Lower-level Qualifications as a Stepping Stone for Young People

Abstract

This article investigates whether lower-level qualifications (certificate I and II qualifications) serve as a ‘stepping stone’ to further study or into the labour market. Using data from the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY), the research matches certificate I and II graduates to other young people who share similar characteristics but who have neither completed, nor are undertaking, study or training at a higher level. Two years after completing a certificate I or II qualification, young males are more likely to have undertaken an apprenticeship or traineeship, when compared with other individuals with similar background characteristics. After two years, young female certificate I and II graduates are more likely to be employed and to have undertaken an apprenticeship or traineeship when compared with other similar females. At age 26, the benefits of completing a certificate I or II qualification are still apparent for males but at the same age, females in the control group have caught up to their counterparts who are certificate I and II graduates.