UNDERLYING CONCEPTS
NAME OF VARIABLE
The name of the standard is 'Highest educational attainment'.
The names of the two variables contained in 'Highest educational attainment' are:
- Level of highest educational attainment
- Main field of highest educational attainment.
DEFINITION OF VARIABLE
Nominal definition
Nominally, 'Highest educational attainment' is defined as the level of the highest educational attainment that a person has achieved in any field of study or educational institution.
The variable 'Level of highest educational attainment' is defined as:
- The highest educational attainment a person has attained.
The variable 'Main field of highest educational attainment' is defined as:
- The main subject matter of the study undertaken by a person in completing their highest educational attainment.
Educational attainments are restricted to qualifications resulting from
formal education. For further details see the '
Education Standard Variables Guide’.
Operational definition
Operationally, the 'Highest educational attainment' standard is derived from the 'Highest year of school completed' and 'Highest non-school qualification' Standard variables.
- Level of highest educational attainment
'Level of highest educational attainment' is defined as the level of highest school or non-school education a person has completed. The derivation process used to determine which of the school and non-school attainments is the higher is described in the Collection Methods section (under Derivation procedures).
- Main field of highest educational attainment
After the 'Level of highest educational attainment' has been determined, the 'Main field of highest educational attainment' is simply defined as the same main field of study as reported for the level which was determined to be higher. (Note that all school study is coded to ASCED Broad Level "12. Mixed Field Programmes").
Education that does not result in a non-school qualification, recognised by the
Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF), is excluded from '
Level of highest non-school qualification'. 'Level of highest educational attainment' is therefore defined operationally, in terms of completed education that has resulted in the person either gaining a qualification or finishing a year of schooling. Statements of Attainment, Bridging and Enabling courses, and Other Non-award Courses are excluded.
DISCUSSION OF CONCEPTUAL ISSUES
The question on 'Level of highest non-school qualification' is worded in terms of qualifications completed, and where information is not collected about multiple qualifications, the result is dependent on the respondent's perception of 'highest'.
When using the Decision Table to derive 'Level of highest educational attainment', the code order of the categories in the ASCED Level of Education classification generally determines which attainment will be considered higher, but in some cases a clear ordinality does not exist and decision rules are applied.
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