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    Tertiary education policy: a case study of student interpretations and personal effects for school leavers : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Education, Education Department, Massey University
    (Massey University, 1993) Mortlock, Susan D
    Tertiary education policy is produced in a political context with the purpose of bringing about specific planned effects. The manner in which individuals actively process policy messages within their own particular context of experience results in policy effects at times differing from projected effects for various individuals. The thesis is based on a case study research project which examines the decision making processes of ten senior secondary school students from a single secondary school in their final year of schooling. The research aims to identify the messages that students receive from Government tertiary policy and to evaluate the extent to which these messages are incorporated into individual decision making. Additional factors which influence the post school destination eventually chosen by students are also discussed. The personal effects of tertiary education policy differ from its ostensibly stated effects for most students. It is suggested that principles of 'fairness' and 'greater personal choice' are not realised for the majority of students. Instead, the position, disposition and communication effects of each student are shown to influence their post school destination. While all students respond to aspects of policy in the manner that it is envisaged that they would, the agency of individuals in making rational decisions within the structures of their own circumstances means that policy effects differ for each student.
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    The approach to measuring the returns to secondary and tertiary qualifications in New Zealand : an investigation and update using data from the 2001 census : a research thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Applied Economics at Massey University, Department of Applied and International Economics, College of Business, Massey University
    (Massey University, 2004) Penny, Nathan J
    This study investigates the approaches to measuring the returns to secondary and tertiary qualifications in New Zealand using the latest Census of Population and Dwellings data from 2001. It calculates the returns to qualifications using income function analysis, elaborate analysis and also extends the elaborate analysis by using the quantile regression technique. It reports returns within a narrow band for both methods and at a similar or higher magnitude to previous years. However, the results reported using the net present value (NPV) criteria reveal higher social returns to qualifications than private returns. This contradicts previous literature. In the policy implications section, the study recommends policies focus more on reducing the level of forgone earnings. Also, the study finds that income function analysis is better suited to measuring income inequality and its link with education. Furthermore, the study concludes that elaborate analysis, using the NPV criteria, allows better comparison of the marginal returns to educational investments of varying scale and duration. Finally, the quantile regression estimates show that point estimates of the mean return give a poor indication of the distribution of returns.