2021-2023, 138 occupations were in shortage each year, with technicians and trade-oriented occupations comprising 49 percent and professional occupations accounting for 40 percent. Technicians and trade-oriented occupations were in shortage each year, with professional occupations in fields like engineering, health, information technology, and science being affected.
Financially, employment in the trades may be a better option than many professional occupations that require tertiary qualifications, given that worker shortages in certain sectors have a tendency to push wages up. According to research from the Australian Industry Group (Ai Group) based on earnings from a number of 25-year-olds, apprentices and trainees reported earning an average weekly income $200 more than those with postgraduate degrees.
Furthermore, a TAFE certificate or diploma can range between $200 to $19,000, while a bachelor’s degree can range between $16,000 and $40,000. In terms of mental health, tradies generally reported feeling happier in life and more satisfied at work than their university graduate counterparts according to the same Ai Group survey.