Qualification levels help to evaluate the economic opportunities and socio-economic status of local workers in a particular industry.
The level of qualifications in a workforce relate to a number of factors including:
- The age of the workforce;
- The skill and qualification level required to enter an industry;
- The professional or working ambitions of people (to seek education as youth or retraining as adults);
- The opportunities afforded to people to continue studying beyond compulsory schooling.
Educational Qualification statistics should be looked at in conjunction with Field of qualification and Occupations data for a full education analysis for Whitsunday.
Data source
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) – Census 2016 & 2021 – by place of work
Current area:
Current industry:
Current benchmark:
Sex:
Local workers qualifications | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Whitsunday - All industries | 2021 | 2016 | Change | ||||||
Qualification level | Number | % | Queensland | Number | % | Queensland | 2016 - 2021 | ||
Bachelor or Higher degree | 2,944 | 17.3 | 29.3 | 2,168 | 14.4 | 25.1 | +776 | ||
Advanced Diploma or Diploma | 1,770 | 10.4 | 11.3 | 1,590 | 10.5 | 10.9 | +180 | ||
Certificate I and II Level | 385 | 2.3 | 1.5 | 289 | 1.9 | 1.3 | +96 | ||
Certificate III & IV Level | 4,780 | 28.0 | 23.2 | 4,152 | 27.5 | 23.0 | +628 | ||
Certificate Level, nfd | 339 | 2.0 | 1.8 | 361 | 2.4 | 2.0 | -22 | ||
No qualification | 6,355 | 37.2 | 30.7 | 5,951 | 39.4 | 35.0 | +404 | ||
Inadequately described or not stated | 491 | 2.9 | 2.2 | 593 | 3.9 | 2.7 | -102 | ||
Total Persons | 17,064 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 15,104 | 100.0 | 100.0 | +1,960 | ||
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing 2016 and 2021. Compiled and presented by .id (informed decisions) Please refer to specific data notes for more information |
Dominant groups
Analysis of the qualifications of the in Whitsunday in 2021 compared to Queensland shows that there was a lower proportion holding formal qualifications (Bachelor or higher degree; Advanced Diploma or Diploma; or Vocational qualifications), and a higher proportion with no formal qualifications.
Overall, 59.9% of the workers who held educational qualifications, and 37.2% had no qualifications, compared with 67.1% and 30.7% respectively for Queensland.
The major differences between the qualifications held by the workforce of Whitsunday and Queensland were:
- A smaller percentage of local workers with Bachelor or Higher degree (17.3% compared to 29.3%)
- A larger percentage of local workers with No qualification (37.2% compared to 30.7%)
- A larger percentage of local workers with Certificate III & IV Level (28.0% compared to 23.2%)
- A smaller percentage of local workers with Advanced Diploma or Diploma (10.4% compared to 11.3%)
Emerging groups
The largest changes in the qualifications held by the workforce in Whitsunday between 2016 and 2021 were:
- Bachelor or Higher degree (+776 local workers)
- Certificate III & IV Level (+628 local workers)
- No qualification (+404 local workers)
- Advanced Diploma or Diploma (+180 local workers)