| 10. Diversity and uncertainty: Applicant case studies The case studies in this chapter highlight the individual diversity in the tertiary decision-making process that is not apparent in the quantitative analyses of the previous chapters. They were developed through telephone interviews at different stages of the application process and reveal how complex and varied are the experiences of students involved in this crucial decision-making. They also suggest how uncertain some students are in their thinking about their future, and the extent to which their impressions of universities and decisions can hinge on chance events, like overhearing the conversation of a group of students at an open day or talking to a neighbour who is studying at a particular university. None of the individual cases presented below is completely ‘straightforward’. The straightforward case, which is often assumed to be the norm, is one where the student decides on a field of study, investigates courses available in that field at a range of institutions, makes a considered, realistic choice, accepts the offer, enrols and completes the degree. Since the individuals interviewed were not selected to illustrate complications in the process, the fact that so many have emerged perhaps indicates that complexity, uncertainty, changes of perspective, indecision and frustration are more the norm than the straightforward model. Taken overall, the case studies demonstrate that the choice of a particular university is entangled with many considerations other than institutional characteristics—considerations associated with broad goals in life, changing interests, personal circumstances, and the constraints on choice imposed by competitive entry.
These individual stories suggest that, for many students, the path to their goal is not easy, either because of obstacles in the way or because of uncertainty about the goal. The case studies also make clear just how entwined is the choice of university with the choice of field and course. In cases such as Tran’s, the difficulty of getting into the field overrides any consideration of the quality or approach of courses in different institutions. Angela will find the same if she pursues her goal of medicine, although in choosing her health science course she was able to exercise choice on the basis of some extended investigation. Susan switched institution preferences simply to enter her preferred field when her score was not high enough for the first. Barbara’s choice of institution was determined completely by the chosen course, since it is offered at only one university in her city. In other, generally less competitive areas, students have more opportunity for choice of institution, and the interviewees nominated a range of issues which influenced them. Annette changed her institution preference on the basis of course structure—she preferred a three-year to a four-year degree. Andrew, having only two institutions to choose from, decided on the basis of one having better learning support and a more practical, ‘hands on’ approach. Robert liked one university’s highly interactive approach to learning. Fiona was attracted to the more ‘applied’ approach and smaller class sizes. Simon wished to stay in his rural hometown, because it was cheaper and he liked the atmosphere, while knowing little about the quality of his preferred course or the approaches to teaching. Moira liked the ambience of one traditional university, including its architecture, and her parents believed that its status was an important consideration. Tony made his decision on the basis of employment outcomes, course flexibility and the use of technology in teaching. In a big capital city, Kathy made her decision on the basis of closeness to her home. The quality and accuracy of information on which these decisions were based varied considerably. Tony, for instance, had studied The Good Universities Guide to assess employment outcomes (although only at the end of his first year). He understood that the apparently better employment outcomes for graduates from some newer universities are partly explained by the fact that high proportions of ‘sandstone’ university graduates continue into further study. To him, this was relevant, as he was eager to get into the workforce and not to pursue postgraduate study, so he was not interested in an institution with this sort of orientation. Annette’s information about length of courses was presumably accurate, although it is rather surprising that she only discovered this fact at ‘change of preference’ time. Moira’s parents’ belief that a degree from a traditional university would be an advantage in a public/diplomatic service career was probably reasonable on the basis of past evidence. Impressions of approaches to teaching and learning at different institutions emerge as a strong factor with a surprising number of the interviewees, given the relatively small numbers of survey respondents who indicated that they had much knowledge of this area. Perhaps the apparent discrepancy can be explained by the fact that respondents recognised that they were indeed dealing with impressions, often based on flimsy evidence, rather than hard information. Many of the interviewees seemed to work on vague ideas about curricula being more or less ‘applied’, ‘analytical’, ‘practical’ or ‘hands on’. In most cases, they accepted on faith what they were told at open days and were susceptible to word-of-mouth testimony and exaggerated assertions. Fiona, for instance, was told by a neighbour that lectures at Research University were big and tutorials were about 20. She was assured at Technology University that ‘they put limits on the class size’. The first assertion is meaningless, given the differences between different faculties and courses. The second depends on what limit is imposed and how rigorously it is applied. Students who make choices on the basis of this kind of hearsay may be very disappointed by the reality they later encounter. 10.1 Annette—last minute influences Annette’s experience suggests that detailed information about particular courses at different institutions can challenge assumptions about the ‘natural’ place to attend, often formed in the context of family histories of university enrolment. In Annette’s case, this information made a difference to her decision at a late stage. She came across the information largely by chance, because her school organised a particular meeting at ‘change of preference’ stage. The evidence for this serendipity suggests that many applicants may miss crucial information about course structures and requirements. Annette’s ambition to be a primary teacher is linked to a common motive—she enjoys working with young children. Living in the inner suburbs of a capital, in theory she has a very wide choice. Most universities in that city offer courses in primary teaching. When entering her preferences Annette was anxious to choose a university that had a good reputation in teacher training, so that she would maximise her chance of employment at graduation. Annette’s elder sister was in her honours year of a Bachelor of Arts at Research University. Annette considered her sister a good source of information since her activities had brought her into contact with students from a variety of universities. Her sister had given her university the ‘thumbs up’, and Annette had attended its open day and not those of other universities, so not surprisingly, this university, a bicycle ride from her home, was given her first preference. Just prior to the ‘change of preference’ time, Annette’s school organised a meeting through which she became aware of a number of other courses. In particular she was attracted to some features of the primary teaching course at Metropolitan University. Being a three-year course (as opposed to four at Research University), Annette perceived it to be ‘less broad but more focused’. Annette felt it suited her needs better, and moved it from fourth to first preference. She subsequently enrolled for primary teaching at Metropolitan University. 10.2 Moira—the perceived value of a degree from a prestigious older university Moira seems representative of the large numbers of students who aspire to study at the traditional universities. Moira’s account illustrates some of the considerations that make up this preference: the belief that the degree will be worth more in the job market, the older ‘sandstone’ buildings echoing Oxford and Cambridge, a general sense of a pleasant campus atmosphere and even a perceived orientation towards academically conservative forms such as the International Baccalaureate. Moira aspires to a career in the civil service, her interests and things she is ‘passionate about’—commerce, arts/humanities, and maybe law—fit comfortably with that. When registering her first preference Moira followed a status trend choosing commerce/law at Research University. (She had noticed a trend away from medicine towards commerce/law, reflected in the required TER scores.) When the time came to reassess her choice, Moira decided to adjust it to commerce/arts. On reflection her initial choice seemed rather dry and career focused, rather than what she was interested in or suited to. She wanted a broader focus for her study. For the choice of institution Moira’s parents were a strong influence. They believed that status, reputation and established tradition count for a lot, particularly if one aspires to a career in the civil service. As Moira said, ‘they were pushing [for me] to get into a good university’; in any case she had no particular dispute with that. When it came to attending open days Moira’s (and her parents’) choice of university seemed to be confirmed. She had done the International Baccalaureate (IB), and in her state only Research University seemed ‘to have their act together’ in terms of informing her about her options and IB–TER conversion scores. In addition, Moira was impressed by the atmosphere of the campus; she said she found ‘the more traditional architecture old and impressive’. Moira’s TER score was high enough for her to gain admission to commerce/arts at her preferred institution. 10.3 Andrew—concern for learning support and ‘hands-on’ approach Andrew’s time at a TAFE college focused his sense of what he was looking for in a course of study and approaches to learning and teaching. His unsatisfactory experience made him a more discriminating and informed applicant for university programs, but he was not confident of his ability to handle these courses. His response seems constructive and sensible—to take some more time to prepare himself for the anticipated academic demands. In his capital city, Andrew had a choice of only two universities for study in his chosen field—mechanical engineering. After completing year twelve studies Andrew commenced a diploma in mechanical engineering at a TAFE college, and hoped to transfer across to a university course for his second year of tertiary study. The choice for Andrew was between two universities, both of which are in reasonable commuting distance from his home. To some extent Andrew’s experience at TAFE had been difficult, and his choice of university was strongly influenced by the lessons he had learned there. He was not satisfied with the ‘marathon’ lectures and minimal tutorial time that he experienced in TAFE, and was looking for greater learning support. Primarily through conversations with friends who had experienced both universities (but also through advertisements and newspaper articles), Andrew concluded that Technology University was superior to Research University, both in terms of the learning support provided and in its practical, hands-on approach to learning. However, even before his results came out Andrew had more or less decided that he wished to consolidate some of the more challenging areas of mathematics and physics in a part-time year at TAFE. He believed he needed this in order to apply confidently for the second year of mechanical engineering at Technology University in the following year. 10.4 Robert—a few false starts Robert’s experiences indicate that a focused career goal, established at an early age, can prove to be inappropriate when exposed to the reality of the discipline. His new career aspiration, established after several paths proved to be dead-ends, may be much more robust, because it is based on the experience of a short course run by the institution in which he has now enrolled. Such an introductory course would be an ideal way to allow students to test and develop their impressions of a field and to assess their suitability for it, but the strategy may not be realistic on a large scale. ‘Ever since I was a kid I have always wanted to be an engineer’ says Robert. On leaving school he started to study engineering at Technology University, but he never really ‘applied himself’. The same pattern was repeated at other institutions—student life just didn’t suit him. He then tried his hand at making commercials, which he found interesting, but not quite hands-on or creative enough. Meanwhile Robert had come to the conclusion that engineering was not quite what he was looking for, he preferred something ‘less analytic’. Robert enrolled in a short introductory course in industrial design run by another university of technology, and he liked what he heard. Then later, following a conversation with a course supervisor at this institution’s open day, he decided that industrial design was what he wanted to apply for. He was particularly encouraged by the fact that this university had less stringent requirements for a substantial folio, and that (as he had found out in the introductory course) the industrial design course there adopted a very interactive approach to learning. When it came for course selection time, Robert’s first and only course selection was industrial design at this institution. If by any chance he was not offered a place there, Robert had decided that he would try again the following year, and do something useful to facilitate that in the mean time. When offers of tertiary places came out, Robert did gain the place for which he had applied. Not only was he very pleased, but he was also confident that he would not drop out again. 10.5 Fiona—perceptions of class sizes Fiona conscientiously investigated her institutional options through attendance at university open days. She received broad impressions of courses and campus atmospheres, but the consideration of class sizes seems to have been decisive. The accuracy of her information about this matter is debatable. Ideally Fiona would like to study physiotherapy, but she did not like her chances of getting a high enough score. Running a close second was her general interest is science, particularly marine science. ‘I wanted to do physio, but was pretty sure I wouldn’t have good enough marks (90s), whereas I won’t have any trouble getting around the 70s necessary for marine science.’ During the years at her school Fiona had heard a large number of professionals speak about their work, and always found herself being more interested in those from a science background. Fiona attended open days at two Research Universities and also a Technology University. She said, ‘I’m really lazy so I need somewhere close, but if there was a course somewhere else I really wanted to do, I’d certainly consider it.’ The information she obtained and her impressions about various things (from the open days as well as from people she had met before) left her favouring the technological institution. Students she had spoken to at the open day left her with the impression that its courses were more ‘applied’ than those at Research University A, and that students left feeling more competent as a result. This contrasted with her impressions from Research University B open day, where she remembers ‘students were standing around whingeing about having to be there’. Class size was an important issue for Fiona. While she had been told (by a neighbour who studied at Research University A) that lectures there were ‘quite big, and the tutes have about 20 people’, she was told at the Technology University open day that they put limits on the class size, and students said they had ‘got to know everyone in their year’. Strongly influenced by this, Fiona ended up choosing Technology University as her first preference, and was offered a place, which she subsequently accepted. 10.6 Simon—staying in the rural hometown Simon’s choice illustrates the importance of location for some students, especially in rural areas. The dominance of this consideration may have inhibited Simon from investigating the details of the arts course for which he applied, even though he was unsure that it was the right program for him. Of course, arts courses are generally very broad and offer a lot of choice, so it may not be easy to decide on suitability without actual experience. Simon lives in a large regional city and recently completed a one-year professional writing course at TAFE. His ultimate objective is to make a living as a writer/author, and he believes the choice of an arts course would support his interests. As he says ‘I would like to learn something from many fields, and find this most appropriate for that’. When it comes to the choice of institution it seems that Simon has shifted his thinking over recent years. When he completed his year 12 studies he unsuccessfully applied for a course at a university of technology in a capital city, but has since gone off the idea of studying in that city. Fortunately from Simon’s point of view, Metropolitan University has a regional campus in his city, and arts is one of the degrees offered there. When it came to registering his tertiary preference Simon only nominated this course, and admitted that (although he was very confident about gaining a place) he would be stuck if he were not successful. Simon was quite clear about what he prefers. Apart from the fact that living at home is cheaper, he said, ‘I enjoy the atmosphere of this city and I enjoy studying here’, and ‘I don’t really fancy the idea of going to another university’. He admitted to little knowledge of the quality or styles of teaching in arts at his chosen university, but was confident he could build on what he knows, and choose to learn what he wants. His only doubt was whether or not the arts course itself would give him what he wants at this point in his career. Simon was successful in his application. 10.7 Susan—a hierarchy of required entrance scores Susan followed her preferred field, even when it took her some distance from home. One consideration in her first choice of institution was closeness to home, but when she did not achieve the required score, she accepted a place in another institution which involves a long trip for her (the two universities are about 25 kilometres apart). Her hierarchy of preferences seems also to have been based on required entrance scores as a surrogate measure of quality. Like many young people these days, Susan has studied computing and business subjects since year 9 in secondary school, and she believes she has considerable knowledge and skill in the area: ‘I am efficient and proficient in this field and have vast knowledge of computer technology.’ The big question for Susan was whether or not she would have the required TER to enter the course of her choice—commerce/information systems at Research University A. She knew she would need a TER in the 90s to be successful, and was not too confident about her chances. Susan was attracted to Research University A because in her opinion it seemed to have the best reputation among employers, it was closest to her home, and her chosen course offered a wider variety of subjects than comparable course elsewhere. When it came to registering her preference Susan followed the hierarchy of required TERs: Research University A, Research University B, and Technology University. When her academic results were received Susan was not at all confident at being offered a place at Research University A, so she readjusted her first preference to her ‘second-tier’ institution, to match her scores. Susan was offered, and accepted, a place at Research University B studying commerce and business systems. 10.8 Tony—seeking out ‘hard facts’ It was not until Tony had studied for two years at different universities in different courses, and had worked full-time for a year, that he set out to investigate career outcomes in a systematic way. This case study raises the troubling question of how meaningful career information is likely to be to school-leaver students who lack the experience of tertiary study and the workforce with which to ‘contextualise’ data on career outcomes. When Tony had completed year 12 he began a course at university. After one year he wanted a break and his grades reflected his lack of application and motivation, so he left and worked full-time for a year. In the following year Tony began a Bachelor of Science at Metropolitan University and found he was much more focused. At the end of the first year Tony discovered the Good Universities Guide, which had extensive statistics about graduates from different universities. He found that the best (in terms of employment and starting salaries for computing and information technology students) were Technology University and his own university. By contrast he was particularly unimpressed by the Research University statistics—‘80 per cent from Research University go on to do further study. I gave that a big cross, I wanted to get on and finish and get out and get some work.’ Tony lives in a rural area, but the distance of the universities from his home was not an issue; all three campuses he had considered require about two hours commuting. He was more interested in the flexibility of the course design, and use of technology; in these areas he found his own Metropolitan University particularly impressive. ‘I really like the idea of being able to do subjects in other faculties. This university is very accommodating whereas Research University is apparently quite rigid.’ Tony attempted to gain entry to Technology University or to change to a Bachelor of Technology at his current university. As it turned out he failed in the former, was successful in the latter, but changed his mind and continued with his BSc. A year later, in 1998, Tony made another application, this time to change from the BSc to a Bachelor of Science, Computing and Information Technology (BSCIT) course at his university, because to do so would give him a better chance of getting into a particular subject. He would have initially chosen the BSCIT course but his TER was not high enough. He was successful in making this change. 10.9 Angela—hoping for a transfer after first year Angela is representative of a group of students who hope to gain a place in highly selective courses by transferring from other programs. It may not always be a realistic aspiration. Angela lives in a large capital city, is interested in health, and would like to become involved in medical research. For tertiary study her choice was between Metropolitan University, Research University, and Technology University, these being the institutions closest to her home and offering medicine, health or biological sciences as undergraduate courses. Her choice was dominated by achieving her aim one way or another. She aspired to a place in medicine following year 12, but if she failed in this ambition, would choose a course in a university that would enable her to transfer in a later year. Angela had done the round of open days at all local universities and had been impressed by Metropolitan University. There, she had been able to talk to some second and third year undergraduates who found the biological sciences course challenging and enjoyable. Angela’s year twelve results did not enable her to gain immediate entry into medicine, but she was able to enrol in biological sciences at Metropolitan University. This was a quite satisfactory outcome for her since the first year of the course is very similar to the first year of medicine, and she hoped to transfer courses at the completion of first year. 10.10 Tran—committed to a career in medicine Tran is a well-informed and strategic applicant, due partly to his family background in medicine, but his institutional preferences are at the moment quite secondary to his desire to get into this field—he will go wherever he has to. He seems very determined and continues to prepare himself for his chosen career, undaunted by the prospect of many more years of study. Tran has been attending his hometown university in a regional centre, and has completed the first two years of a three-year science/law degree. His ultimate objective is to study medicine. Wherever he is offered a place in Australia, he says he will take it. He made separate applications to several different states, and was particularly interested in those universities offering graduate degrees—ideally he would have liked to be offered a place in a graduate degree (at Sydney, Melbourne, Queensland, or Flinders Universities), but defer for a year in order complete his science/law degree. Tran was particularly interested in the older, larger, traditional universities that have what he described as ‘reputation and atmosphere’. While he appreciated some of the positive features of studying locally, being nearly 21 years of age he was ready to ‘spread his wings’ and have a greater breadth of experience that a larger university, further from home, could offer him. Having a father who is a doctor, as well as several friends studying medicine at various universities, Tran has the information to be quite discriminating about what he wants from a course. He feels that the medical faculty at his present university, like those in other universities, is following the trend of providing substantial periods of time in clinical work, but is neglecting some of the basic grounding in anatomy and physiology. He is attempting to compensate for this by concentrating on anatomy in his science/law degree. Despite excellent grades Tran was not offered a place in medicine, he nevertheless was quite content to do what he intended to do anyway. He will complete his science degree (having pulled out of the law degree) and apply for a graduate medicine course the following year, which will be another four years of study. 10.11 Barbara—is this really the right course for me? Barbara would have been the envy of Angela, Tran, and many of her contemporaries. For her, the highly prized place in medicine was attainable. But she had serious doubts about whether it suited her and fitted in with her other aspirations in life. She had several changes of mind before finally staying with medicine as her first preference. The burden and anxiety of choice did not extend to choice of institution: only one offered the course in her home city. Barbara’s passion is biology, and she described herself as a ‘people person’. Not surprisingly her first preference was to study medicine, but nevertheless she was not absolutely convinced it was right for her. The thought of committing herself to many years of study was daunting, especially as she said: ‘I want to get married and have kids more than I want a career, so that has put me off medicine a bit, since I know it is so demanding’. She also wanted to keep her options open, and believed that a specialist course (like medicine) was more likely to limit her options. As she said, ‘I can imagine getting started on a science degree and finding some really excellent field [to follow up]’. Despite her doubts Barbara’s initial first preference was to study medicine at Research University, since it was the only university in her capital city offering undergraduate medicine, she liked the atmosphere, and her brothers had recommended it; besides, as she said ‘I don’t want to look back later and regret I didn’t apply’. However, as time for making final decisions grew closer, Barbara said that after some thought she had decided to change her first preference to straight science, with the intention of doing medicine as a postgraduate course at Flinders University after graduation. A little while later Barbara had a second rethink. She retained her original first preference for medicine, and eventually succeeded in gaining entry into medicine at Research University. 10.12 Kathy—the ‘chilling effect’ of distance Unlike some of the other interviewees, Kathy was concerned about the distance of the university campus from her home. When she did not succeed with her first preference, this consideration almost caused her to decline the place she was offered and may undermine her commitment in future. Kathy completed secondary school in 1996, and decided she wanted to travel and work before committing herself to a course of study. At school, history was a fascinating subject for Kathy; travel and work confirmed this interest and generally broadened her perspective. When it finally came to choosing a university, the information Kathy had gleaned from open days in her final school year was dated, and probably no longer relevant. Her choice was primarily based on having ready access to the campus. Her first preference was arts at Research University, because it was close to her home. Kathy was certainly not unaware of the difference good teaching can make (she had experienced that in secondary school), but in choosing a university she believed she did not have the information on this criterion to make comparisons between universities. Kathy was quite fatalistic about her chances of getting into the course she wanted. As she said—‘If don’t get in I’ll continue working and try another year.’ As it turned out, Kathy did not succeed in getting into Arts at Research University, but was successful in gaining a place in Arts at Metropolitan University. For a while she asked herself—‘Do I really want to do this, since it is rather far away?’ But eventually she decided it was worth the effort, and enrolled for the course. |
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