Professions in Australia, 1965-1998

The Professions in Australia study aimed to follow the attitudes and experiences of students over the course of their studies, from the beginning of their first year of studies in engineering, law, medicine and teaching through to the end of their studies, and into their careers.
The first phase aimed to study how the individual's values, dispositions and preferences were affected by training in a profession, and also provided information about the social origins of individuals planning to enter each of the four professions studied (engineering, law, medicine, and teaching). Students received their first questionnaires during the first or second week of their first term at University, and were re-surveyed at the end of the first academic year, and at three other times during the next few years. Topics covered included community involvement, subjects completed at school, career plans, study hours, and attributes seen as important for success in the profession. Information about the respondent's academic performance was also obtained.

In 1978, the sample was re-surveyed in order to study developments in resondents' careers or education, and in order to investigate the feasibility of further follow-ups of the original sample. A brief questionnaire asked respondents about their occupational and educational history, covering each year from the beginning of the project.

The third phase of the study consisted of three follow-up surveys in each year from 1982 to 1984. These surveys aimed to investigate the professional development and status attained by the original sample; obtain retrospective evaluations of the respondents' educational experiences during their training; obtain views about postgraduate and recurrent education; and obtain views about current social and professional issues. Topics covered included factors seen to be important in obtaining the respondent's first job, membership of professional associations, problems facing the profession, satisfaction and concerns at work, changes in career, and community involvement.

In 1998 the respondents who were originally studying law, medicine and engineering were recontacted to gain further information about their experiences of professional work and how the profession had changed over their career.

Variables include attitudes to their university education and profession, reasons for and influences on their choice of professions, attributes they perceive as being important to success within their profession, problems they percieve in their work situation; assessments of percieved social status rankings of different professions including their own, government regulation of professions and social and political participation and attitudes. Background variables include education, employment, occupation and specialisation, industry, marital status, education and employment of family members, voting intention, religious denomination, income, and hours worked per week.