Pathways to Employment project - Reference Group workshop presentation

CRC-REP Program 3 – Investing in People

Pathways to Employment Project

Dr Eva McRae-Williams

Pathways to Employment

Project Structure

5 Year Duration

Project initiation 2012

Completion December 2016

• Principal Research Leader (@ 0.5 FTE)

• One Honours Student, University of South Australia

• (completed 2013 - 1st Class)

• 1 x Vacation Student

• 1 x Vocational Scholarship

• Collaboration with the CRC-REP Education Systems Project

Research Questions

• How do Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people

who reside in (very) remote communities navigate their

way into meaningful livelihoods?

• What kinds of work might help to support sustainable

livelihood outcomes?

• What kinds of learning could support meaningful

livelihood agendas, aspirations and pathways?

Overview of Presentation

• Challenging assumptions through census analysis

• Are there no ‘real’ jobs in very remote Australia?

• Is education/training the ticket into employment?

• Case Study 1 – Microenterprise pathways

• Case Study 2 – Educator perceptions of pathways in the APY Lands

• Case Study 3 – Inmate learning and aspirations for employment

• Key themes emerging from cross case analyses

• Raising questions and possible future research directions

No ‘Real’ Jobs in Very Remote Australia?

Total number of jobs (place of enumeration): 106, 437

Indigenous

non-Indigenous

not stated

Industry of employment for non-Indigenous and Aboriginal workers, Very

Remote Australia, 2011. Source: (ABS, 2012) based on place of enumeration

Engagement in the Economy = Good

GO TO SCHOOL EVERYDAY

GET CERTIFICATE III OR ABOVE

EMPLOYMENT

Very Remote Employees

Without Qualification

Up to Cert II

Cert III & IV

Diploma +

Source ABS (2011) see Guenther and McRae-Williams (2014) for

breakdowns per industry

Key Questions

Are people choosing certain kinds of jobs for reasons

associated with cultural alignment and the local

legitimacy of certain professions?

What pathways into economic engagement foster rather

than fragment local identity and belonging?

Case Study 1

Microenterprise development as a

pathway to livelihood

Key Stakeholder: ENTERPRISE LEARNING PROJECTS

Duration: 2012 – continuing

Methodology: Participatory action research using a range

of ethnographic methods of inquiry

Case Study 1

Microenterprise development - a poverty alleviation strategy?

TRADITIONAL APPROACH

• Micro Finance programs

• Return on investment

• Feasibility and Business Plans

• Standardised Training (Cert

III/IV)

ALTERNATIVE APPROACH

• Tailored support

• Assessment of individual

needs

• Engagement with local markets

and contexts

• Recognition and development

of social and identity capital

ENTERPRISE LEARNING PROJECTS

Facilitation rather than ‘delivery’

[the] facilitator should not behave as an expert to whom the

[contributors] in the project look up to for advice. His or her role is

to ask action-oriented questions, encourage the group to explore

options and support them to explore all aspects of the project

(ELP Facilitator Manual)

…so it’s not about coming in with a top down – we’ve got this

great business idea for you. It’s like what do you want to do, how

do you want to do it, what are your ideas and drawing those out

slowly over time… (Facilitator Transcript 2, 2013)

Case Study 1

Explore Enterprise Project Facilitation

Develop Business incubation

Grow Marketing support services

How do you support the development of enterprising

cultures not just enterprising Individuals?

How do you overcome the many infrastructure and

access limitations experienced by very remote

entrepreneurs?

Case Study 2

Economic participation pathways for

Anangu youth Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands, South Australia

Key Stakeholder: Umuwa Trade Training Centre

Duration: 2012- continuing

Methodology: to date - 16 semi-structured interviews

(2013)

Case Study 2

“change the whole thinking of communities,

which is what has to happen”

“we want to change that worldview, which

is what we’re trying to do with this idea of

come to school, work hard, and you’ll get a

job”

Case Study 2

“Anangu can help Anangu …empowering them

to become good citizens within their

community…to be proud … who we are as a

person and who we stand for and who we speak

up for. Not for ourselves but for our people…”

“We can’t go work in another community…this is

our responsibility here, ours, our community, we

belong”

Case Study 2

Burton & Osborne (2014: pg) have asked,

Is it possible that an optimistic and hopeful

“imagined future” for Anangu youth looks

different to the “externally imagined” linear menu

on offer in the Piranpa [non-Indigenous]

education, training and transition to employment

context?

Case Study 3

Prison learning experiences and

employment aspirations of inmates

Key Stakeholder: Northern Territory Department of

Correctional Services

Duration: 2013- 2014 (completed)

Methodology: 10 semi-structured interviews

Case Study 3

Reflection as Learning

“Clear thinking”

Interactive Learning to navigate prison Culture

“…learning the ropes”

Values Derived from Work

“more easy to pass the time”

Prison as a vehicle for employment

“…it will make it better for me”

Case Study 3

Aspiring beyond Reality

“Make you want to leave grog when you get out”

“The pain keep bouncing back. The old people gone now.

We have to drink to cover that sorrow, to hide it. Abusing

our body the only way – and then you think nobody loves

us anymore and you can’t get out”

How do Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people

who reside in (very) remote communities navigate their

way into meaningful livelihoods?

Guenther et al. (2011: 9);

…creating opportunities for

employment requires more than

successful completion of a Certificate…

it requires a shift in identity so that the

trainees values become more closely

aligned to the workplace… We may at

first cringe at the thought of training as

a vehicle for identity change but that is

what we are indeed doing in training.

Investment in Belonging

Family, Community, Country

Learning Experiences

Voluntary & Negotiated

Honesty in unpacking the magic of

mainstream

Building positive cultural sense of self

Building decision making capabilities

Recognising interdependence

Fostering not fragmenting local identity

Economic Participation

Identity investment in work and the economy

Family and community investment in the legitimacy of employment or economic activity

Re-imaging beyond large industries and (old) industrial models of work activity

Systemic Barriers?

The Indigenous Pathways Industry

Dominated by non-Indigenous beneficiaries

Possessive investment in ignorance (Gilbey 2014)

Burden of ‘paper work’ - no time to hear (Osborne 2014)