This paper considers the perceived value of sub-bachelor degree qualifications by those undertaking such qualifications in the UK and Australia. Sub-bachelor degree qualifications are not a new feature of the higher education landscape in either Australia or the UK, but are becoming an increasingly significant feature given the move towards near universal access (Trow, 2000) to higher education in both countries. Often referred to as ‘short-cycle’ higher education (Moodie, 2003), these qualifications take less time to complete and are at lower levels than traditional bachelors degrees. In Australia, they mainly take the form of Diplomas, Advanced Diplomas in the vocational education settings and Diplomas of Higher Education and Associate Degrees, and in the UK, Higher National Certificates (HNC), Higher National Diploma (HND) and more recently, Foundation Degrees.

The value of higher education in both of these contexts has largely been seen as threefold; benefits to individuals, benefits to the labour market and the economy, and benefits to society. Dominant views held about the benefits to individuals are returns of earnings, returns on employment opportunities and lifetime benefits (Conlon & Patrignani, 2011). In the UK context, it has been shown that sub-bachelor degree qualifications provide marginal returns in earnings but fairly strong returns on employment (particularly for women holding these qualifications). However, there are considerable gaps in the data available for sub-bachelor degree qualifications in the UK, due to the dual-sector arrangements in place for its delivery, particularly in relation to employment outcomes (Little, Connor, Lebeau, Pierce, Sinclair, Thomas & Yarrow, 2003). In Australia there is significant policy interest in the sub-bachelor degree area (AGDET, 2019) but these qualifications are not necessarily seen as a means for either higher education expansion or equity (Gale et al 2013).

In spite of the patchy evidence of return on sub-bachelor degree provision, enrolment of sub-bachelor degree qualifications still account for 11% if higher education enrolments in the UK, and 15% of higher education enrolments in Australia (Moodie, 2003) and these narrow measures only tell part of the story of the value of participation in these forms of qualifications.

Therefore, our objectives are:

To understand what the perceived value of a sub-bachelor degree qualification is from the perspective of students in the UK and Australia.

To understand what shapes these students’ perceptions of the value of their qualifications in the UK and Australia.

To establish if the views held by students undertaking sub-bachelor degree qualifications in vocational institutions mirror wider discourses of the value of HE

Theoretical Framework

Archer (2003) argues that the perception of value in Higher Education can be understood by participants as consisting of risks, costs and benefits. These conceptualisations have been applied by Archer (2003) and others to the perceptions of working class participants and non-participants in university HE, to largely Bachelors programmes of study. We propose to take this lens to the case of sub-bachelor degree qualifications delivered in vocational and Further Educations institutions in the UK and Australia. Relatively little is known about the views of participants of sub-bachelor degree qualifications in these contexts and whether participants share the dominant views about the value of these qualifications as part of the wider HE landscape.

The project is underpinned by a discourse analysis of the policy of sub-bachelor degree provision and published practices of sub-bachelor degree providers and analyses how the sub-bachelor degree provision is playing out differently in the UK and Australia. In order to better understand how the sectors are operating an assembling of data was untaken; piecing together publicly available information from diverse sources which is necessary in provision of this type (Parry 2012). For this research a case study approach (Gerring 2007) is taken in the national contexts of Australia and the UK. The project looks at the two types of sub degree provision by drawing on national publicly available datasets to look at patterns of provision in two country contexts. Existing publicly available datasets where sub-bachelor graduates were represented in the survey population, were analysed in both countries (Destination of Leavers from Higher Education and National Student Survey in the UK and Graduate Outcomes Survey and Student Outcomes Survey in Australia). This provided understandings about student experiences, outcomes and motivations to study. This survey data was analysed in the different contexts and a matrix of type of qualification and level of qualification provided a frame for the data.

This paper argues that a better understanding of how the provision of sub-bachelor degree courses across two countries work enhances the potential of higher education systems. It identifies the need for more specific qualitative research in this area due to some limitations of the publicly available datasets and their participant inclusion rules. The study’s findings suggest the bifurcation of sub degree level into vocational and higher education in both country contexts alters the understanding of the value of higher education for some cohorts of student. Drawing on Archer (2003) it suggests a Bachelors degree is constructed as having a different value to the sub-bachelors qualifications and additionally, sub-bachelors qualifications of the same level are regarded differently depending on whether they have a vocational (e.g. HND or Advanced Diploma) or higher education (Foundation Degree or Associate Degree) basis. The research concludes that grappling with the different perceptions of qualifications will impact the ongoing success of universal systems of higher education, and the graduates’ individual successes within them.

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