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BaselineMonitoringReport Pasifika Participation in Tertiary Education ← Educate for Pacific Peoples Development and Success | Home Page | Completion of Qualifications by Pasifika Students → In 2002, there were a total of 17,579 formal students who identified as Pasifika enrolled in tertiary education. Of these, 1,311 or 7.5 percent were international students. The rest were domestic students. Students from the Cook Islands, Niue and Tokelau are entitled to enrol as domestic students in New Zealand TEOs. They are included in the domestic student figures. Domestic and international Pasifika students have been separated out in the following analysis. Overall increase in Pasifika participationAge-standardised participation rates1 for domestic Pasifika students are only available for 2001 and 2002 (based on the 2001 Census). These show that Pasifika participation rates increased from 6.8 percent of the Pasifika population in 2001 to 7.5 percent in 2002. The best historical measure of Pasifika participation is Pasifika students as a proportion of all students. The proportion of Pasifika students in formal tertiary education grew from 4.2 percent in 1997 to 4.9 percent in 20022. These proportions of Pasifika students have been affected by the increased proportion of Māori students in tertiary education. If Pasifika students are looked at as a proportion of non-Māori students, then a stronger increase in participation is apparent (from 4.9 percent to 6.3 percent).
Lower participation rates for Pasifika students under 35 yearsIn 2002, Pasifika domestic students participated at lower rates than other groups in age groups under 35. In the older age groups they had similar rates of participation to non-Māori students in general. The participation rates for all students in the older age groups were increased by the very high participation rates of Māori women in these age groups.
Steady growth in participation at all levelsFrom 1997 to 2002 there was steady growth in the numbers of Pasifika domestic students participating at all levels of education (around 30 percent growth over six years at each level).
As at 31 July 2002, 52 percent of Pasifika domestic students were enrolled in qualifications below degree level, compared with 49 percent of non-Pasifika domestic students. At the top end, three percent of Pasifika students were enrolled in postgraduate studies, compared with seven percent of non-Pasifika students. There is a challenge for the tertiary education sector to continue to support Pasifika students to progress to tertiary education at higher levels. Participation by field of study variesAs at 31 July 2002, 13.0 percent of Pasifika students were enrolled in qualifications categorised as ‘mixed-field’, compared with 12.4 percent of non-Pasifika students. Mixed-field programmes are generic programmes, mostly covering employment and life skills. Looking at other fields of study, the most popular field of study for Pasifika students in 2002 was management and commerce, closely followed by society and culture. Pasifika students were over-represented in management and commerce, education and information technology. They were under-represented in health, sciences and agriculture and environment.
The overall picture is similar when comparing Pasifika men with non-Pasifika men and Pasifika women with non-Pasifika women. There were a few notable differences for Pasifika men. Pasifika men were more likely to be studying for agricultural qualifications and less likely to be studying for management and commerce qualifications than non-Pasifika men. To fully understand the underlying picture, a more sophisticated analysis is required that takes account of level of study and age, as well as gender. This is beyond the scope of this report. Increasing participation in industry trainingPasifika participation in industry training has increased. In 2003, five percent of all industry trainees were Pasifika, compared with five percent of the total workforce. The proportion of Pasifika trainees has increased significantly from only two percent in 1996. Across the ITOs, Engineering, Food and Manufacturing had the largest number of Pasifika industry trainees in 2003 (976), followed by Forestry (441) and Electrotechnology (411). Thirty-nine percent of all Pasifika trainees were covered by these three ITOs, compared with 31 percent of all trainees. Significant under-representation in Modern ApprenticeshipsHowever, Pasifika peoples have been very much under-represented in Modern Apprenticeships. In 2003, only 1.9 percent of Modern Apprentices were Pasifika. This represents a total of 110 Pasifika trainees. In 2003, 23 percent of Pasifika Modern Apprentices were within the Engineering ITO, compared with 15 percent of all Modern Apprentices. A further 35 percent of Pasifika Modern Apprentices were spread across the Building and Construction, Electricity Supply and Public Sector ITOs. Pasifika international studentsThe largest group of Pasifika international students in New Zealand tertiary education in 2002 was from Fiji, followed by Sāmoa and Tonga. Students from these three countries made up 62 percent of Pasifika international students in New Zealand.
Eighty percent of Pasifika international students were aged under 30. Forty-five percent were studying for qualifications below degree level, 49 percent for degree qualifications and six percent for postgraduate qualifications. 1 See Techincal and Data Definitions for explanation of age-standardisation. (↑) 2 These figures are calculated on a different basis from the Pasifika Education Plan targets. Ethnicity has been based on total response, rather than on a prioritised response, which categorises students with Māori and Pacific ethnicity as Māori, rather than as both. These figures include all providers, not just public providers. (↑) ← Educate for Pacific Peoples Development and Success | Home Page | Completion of Qualifications by Pasifika Students → Page last modified on 26 November 2006, at 06:29 PM |
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