Ai Group report: Apprenticeships and postgraduate qualifications lead to higher job satisfaction, earnings and employment outcomes

Young Australians who have completed an apprenticeship/traineeship or postgraduate qualifications report stronger employment outcomes, earnings and job satisfaction than their peers, an Ai Group report has found.

The Ai Group Centre for Education and Training’s latest report, Connecting the dots: Exploring young Australians’ pathways from education and training into work, used survey data from the Longitudinal Survey of Australian Youth (LSAY), which followed a cohort of young Australians from age 15 to 25.

Among the sample, the strongest employment outcomes, earnings and job satisfaction were observed among those who had completed an apprenticeship/traineeship and postgraduate qualifications.   

Innes Willox, Chief Executive, Ai Group, said these strong outcomes might be due to the more specialised, occupation-specific nature of apprenticeships/traineeships, and to a certain extent, postgraduate degrees.

“This data tells us that education and training pathways that have a closer or more direct link to an industry or occupation can deliver strong outcomes,” Mr Willox said.

“A key overall finding from the research is that opportunities to apply what you learn in a ‘real world’ setting and a clear link between education and training and the work you aspire to do are as valuable now as they have ever been.”

You can explore our data via this link: https://www.aigroup.com.au/news/reports/2023/cet-pathways-report/  

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