Does it pay to go to school? The benefits of and participation in education of Indigenous Australians

Abstract

Those who have finished high school and/or obtained non-school qualifications experience a range of positive outcomes throughout their lives. Despite these benefits being likely to apply to the Indigenous Australian population, current as well as past participation in education is substantially lower than that of the non-Indigenous population. Some reasons for this relatively low participation may be locational and monetary disadvantage, household overcrowding and a curriculum that is not always relevant. How Indigenous Australians form their expectations about the benefits of education and what these expectations might be (accurate or otherwise) may also influence educational participation. ¶ This thesis looks at the education outcomes of Indigenous Australians. There are two main research questions are examined. The first is what are the relative benefits of education for the Indigenous population? The main outcomes that are focussed on are employment and income; however, there is also analysis of the extent to which those with higher education levels report better health outcomes or more favourable health behaviour. ¶ The second main research question is what factors are associated with the decision to attend high school? That is, does the Indigenous population respond to the economic incentives to undertake education as estimated in this thesis? In addition, other factors at the individual, household and area level are likely to influence the social costs and benefits of education, as well as geographic and financial access. The extent to which these are associated with high school participation is also examined

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