There is increasingly scholarship on gender and migration, yet the international migration of highly skilled women is still somewhat under-researched. This article focuses on this neglected area in the context of Australia's discretionary inward migration policies to solve skills shortages. The article draws on empirical research using a qualitative case-study approach with in-depth narrative interviews to explore understandings of the experience of highly skilled female secondary migrants. The findings resonate with a growing body of work in North America, Europe and the UK. Applying a gendered and intersectional analysis to the case of Australia with its complex mix of skilled migrants from predominantly English speaking countries, as well as many countries in the Asia-Pacific region and Africa, reveals a more nuanced understanding of the temporality and gendered and racialised ways in which the processes of career disruption, deskilling, intensification of domestic responsibilities and re-feminisation of health and human service work play out through tensions between migration and education policies.

Strong claims are made for ICT-based lifelong learning as an effective way of reducing the exclusion of various groups in society, yet, there is very little research to support these claims. Empirical research is needed, including qualitative studies of the experiences of socially excluded learners using ICT. This article reports the findings of such a study in relation to learners from one socially excluded group, adults from ethnic minority backgrounds, who are disproportionately deprived and often excluded by language. The article discusses the study of the experiences and perceptions of adults learning English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) through ICT in seven different learning centres in England. The findings show that technology is insufficient to overcome existing inequalities in access to learning, and to engage learners who would not otherwise undertake formal learning, but ICT-based learning can reduce some aspects of social exclusion in terms of encouraging minority ethnic group learners to speak more within the host community. ICT-based learning offers a space for language learning and practice, which is often absent in traditional ESOL classrooms and in the every day lives of these excluded groups. Learning is a social practice in which the level of commitment of tutors to encouraging the use of these media and creating a safe and private space for learning affects the range of learning activities with which learners engage and the impact of these on their everyday use of English.

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This article explores the issue of social mobility in relation to the recent expansion of higher vocational education by non-university providers. The post-school vocational education sector has become the object of policies to widen access to higher education to ensure greater social mobility and provide second chance education to those who do not complete initial education in Anglophone countries. Drawing on typologies of vocational education and training systems, the article generates understanding of the expansion of higher vocational education (HIVE) within two Anglophone countries (Australia and England). The article considers the implications for widening opportunities to higher education for non-traditional students from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds in these two contexts.Descriptive analysis of current national data on participation reveals surprising differences between countries. The article concludes by discussing the extent to which the higher education offerings in vocational institutions can contribute to social mobility within these two countries. 147 words Keywords: HE in FE; widening participation; VET; applied higher education. 2010 2011 LOW SES (Reference value 25%)Enrolment 15.Enrolment 2.7% 2.6% 2.3% 2.9% 3.3% 8.1%Completion 1.6% 1.0% 0.4% 0.8% 1.2% 7.7% REGIONAL (Reference value 23.3%)Enrolment 12.

This article questions the concept of 'education for employment' which constructs a discourse of individual and societal benefit in a knowledge-driven economy. Recent policy emphasis in the EU promotes the expansion of higher education and short cycle This article builds on both fields of study to engage with the finer crossed analyses of gender, social class, poverty, race and citizenship.In its analysis of policy texts the article argues that in spite of a discourse of inclusivity, an expanded higher education system has generated new inequalities, deepening social stratification. Drawing on early analyses of national quantitative data sets it identifies emerging gendered, classed and raced patterns and considers these in relation to