"Research messages 2011" is a collection of summaries of research projects published by National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) in 2011. The publication also has an overview essay that captures the themes and highlights from the research for the year, including: (1) the initial education and training of young people and their pathways to employment; (2) apprenticeships and traineeships, with a particular focus on completions; (3) the ongoing education and training of the learner groups--namely older workers, people with a disability, low paid workers and the unemployed; (4) trends in the labour market, including labour mobility, skills mismatch and skills shortages; (5) the role of vocational education and training (VET) in innovation and workforce development; and (6) methodological and measurement issues. This paper presents the following summaries: (1) Highlights for 2011 (Georgina Atkinson); (2) As clear as mud: defining vocational education and training (Tom Karmel); (3) The attitudes of people with a disability to undertaking VET training (Lisa Nechvoglod and Tabatha Griffin); (4) Attrition in the trades (Tom Karmel, Patrick Lim and Josie Misko); (5) Building innovation capacity: the role of human capital formation in enterprises--a review of the literature (Andrew Smith, Jerry Courvisanos, Jacqueline Tuck and Steven McEachern); (6) Building the foundations: outcomes from the adult language, literacy and numeracy search conference (National Centre for Vocational Education Research); (7) The challenge of measurement: statistics for planning human resource development (Tom Karmel); (8) Differing skill requirements across countries and over time (Chris Ryan and Mathias Sinning); (9) Does changing your job leave you better off? A study of labour mobility in Australia, 2002 to 2008 (Ian Watson); (10) Does combining school and work affect school and post-school outcomes? (Alison Anlezark and Patrick Lim); (11) Education and training and the avoidance of financial disadvantage (Gary N. Marks); (12) Effect of the downturn on apprentices and trainees (Tom Karmel and Damian Oliver); (13) The effect of VET completion on the wages of young people (Nicolas Herault, Rezida Zakirova and Hielke Buddelmeyer); (14) Embedding learning from formal training into sustained behavioural change in the workplace (Cheryle Barker); (15) Enabling the effective take-up of e-learning by custodial officers (Malcolm Reason); (16) E-waste management in the VET environment (Virginia Waite); (17) Fostering enterprise: the innovation and skills nexus--research readings (Penelope Curtin, John Stanwick and Francesca Beddie); (18) From education to employment: how long does it take? (Darcy Fitzpatrick, Laurence Lester, Kostas Mavromaras, Sue Richardson and Yan Sun); (19) Getting tough on missing data: a boot camp for social science researchers (Sinan Gemici, Alice Bednarz and Patrick Lim); (20) How VET responds: a historical policy perspective (Robin Ryan); (21) The impact of wages and the likelihood of employment on the probability of completing an apprenticeship or traineeship (Tom Karmel and Peter Mlotkowski); (22) Individual-based completion rates for apprentices (Tom Karmel); (23) Initial training for VET teachers: a portrait within a larger canvas (Hugh Guthrie, Alicen McNaughton and Tracy Gamlin); (24) Juggling work, home and learning in low-paid occupations: a qualitative study (Barbara Pocock, Jude Elton, Deborah Green, Catherine McMahon and Suzanne Pritchard); (25) Lost talent? The occupational ambitions and attainments of young Australians (Joanna Sikora and Lawrence J. Saha); (26) Mapping adult literacy performance (Michelle Circelli, David D. Curtis and Kate Perkins); (27) The master artisan: a framework for master tradespeople in Australia (Karen O'Reilly-Briggs); (28) Measuring the quality of VET using the Student Outcomes Survey (Wang-Sheng Lee and Cain Polidano); (29) Measuring the socioeconomic status of Australian youth (Patrick Lim and Sinan Gemici); (30) The mobile worker: concepts, issues, implications (Richard Sweet); (31) Moving the fence posts: learning preferences of part-time agriculture students (Alan Woods); (32) Musing budding musos: the role of peer mentoring in learning to be a contemporary musician (Ross Stagg); (33) Older workers: research readings (Tabatha Griffin and Francesca Beddie); (34) Outcomes from combining work and tertiary study (Cain Polidano and Rezida Zakirova); (35) Outcomes of stakeholder consultations to identify the LSAY analytical program for 2011-13 (National Centre for Vocational Education Research); (36) Over-skilling and job satisfaction in the Australian labour force (Kostas Mavromaras, Seamus McGuinness, Sue Richardson, Peter Sloane and Zhang Wei); (37) Pathways: developing the skills of the Australian workforce (Hugh Guthrie, John Stanwick and Tom Karmel); (38) Plumbing, sustainability and training (Sian Halliday-Wynes and John Stanwick); (39) Pre-apprenticeship training activity (Paul Foley and Davinia Blomberg); (40) Pre-apprenticeships and their impact on apprenticeship completion and satisfaction (Tom Karmel and Damian Oliver); (41) Pre-vocational programs and their impact on traineeship completion and satisfaction (Damian Oliver and Tom Karmel); (42) Review of the Survey of Employer Use and Views of the VET System: outcomes from the discussion paper (National Centre for Vocational Education Research); (43) The role of VET in workforce development: a story of conflicting expectations (Tanya Bretherton); (44) The shifting demographics and lifelong learning (Tom Karmel); (45) Skill (mis-)matches and over-education of younger workers (Chris Ryan and Mathias Sinning); (46) Skill shortages in the trades during economic downturns (Damian Oliver); (47) Social capital and young people: do young people's networks improve their participation in education and training? (Ronnie Semo and Tom Karmel); (48) To gain, retain and retrain: the role of post-school education for people with a disability (Cain Polidano and Ha Vu); (49) Understanding and improving labour mobility: a scoping paper (John Buchanan, Susanna Baldwin and Sally Wright); (50) Understanding the psychological contract in apprenticeships and traineeships to improve retention (Erica Smith, Arlene Walker and Ros Brennan Kemmis); (51) Understanding the undertow: innovative responses to labour market disadvantage and VET (Tanya Bretherton); (52) VET and the diffusion and implementation of innovation in the mining, solar energy and computer games sectors (Robert Dalitz, Phillip Toner and Tim Turpin); (53) The vocational equivalent to Year 12 (Patrick Lim and Tom Karmel); (54) Vocational qualifications, employment status and income: 2006 census analysis (Anne Daly); (55) Weighting the LSAY Programme of International Student Assessment cohorts (Patrick Lim); (56) What is a practical, effective and sustainable approach to leadership development at the Canberra Institute of Technology? (Coralie Daniels); (57) Which paths work for which young people? (Tom Karmel and Shu-Hui Liu); (58) Work, life and VET participation amongst lower-paid workers (Barbara Pocock, Natalie Skinner, Catherine McMahon and Suzanne Pritchard); and (59) Year 12 completion and youth transitions (Chris Ryan). [For the previous edition, "Research Messages 2010," see ED517177.]