A critical examination of New Zealand tertiary education policy development since 2000 and its relationship to graduate outcomes

aut.embargoNoen_NZ
aut.thirdpc.containsNoen_NZ
aut.thirdpc.permissionNoen_NZ
aut.thirdpc.removedNoen_NZ
dc.contributor.advisorNeill, Carol
dc.contributor.advisorCrothers, Charles
dc.contributor.authorYee, Andrew Hartley
dc.date.accessioned2014-11-19T00:20:48Z
dc.date.available2014-11-19T00:20:48Z
dc.date.copyright2014
dc.date.created2014
dc.date.issued2014
dc.date.updated2014-11-18T23:41:09Z
dc.description.abstractSince 1999, the New Zealand government has actively encouraged tertiary enrolments to its citizens in order to create a knowledge-driven society that is economically prosperous. The political rhetoric states that by participating in tertiary education, better employment opportunities will be accessible to the participants. As a result, the expectations for tertiary education shifted over time as gaining qualifications are increasingly associated with economic success. Using an interpretative approach, this study of higher education policy examined the development of contemporary policy in tertiary education, and the expectations of graduate outcomes that were evident in these policies. This study drew upon key concepts from the existing literature, and aimed to provide a comparison between actual graduate outcomes from different disciplines using data extracted from official statistics. This study found that around half of New Zealand bachelor-level graduates failed to obtain employment within one year of graduation, therefore questioning the implied linearity from education to employment. This study also found that graduates had varying outcomes based on their fields of study, ranging from education graduates having the highest employment rate to science graduates having the lowest. This study also showed that gaining employment shortly after graduation did not guarantee a sustainable increase in earnings for these graduates. In addition, the failure to achieve employment was noted to have detrimental effects on the individual and the economy. Therefore this study ultimately questions the endless pursuit for further tertiary enrolments by the New Zealand government.en_NZ
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10292/7934
dc.language.isoenen_NZ
dc.publisherAuckland University of Technology
dc.rights.accessrightsOpenAccess
dc.subjectTertiary educationen_NZ
dc.subjectGraduate outcomeen_NZ
dc.subjectEmploymenten_NZ
dc.subjectNew Zealanden_NZ
dc.subjectPolicy developmenten_NZ
dc.subjectGraduate employmenten_NZ
dc.subjectKnowledgeen_NZ
dc.subjectEconomyen_NZ
dc.subjectSTEMen_NZ
dc.subjectUniversityen_NZ
dc.subjectAcademic capitalismen_NZ
dc.subjectResearchen_NZ
dc.subjectTransitionen_NZ
dc.subjectInnovationen_NZ
dc.subjectKnowledge intensiveen_NZ
dc.titleA critical examination of New Zealand tertiary education policy development since 2000 and its relationship to graduate outcomesen_NZ
dc.typeDissertation
thesis.degree.discipline
thesis.degree.grantorAuckland University of Technology
thesis.degree.levelMasters Dissertations
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Arts in Policy Studiesen_NZ
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