Source: Commonwealth Department of Education and Training customised data request. Overall enrolment numbers by institutional grouping sourced from the National Centre for Student Equity in Higher Education (NCSEHE) (Koshy, 2014). Analysis of language offerings by institutional grouping helps to explain the participation differences in foreign language study by region and socio-economic status. Language provision across the institutional groupings is extremely variable, with Go8 universities on average offering eight more language options than the next group, the IRU. The prestigious Go8 universities, which are based in large cities and typically enrol the highest SES cohorts, have relatively high levels of language provision. This provision both reflects student demand and reinforces it. Conversely, the relative lack of supply options provided by RUN institutions is reflected in low enrolments. Students from a regional background are less likely to have studied a foreign language at school, and school subject choices influence subsequent university language enrolments. Supply and demand limitations can be mutually reinforcing, and it is necessary to address both factors to increase regional and low SES participation. We were also able to examine the broad field of education (FoE) of students who were studying a foreign language. We found a clear trend, with the Society and Culture field - which typically covers generalist qualifications such as the Bachelor of Arts and the Diploma of Languages – being the largest field of education and significantly over-represented within foreign language study by comparison to its overall proportion of enrolments. Interestingly, we also found that students from the Natural and Physical sciences were comparatively over-represented. Students from the Health Sciences were the most under-represented cohort within foreign language study, but students from the Education and Engineering fields also have comparatively low foreign language study rates. Given the over-representation of foreign language students within fields of education that are more often associated with generalist degrees such as the Bachelor of Arts and the Bachelor of Science, we further examined foreign language participation rates within two Australian institutions, the University of Western Australia and the University of Melbourne, which have moved to a model of generalist undergraduate education that emphasises breadth of study rather than specialisation. Our analysis of data from both institutions shows the rate of foreign language study dramatically increased with the introduction of the generalist undergraduate model. Figure 2.2 shows the increase in the number of foreign language enrolments within the University of Western Australia after the generalist model was introduced in 2012.
Source: Commonwealth Department of Education and Training customised data request. Overall enrolment numbers by institutional grouping sourced from the National Centre for Student Equity in Higher Education (NCSEHE) (Koshy, 2014). Analysis of language offerings by institutional grouping helps to explain the participation differences in foreign language study by region and socio-economic status. Language provision across the institutional groupings is extremely variable, with Go8 universities on average offering eight more language options than the next group, the IRU. The prestigious Go8 universities, which are based in large cities and typically enrol the highest SES cohorts, have relatively high levels of language provision. This provision both reflects student demand and reinforces it. Conversely, the relative lack of supply options provided by RUN institutions is reflected in low enrolments. Students from a regional background are less likely to have studied a foreign language at school, and school subject choices influence subsequent university language enrolments. Supply and demand limitations can be mutually reinforcing, and it is necessary to address both factors to increase regional and low SES participation. We were also able to examine the broad field of education (FoE) of students who were studying a foreign language. We found a clear trend, with the Society and Culture field - which typically covers generalist qualifications such as the Bachelor of Arts and the Diploma of Languages – being the largest field of education and significantly over-represented within foreign language study by comparison to its overall proportion of enrolments. Interestingly, we also found that students from the Natural and Physical sciences were comparatively over-represented. Students from the Health Sciences were the most under-represented cohort within foreign language study, but students from the Education and Engineering fields also have comparatively low foreign language study rates. Given the over-representation of foreign language students within fields of education that are more often associated with generalist degrees such as the Bachelor of Arts and the Bachelor of Science, we further examined foreign language participation rates within two Australian institutions, the University of Western Australia and the University of Melbourne, which have moved to a model of generalist undergraduate education that emphasises breadth of study rather than specialisation. Our analysis of data from both institutions shows the rate of foreign language study dramatically increased with the introduction of the generalist undergraduate model. Figure 2.2 shows the increase in the number of foreign language enrolments within the University of Western Australia after the generalist model was introduced in 2012.
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