Transcript Social exclusion/inclusion and VET and higher education

Social inclusion VET and higher education
Fran Ferrier and Sue North
Overview
• Terms and concepts
• How is social exclusion measured?
• Education inequities: from disadvantage to
social exclusion
• Participation and social exclusion
• Social inclusion policies
What do the terms ‘social
inclusion’ and ‘social exclusion’
mean?
• Lots of debate and discussion about
concepts and definitions
Concepts
•
•
•
•
Mirror images?
A continuum?
Processes or states?
How do they differ from poverty,
deprivation, disadvantage etc?
Definitions
Issues:
• Adequacy
• Clarity
• Scope and application
–‘you could be forgiven for thinking that social
exclusion is what happens to people who
nobody will talk to at parties’.
–(ABC, Background Briefing 1999)
• Definition used in U.K.:
– Social exclusion is a shorthand label for what
can happen when people or areas suffer from
a combination of linked problems, such as
unemployment, poor skills, low incomes, poor
housing, high crime environments, bad health
and family breakdown.
(Social Exclusion Unit, UK)
• BUT:
– This fails to identify what it is that happens
(Levitas 2006)
An individual is socially excluded if he or she does not
participate to a reasonable degree over time in certain
activities of his or her society, and (a) this is for
reasons beyond his or her control, and (b) he or she
would like to participate (Burchardt 2000).
BUT:
– What is the scope of these ‘certain activities’ ?
– Many activities satisfy conditions (a) and (b) but do not represent
any form of social exclusion.
– “The fact that I was not selected to play in the recent NSW State
of Origin team despite my availability and willingness (indeed,
eagerness!) to play is not an example of social exclusion that
has any relevance for social policy (except possibly for public
health, but that is another matter!)” (Saunders 2003)
Emerging consensus around SI and SE as
processes rather than states
Social exclusion:
The processes that create linked problems such as
poverty, disadvantage, deprivation, and marginalization.
Social inclusion:
The processes or actions that are taken to ameliorate
the impact of these problems and/or to counter the
processes that create them.
These processes can occur simultaneously and can impact on
each other
Exclusionary processes can be active (e.g. discrimination) or
passive (e.g. unintended consequences).
Processes of social
exclusion create
linked problems
Social inclusion and
exclusion as processes
POVERTY
HOMELESSNESS
Processes of social inclusion ameliorate the impact of
linked problems such as poverty (e.g. through transfer
payments) and homelessness (e.g. through public
housing) and/or counter the processes that create them.
Services and
resources
Activities
Opportunities
Social
networks
Social exclusion as a process
WELLBEING
Social,
Economic,
Health, etc
Where do education and training fit?
• Not often explicitly discussed in SI/E literature
• Focus on impact on labour market experience
• Education has a central role in a spiral of disadvantage:
Low levels of education and skills:
– can lead to poorer experiences in labour market…
– which can lead to unemployment, poverty etc…
– which can cut off people from opportunities for
education and training…..
Measuring social exclusion
• Indicators to measure social exclusion
• What indicators are being used?
Indicators to measure social exclusion
• Cultural dimension – diverse norms, values,
ways of living
• Economic dimension – income, employment,
housing, work
• Political dimension – access to utilities, services,
education, health
• Social dimension – family, friends, relationships
in community
Poverty & Social Exclusion Survey – UK
• Children: household income and employment;
health; school attainment
• Young adults: qualifications; income and
employment; crime; health
• Working age adults 25+: income; employment;
health
• Older people: income; health; social services
• Communities: services; crime; transport;
polarisation of income and housing tenure
Social Policy Research Centre - UNSW
• Disengagement: social & community
involvement; holidays & leisure
• Service exclusion: medical; dental; child care;
aged care; disability support; community
services
• Economic exclusion: money for emergencies;
assets; individual and household employment
Education Indicators
Limited number of indicators. Commonly:
1. Individual attainment
2. Attainment in the community
3. Focus on children and young adults
4. Indicators reflecting different life stages
Given important role of education in SI there
is a need for more and better indicators.
VET and higher education: disadvantage
and social exclusion
What can approaches based on social
inclusion/exclusion add to what is already
known about inequities in higher education
and VET?
How can they be used to guide policies and
initiatives to address inequities?
Current approaches
• Attention to inequities in higher education
and VET centres on ‘disadvantage’
• Focus on target groups identified as
disadvantaged largely on basis of underrepresentation compared with share of
population
Advantages
• Has provided a framework for action:
– Policies at initiatives at national and institutional levels
• Regular data collection in higher education and
VET about target groups
• Substantial body of research into barriers and
risk factors to participation – basis for informed
action
Drawbacks
• Disadvantage is wider than underrepresentation, e.g.
– Completions, attrition, poor quality experience
– Over-representation in lower-level courses
• Flaws in target group approach, e.g.
–
–
–
–
Overlap between groups
Multiple and Compound disadvantage
Can stigmatise
Focus on changing individuals, not systems
HE and VET: Disadvantage can differ
across sectors
• Differences in representation, e.g.
People from low SES backgrounds
Indigenous people
– Both under-represented in higher education
– but over-represented in VET and in lower level courses
• Differences in barriers, linked to differences in
–
–
–
–
costs
entry requirements,
institution and course structures
Geographical access
Emerging equity groups
From equity research and practice, e.g.:
• First generation in family to enter higher
education
• People with work and family commitments
• People entering higher education with VET
qualification or without Year 12
• People entering VET with poor language,
literacy and numeracy skills
Using ‘social exclusion’ as a euphemism for
disadvantage does not enable additional
insights into inequities.
How then to proceed?
Comparing disadvantage and social
exclusion
Similarities, e.g.
Disadvantage and social exclusion are both
relational concepts
Both are used as shorthand labels for social ills
Both refer to something that is unfair
But they can differ:
Disadvantage = a state (dynamic)
Social exclusion = processes
Using them as complements not
substitutes:
Looking at inequities through
The lens of disadvantage
+
The lens of social exclusion =
A more comprehensive picture
Application in research
• Disadvantage = outcome of processes of
social exclusion
– What are the indicators of disadvantage?
– What social exclusion processes create and
sustain this disadvantage?
Application in policy-making
• Social exclusion processes = the disease
• Disadvantage = the symptoms
For interventions to be most effective both
the symptoms and the disease need to be
treated simultaneously
Participation and Social Exclusion
People with no post-school qualification or a
low level qualification:
• Who are they?
• What are the social exclusion processes
that affect them?
Who are they?
Among 20-39 year olds in the GSS:
• About 52% have no non-school
qualification or a low-level qualification
• Small proportions engaged in study:
– 28% of those with Yr 12 (15% full-time)
– 20% of those with Cert I/II (none full-time)
– 10% of those with Yr 11 or less (8% part-time)
• Certificate I/II
– over-represented in this category are women, people
with a disability, people living in rural areas, people in
the lowest decile of gross household weekly income
and gross personal weekly income; people who
speak English as a second language and Indigenous
people.
• Year 11 or less
– over-represented in this category are men, those in
the lowest income deciles, people with a disability;
people living in rural areas and Indigenous people.
Social Exclusion Measures
• Economic dimensions
– Labour force status
– Principal source of income
– Reliance on government support
– Employment in household
– Employment security
– Difficulty in paying bills
– Able to raise emergency money
• Political dimensions
– Remoteness
– Number of dependent children
– Access to motor vehicle/transport
– Disability or long term health condition
– Self-assessed health
– Access to technologies
– Access to education
• Social dimensions
– Household composition
– Relationship in household
– Work/family responsibilities
– Ability to get support if needed
– Victim of violence
– Unpaid voluntary work
– Being part of the community
Social Inclusion Policies
Europe – Social Protection and Social Inclusion Process –
‘a more cohesive society for a stronger Europe’
Monitoring and Reporting framework with flexibility
Many initiatives for sharing ideas and information
U.K. - emphasis on employment and ‘the most
disadvantaged’
Personalised case management approaches
Place-based approaches
Partnerships (govts, employers, community organisations)
South Australia – importance of structures and champions
Policy lessons – challenge of silos, speed, long-term goals
Good ideas – e.g. ICANs
Education in SI policy
Focus on:
• School achievement (esp literacy and
numeracy) and retention (esp early school
leavers)
• (more recently) skills for employment (FE
in UK)
• Little to no attention to higher education