Volunteering is perceived as benefiting youth by facilitating university entry and access to better employment. However, little empirical evidence exists to show whether such perceptions are justified. Therefore, this article presents data on volunteering and attainment from a representative sample of Australians who were born around 1990 and…

In Australia, many students, especially girls, choose not to study advanced mathematics in Year 12 even though their schools offer relevant subjects. Previous studies have rarely examined, using nationally representative samples of Australian students, the extent to which teenage educational experiences and occupational expectations influence…

While research on adolescent occupational expectations is voluminous, it either ignores students who do not report any career plans or imputes their answers. Consequently, little is known about the potential consequences that not having clear occupational expectations in adolescence might have for educational and occupational attainment in young…

Indigenous students remain vastly under-represented within higher education in Australia. While aspirations have been a key focus of the widening participation agenda, the aspirations of Indigenous students have largely been overlooked. Drawing on survey data collected as part of a mixed methods longitudinal study conducted with students in Years…

This study investigated the influence of entity beliefs, gender stereotypes and motivational goals on participants' self-efficacy in biology and physics and their career aspirations. Participants (n = 2638, males 46% and females 54%) were students enrolled in Years 10-12 of the academic science-maths stream in Thailand. Entity beliefs were…

Teacher attrition is a cost to the community and, often, to the teachers concerned. One ready potential source of teachers is those having left the profession, particularly recently, and who may be willing to return. For this article, 22 former teachers were interviewed about their journey into and out of teaching. Understanding what made teachers…

Through this feature the Journal seeks to provide brief accounts of significant current innovation and research in Australia. (Author)

In this article, we report data from two projects concerned with the aspirant principals' perspectives about school principal recruitment in three Australian states. In particular, we consider what our informants perceive as factors that inhibit the realisation of their aspirations. These factors include aspects of the operation of school-based…

This study examines relationships between Barrier score measures and occupational motives in a sample of high school students. The Barrier score, derived from content analysis of responses to Rorschach Inkblot stimuli, is a quantitative appraisal of the body boundary concept, reflecting the psychological barrier separating the individual from his…

First-year students entering Macquarie University in 1971 were sampled according to fathers' birthplace. The distribution of fathers' occupations was compared with the occupational distribution of the Australian male workforce. (Editor)

A study examined relationships between family environment, gender, and the educational and occupational aspirations of 516 South Australian adolescents in three socioeconomic classes. Parent attitudes and aspirations were measured when the students were 11 years old, and student perceptions of parental support were measured five years later.…

The relationship between young Australians' (n=852) intentions of entering the full-time work force immediately after secondary school graduation and their success in doing so are examined. In addition, the effects of particular social structures and academic resources on these intentions are considered. (Author/MSE)

Primary and secondary teacher-trainees in Queensland were surveyed on their social origins, reasons for choosing teaching as a career, the timing of that choice, and the influence exerted by others. Results indicated that this decision results from the interplay of external influences and inner dispositions. (Author/SJL)

Two surveys of 198 Australian high school students gathered information about the students' major life concerns, and a method for classifying adolescent concerns was developed from the results. (MSE)