Obstacles Faced By Australia’s Higher Education Sectors

The higher education sector is a key contributor to the Australian economy, generating over $25 billion in revenue. It directly employs 120,000 staff and supports the delivery of education to over one million students.

But significant challenges are facing the sector. Budget constraints, a declining world reputation, increased competition from online learning platforms, and a changing job market are chief amongst them. In this article, we explore 6 key obstacles the Australian higher education sector faces in 2019 and the possible steps that can be taken to resolve them.

Here are Obstacles Faced By Australia’s Higher Education Sectors

1. Budget Cuts

Two years ago, the former Minister for Education, Simon Birmingham, announced a $2.2 billion cut to university funding. The coalition government placed a two-year spending freeze on Commonwealth grants for teaching and learning, severely restricting universities’ budgets across Australia.

This decision will indirectly preface sure universities into capping student places, as institutions will no longer receive additional Commonwealth grants funding to increase enrollment.

The 2009 decision to uncap university places, introduced under Kevin Rudd’s first government, ushered substantial increases in student numbers from low, rural, indigenous, and disabled backgrounds. But now, the restriction on funding and a resultant cap on student places is more likely to negatively impact students from lower backgrounds and rural communities, limiting diversity.

For universities, financial planning has been complicated by losing tens of millions of dollars from income projections. Most of the 39 publicly-funded universities in Australia face financial dilemmas, which is thought to be contributing to a decline in the country’s academic reputation.

2. High Staff Turnover

High staff turnover in any organization or industry comes with inherent problems. It can cause a decrease in the quality of work, increased costs associated with frequent onboarding and training, and low workplace morale – the latter of which can prompt further resignations, exacerbating the turnover problem.

In such circumstances, it’s rarely the case that the job role is filled promptly enough to keep pace with resignations. As a result, remaining employees find that their workloads increase substantially while keeping their departments afloat. Overworked staff are more likely to be chronically stressed, take time off work, and suffer from low morale, therefore, adding to the problem.

In response to high turnover, organizations may wish to redeploy staff to cover critical roles or bolster ailing departments. In higher education, employees assigned to new parts or departments tend not to have the full knowledge or skill set to succeed in their new position.

3. A Stall to Innovation Initiatives

Innovation is one of the most valuable contributions offered by the higher education sector. When universities actively promote high-quality research, positive externalities can be far-reaching. Professor Ed Byrne of Monash University points to prolific examples of how universities can build and support entire communities.

For example, innovation at Stanford University led to the creation of Silicon Valley, while MIT’s success produced a technological hub within the Boston metropolitan area. From individual institutions sprang thousands of jobs, billions of dollars in investments, and countless science and technology developments.

Innovation has been one of the most significant casualties through budget tightening. Despite it being essential to institutions’ growth and sustainability, the invention has been restricted or put on hold. This does further reputational damage to the Australian higher education sector and scuppers universities’ ability to recover their world rankings’ positions. A lack of innovation also precludes external, non-governmental investment, which further compounds the problem.

4. Market Saturation

Although expanded access to higher education is rightly heralded as an achievement, particularly in creating a more diverse student population, there is one substantial drawback: an oversupply of graduates.

With higher take-up rates for tertiary education, not having a degree can be interpreted by some as a failure that inhibits career options. In fact, the enlarged pool of graduates actually means that the value of a bachelor’s degree has decreased over time.

For graduates who have the resources, differentiation from similar job market candidates can only be achieved by furthering them. This then recreates the problem previously seen with bachelor’s degrees: People from disadvantaged groups will have minimal access to the qualifications they need to excel in their careers.

Overcoming this problem is a substantial challenge, but the emergent emphasis on competency assessments when hiring new staff is promising. Instead of focusing solely on qualifications, recruiters take a holistic approach, encompassing knowledge, skills, and relevant experience. Universities can help by encouraging industry experience, skills training, and mentoring.

5. The Rise of Continuous Learning

As technology continues its evolutionary path, educators must keep on top of advancements that will enrich their students. Learners have demonstrated a growing interest in interactive and self-guided components of their studies. This may have been influenced by the proliferation of free continuous learning resources offered by many universities online.

Instead of receiving instruction on a set of curricula, these tools give people the ability to learn as much as they like and omit the lessons they’re not interested in—basically, a unique pick-and-mix syllabus.

This trend does have the potential to reduce take-up at bricks-and-mortar universities. Students might question why they’re spending thousands of dollars on education when they can get some of the core subjects online for free.

Therefore, universities’ responsibility is to promote a superior experience that can only be found in-person. Learning outcomes in universities, however, are better understood.

An adjacent challenge for higher education institutions is to avoid outdated curricula. Resolving it depends on department heads and individual lecturers’ ability to continuously identify areas for improvement or adjustment and implement changes quickly.

6. An Evolving Job Market

Digitization of the modern workplace means that the job market is constantly evolving. Australian companies are seeking employees with the most up-to-date skills, which presents an immediate challenge for universities.

A solution is a dynamic approach to delivering education, incorporating different techniques and delivery methods and embracing new technology to support learning. Educators also need to keep up to speed with the skills that are most required in the job market as a whole and specific roles. They must be ready and willing to adapt curricula instantly in response.