WORKING OUT? graduates early experiences of the labour market INSTITUTE FOR EMPLOYMENT RESEARCH CSU HIGHER EDUCATION CAREERS SERVICES UNIT
The Higher Education Careers Services Unit (CSU) was founded in 1972 and is a registered charity jointly owned by the CVCP (Committee of Vice Chancellors and Principals) and CSCFC (The Committee of Principals of the Scottish Centrally Funded Colleges) and SCOP (Standing Conference of Principals). Working in partnership with careers services, CSU is responsible for developing and providing a comprehensive range of expert publications and services (THE PROSPECTS SERIES). The Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services (AGCAS) represents the careers services and over 1000 staff in over 130 institutions of Higher Education throughout the UK and Eire. It promotes collaboration in producing information on graduate careers, training & professional development, quality standards, and innovation. It has links with many government departments and agencies involved in HE, industry, and the professions, including a close partnership with CSU. The Institute for Employment Research was established by the University of Warwick in 1981. It aims to promote advanced study and research in areas such as the relationship between the labour market and the rest of the economy, labour market behaviour and policy and influences on them. It has published several studies on the demand for the highly qualified. This work was produced under contract with the Department for Education and Employment. The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Department for Education and Employment or any other Government Department. All Rights Reserved. Small extracts from this document may be photocopied for educational purposes only but should be acknowledged CSU-AGCAS-IER Working Out - Graduates Early Experiences of the Labour Market. Otherwise, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any forms or by any means - electronic, mechanical, photocopying, rewriting or otherwise - without the prior permission of CSU-AGCAS- IER. Any queries regarding research methodology should be addressed to Kate Purcell at Bristol Business School University of the West of England Frenchay Campus Coldharbour Lane Bristol BS16 1QY ISBN 1 84016 064 0 Further copies of this report are available from CSU Ltd, Prospects House, Booth Street East, Manchester M13 9EP Tel: 0161-277 5200 Fax: 0161-277 5210 Photographs inside this publication courtesy of Manchester Metropolitan University, Sheffield Hallam University, University of Edinburgh and UCAS (taken on location at Leicester University) Cover photographs courtesy of Sheffield Hallam University and Photodisk Price Within EC 40 including postage Outside EC 50 including postage All orders must be prepaid in sterling Published by: CSU Limited Printed by: Allied Publicity Services (Manchester) Limited 1999 Higher Education Careers Services Unit, Careers Services Trust, Institute of Employment Research
WORKING OUT? graduates early experiences of the labour market Kate Purcell, Jane Pitcher and Claire Simm follow-up report to GREAT EXPECTATIONS SHORT REPORT January 1999
contents three PREFACE page 4 INTRODUCTION page 5 KEY FINDINGS page 5 WHAT DO GRADUATES DO IN THE NEW LABOUR MARKET? page 6 How important is choice of degree subject? The effect of gender Do age barriers exist? Old versus new universities Is getting a 2.1 important? THE IMPACT OF DEBT page 8 FINDING EMPLOYMENT page 8 SKILLS FOR EMPLOYMENT page 9 THE IMPORTANCE OF WORK EXPERIENCE AND EXTRA-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES page 11 THE ROLE OF CAREERS GUIDANCE page 11 WHAT IS A GRADUATE JOB? page 12 Types of graduate employment A typology of graduate job seekers BIBLIOGRAPHY IBC TABLES 1. Current situation, by area of undergraduate study (%) 2. Current situation, by age (%) FIGURES 1. Current situation, by gender 2. Current situation, by degree level 3. Sources consulted about opportunities available 4. Use of skills, knowledge and aptitudes in current job: graduates who used these very much or quite a lot. 5. Important factors in enabling graduates to obtain their job
four preface This is a short report based on Working Out? which was commissioned by the Higher Education Careers Services Unit (CSU) and the Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services (AGCAS) and undertaken by the Institute for Employment Research (IER) at the University of Warwick. The research was funded by the CSU with support from the Department for Education and Employment. An extended analysis of the survey data is being undertaken by the authors and will be published in due course. In Spring and early Summer 1996, nearly one in three 1 final year undergraduates at 21 UK higher education institutions were surveyed about their plans and aspirations for the future by means of a detailed self-completion survey. After Final Examinations, randomly-selected respondents were invited to attend focus group workshops at ten universities around the country to explore attitudes and particular experiences in more detail. The findings were reported in Great Expectations: the new diversity of graduate skills and aspirations, by Kate Purcell and Jane Pitcher, published by CSU in October 1996. At the end of the Great Expectations questionnaire, respondents were asked to provide their names and addresses if they were willing to be surveyed at a later stage to provide details of how their expectations had been met and their careers were progressing. Over 80% volunteered for this follow-up at the time of completing the first questionnaire and they were surveyed at Christmas 1997, with a second mailing in Spring 1998. This report provides fascinating information about what has happened to them after graduation. Acknowledgement is made to the graduates who participated so willingly, to Patricia Raderecht (Chief Executive of CSU), Margaret Wallis (Director of the Careers Advisory Service at the University of Warwick) who co-ordinated the project, to Daniel Johnson (Labour Market Analyst at CSU) who helped with the typescript, to Ruth Eaton, Steve Haddican and Sharon Walton in the Production Department at CSU, and to Maureen Garcia for her skill, patience and good humour in typing endless drafts of both the questionnaires and the report. The authors of the report were Kate Purcell, Jane Pitcher and Claire Simms at the Institute for Employment at the University of Warwick. Kate Purcell is now Professor of Employment Studies at Bristol Business School, University of the West of England, but remains an Associate Fellow of IER. 1 Excluding those on highly specialist vocational courses such as Art & Design, BEd and Medicine and related courses.
working out? five INTRODUCTION E vidence from research on graduate employment in the 1990s suggests that the impact of growth in higher education participation has led to an increasingly diverse graduate labour market. This follow-up study of 1996 UK-domiciled graduates from a wide range of undergraduate courses and higher education institutions assesses how successfully members of this cohort have been in meeting their expectations of career development, some 18 months beyond graduation. The overall findings are positive. The majority were either in full-time employment which they considered to be related to their longer-term career plans or in postgraduate study. Seventy-one per cent of respondents were very or fairly satisfied with how things were working out for them 18 months after graduation. Of the remainder, half had not yet seriously attempted to embark on career development. The full report explores a range of factors associated with the ease or difficulty experienced by graduates in turning their expectations into reality. Detailed analyses of responses to factual and attitudinal questions have been carried out, by the key variables of gender, age, subject studied, class of degree, type of institution attended, social class of parents and the extent to which respondents had embarked on their undergraduate courses with a clear view of the career path ahead. Where possible, analyses according to ethnic origin and disability were also undertaken. This summary highlights the key findings of the full report and carries out a brief discussion of these supplemented by a selection of figures, tables and statistics from the main report. KEY FINDINGS Choice of course is clearly the single most important variable in determining the segments of the graduate labour market to which new graduates have access: discipline or subject area, performance, type of institution, gender and location also have a significant impact on the options available or perceived to be available to them. As a degree has become an essential prerequisite for a wider range of occupations, graduate employers are becoming more concerned with evidence of skills and competencies and less concerned with qualifications. This means that labour market boundaries and boundaries within organisations have become less rigid and more permeable. Relevant work experience emerges as a key factor in finding suitable employment. Graduates with less sought-after qualifications and experience consequently need to make a realistic assessment of their skills and competencies and the options available to them and find ways of maximising their potential. The onus is on employers who require graduates with employability skills to ensure that there are opportunities for graduates and undergraduates to develop these, by working in collaboration with higher education institutions (Harvey et al. 1998). The graduate labour market is stratified, particularly in areas where the supply of specialists and generalists exceeds demand, but career planning, initiative and perseverance were often as significant as formal qualifications in determining how things worked out for The class of 96.
six There are clearly different types of graduate career trajectory, depending on degree subject, gender, age and the type of university attended WHAT DO GRADUATES DO IN THE NEW GRADUATE LABOUR MARKET? There are clearly different types of graduate career trajectory, depending on degree subject, gender, age and the type of university attended. The diversity of routes into careers shows that first destination results cannot be relied upon as an indication of longer-term success in the graduate labour market. How important is choice of degree subject? Graduates with vocational and numerate degrees were more likely to be in work which they considered appropriate for their skills and qualifications, for which a degree was required, where they used their graduate skills and knowledge and to be in permanent career-related employment. They also had higher salaries on average. Having a degree in Engineering & Technology, Business Studies or Maths & Computing was associated with positive career outcomes and satisfaction with career to date. Graduates with Arts & Humanities, Social Sciences, Natural Sciences and Inter-disciplinary degrees were more likely to have experienced difficulty in finding appropriate employment and were also most likely to have opted for postgraduate study. The effect of gender Men were significantly more likely than women to be in full-time employment which they considered related to their longer-term career plans, for which a degree was a prerequisite, which they believed appropriate for someone with their skills and qualifications and which used their skills and knowledge. A higher proportion of male graduates compared with female graduates were in professional and associate professional occupations, with women being in much higher proportions in clerical and secretarial occupations - many of which were not graduate level jobs. Men earned higher average salaries than women. The gap between male and female graduates expected salary and their actual salary in full-time work 18 months on appeared to have widened: a much higher proportion of men than women were earning more than 15,000 per annum, even when comparing salaries of those in typically graduate occupations and with similar degrees. Current situation, by area of undergraduate study (%) table 1 Current Arts/ Modern Inter- Natural Social Law Business Maths & Engineering & Situation Humanities Languages disciplinary Sciences Sciences Studies Computing Technology Full-time career-related 39.6 45.3 53.9 45.6 43.9 51.2 72.7 72.3 76.2 Part-time career-related 5.9 4.3 4.2 3.1 5.7 2.4 1.6 2.2 0.5 Full-time - other job 22.5 29.5 19.2 17.2 21.2 15.7 15.6 11.4 10.7 Part-time - other job 8.0 5.8 1.8 4.2 7.5 6.3 1.9 1.6 1.0 Self-employed 3.0 2.2 3.6 1.3 2.7 3.1 1.0 0.5 - Postgraduate (+ grant) 13.3 7.9 6.6 17.8 12.2 7.1 3.9 11.4 6.3 Postgraduate (- grant) 8.6 5.0 7.8 6.4 7.5 11.0 2.9 4.3 1.5 Voluntary/unpaid work 4.1 1.4 1.2 3.3 3.6 5.5 0.0 1.1 - Unemployed 3.8 2.2 5.4 5.1 4.5 2.4 2.6 0.5 3.4 Not seeking work 1.5-0.6 0.4 0.6 1.6 0.6 - - Other 8.9 5.8 5.4 6.4 7.2 11.0 3.2 1.6 3.9 All (100%) (n=388) (139) (167) (454) (335) (127) (308) (184) (206)
seven F-T employment related career P-T employment related career F-T employment other P-T employment other Self-employed PG study (with grant) PG study (self-financed) Voluntary Work Unemployed Non-employed 0 10 20 30 40 50 60% Males Females Mature graduates take longer to be assimilated into the labour market at appropriate levels, but most were en route by the time of the survey Current situation, by gender (%) figure 1 Do age barriers exist? Mature graduates take longer to be assimilated into the labour market at appropriate levels, but most were en route by the time of the survey. Graduates under 30 were more likely to be in career-related employment than older graduates. The oldest graduates had most often taken degrees for personal developmental reasons rather than because of employment aspirations. Those aged 40-49 were least likely to believe that their career development expectations had been met and to have experienced difficulty in finding appropriate employment - though few regretted returning to study. They were less likely to have achieved jobs for which a degree was a prerequisite than younger respondents and more likely to express disappointment with their current job and career development so far. Current situation, by age (%) table 2 Current Situation Under 25 26-30 31-39 40 and over Full-time career-related 56.4 55.6 42.2 23.1 Part-time career-related 2.5 2.6 6.7 17.6 Full-time other job 18.2 18.4 15.6 20.4 Part-time other job 3.5 5.3 9.6 11.1 Self-employed 1.1 2.0 4.4 11.1 Postgraduate (+ grant) 11.0 10.5 13.3 6.5 Postgraduate (- grant) 5.4 6.6 11.9 7.4 Voluntary/unpaid work 1.8 2.0 5.2 9.2 Unemployed 3.2 4.6 3.0 9.3 Not seeking work 0.5 0.7 2.2 1.0 Other 5.5 7.2 7.4 9.3 N=2275 (1728) (304) (135) (108)
eight Old versus new universities Is getting a 2.1 important? A good degree is clearly essential for many graduate jobs but respondents reported that employers were often more concerned with work experience and proven competence than formal qualifications Those from old universities were more likely to be in jobs for which a degree was required, which they believed to be appropriate and which used their graduate skills and knowledge. They were also more likely to be satisfied with their career progress to date and less likely to have experienced difficulties in obtaining appropriate employment. Outcomes varied by degree subject. Those who had done vocational courses or courses with a work experience component were more likely than others to be in career-related employment regardless of where they studied. Those with a First Class or Upper Second Class Honours degree were most likely to be in employment which they regarded as appropriate. Contrary to the fears of graduates, a high proportion of those with Lower Second Class Honours or less had been able to obtain employment which they regarded as appropriate and for which a degree was required. A good degree is clearly essential for many graduate jobs but respondents reported that employers were often more concerned with work experience and proven competence than formal qualifications. Current situation by degee level figure 2 F-T employment related to career P-T employment related to career F-T employment (other) P-T employment (other) First or Upper Second Lower Second or Other Self-employed PG (with a grant) PG study (self-financed) Voluntary or unpaid work Unemployed or seeking work Other 0 20 40 60 80 100% THE IMPACT OF DEBT Three-quarters of respondents had had repayable debts at the end of their undergraduate courses and of these, over half had not begun to repay them, 42 per cent had started to do so and only 8 per cent had repaid them in full. A third of those with debts considered that their career options had been restricted as a result. FINDING EMPLOYMENT Nearly half of those who had sought employment considered that they had experienced difficulty in obtaining appropriate employment. National newspapers, family and friends, local newspapers, trade press, graduate vacancy publications and careers guidance staff, in that order, were the most commonly-used sources of information.
nine Academic staff Careers Advisory Staff Professionals in similar work Previous graduates Family & friends Graduate publications Computerised sources National newspaper Local/regional paper Trade press Internet on employers Internet on vacancies The skills most used by graduates in employment were spoken communication, interpersonal skills, ability to prioritise tasks and time management Sources consulted about opportunities available figure 3 Job centre Recruitment agencies Already had job 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80% SKILLS FOR EMPLOYMENT The skills most used by graduates in employment were spoken communication, interpersonal skills, ability to prioritise tasks and time management. At the time of the Great Expectations study, it was clear that those from new universities were most likely to believe that Personal Development and Enterprise or Business skills had been developed in the course of their undergraduate programmes. In their employment, those from both categories of university were being required to use such skills and the gap between those from old and new was considerably less in practice than in the degree to which they had been included in courses. Enterprise or Business skills clearly often had to be developed in employment, after respondents had left higher education. Traditional Academic skills, which were highly developed during most courses, were least used by graduates in employment. The exceptions were those with Mathematics & Computing and Engineering & Technology degrees, whose work was more likely to relate to subject knowledge gained in higher education. The skills that graduates believed were most sought-after by graduate employers were ability to work in a team, interpersonal skills, spoken communication, computer literacy, ability to prioritise tasks and problem-solving skills.
ten Use of skills, knowledge and aptitude in current job: figure 4 1: Traditional academic skills Spoken communication Ability to apply knowledge Logical thinking Computer literacy Written communication Specialist knowledge Ability to use numerical data Critical analysis Research skills 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80% 2: Personal development skills Self-confidence Self-discipline Self-reliance Independence Problem-solving skills Desire to go on learning Awareness strengths/weaknesses Creativity Knowledge international affairs 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80% 3: Enterprise or business skills Interpersonal skills Ability to prioritise tasks Time management Ability to work in a team Presentation skills Leadership skills Entrepreneurial skills 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80%
eleven THE IMPORTANCE OF WORK EXPERIENCE AND EXTRA-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES Employability skills development has increasingly been part of undergraduate programmes and is a strong component of supervised work experience. One of the strongest messages to come out of the research is the importance of work experience in enabling graduates to obtain appropriate employment and, conversely, the extent to which lack of success in the job market was attributed to lack of relevant work experience. These skills are not only developed within programmes but also in vacation employment, other paid work and voluntary activities. Graduates reported that evidence of such activities was often regarded by employers as equally, if not more, important than their course content and degree results. Important factors in enabling graduates to obtain their job figure 5 60% 50 Art/Humanities Modern Languages Social Sciences Law Business Studies Maths/Computing Natural Sciences Engineering/Technology 40 30 20 10 0 Work experience in the organisation Relevant WE in similar organisation THE ROLE OF CAREERS GUIDANCE Paid work experience before Graduates who had used their University Careers Advisory Service were very satisfied with the quality of information and guidance they had received, although there were comments on the imbalance of information available on different options for example, lots about the major graduate recruiters but little about the voluntary sector. Voluntary work Extra-curricular activities There is clearly more scope for both better careers information and guidance prior to course choice and a need for graduate careers guidance for some time after graduation, for those graduates who are not satisfactorily integrated in to the labour market at the early career stage. used their University who had Formal offices Careers Advisory held at university Graduates Service were very satisfied with the quality of information they had received
twelve Around two-thirds of those in employment considered their current job to be an appropriate post for someone with their skills and qualifications WHAT IS A GRADUATE JOB? The answer is that boundaries are far from clear. It is clear that although requirement for a degree in job advertisements may be an appropriate indicator of what constitutes a graduate job those in jobs for which a degree had been required were more likely to believe that they were in an appropriate job and to be satisfied with their career to date many graduates in other jobs believed that they were using their graduate skills and knowledge. If these are included in the definition of graduate jobs, 89 per cent were in graduate jobs at the time of the survey. In October 1996, 45 per cent of those in employment were in jobs for which a degree was required and 34 per cent were in jobs where degrees were not required and where they were using neither their graduate skills nor knowledge. By December 1997, these proportions had changed to 71 per cent and 11 per cent respectively. Around two-thirds of those in employment considered their current job to be an appropriate post for someone with their skills and qualifications. The discrepancy between these proportions is an indication of the changing boundaries of the graduate labour market, as is the significant minority which had experienced difficulty in finding employment which they regarded as appropriate. Gender, age and type of degree obtained were significantly related to employment outcomes. At the time of the survey, the majority of employed graduates were in professional, associate professional and managerial occupations. A significant minority were also in administrative/ clerical and sales occupations, with many graduates in these areas considering themselves to be in jobs appropriate for their skills and qualifications. This indicates some of the ways in which graduate jobs are changing. The largest concentrations of graduate employment were in the service sector: in Consumer Services, Business Services, Banking & Finance, Other Public Services and Education. Types of graduate employment If a graduate job is a job that graduates do we identified six types of graduate employment, which are discussed in the final section of the report: Trad Grads graduates in jobs traditionally requiring degrees; further divided into professional specialist occupations which require particular degree subjects and fast-track management and administrative jobs where degree subject is less important than evidence of general potential, traditionally evaluated by class of degree and elite provenance of degree. Gradual Graduates graduates in trainee or experience-building jobs which provide pathways to more traditional graduate occupations in the professions, management or administration. The New Knowledge Workers mainly relatively new jobs where high information technology skills are required, in sectors such as Finance, Business Services and Communications. The New Persuaders again, often new kinds of job in Business Services, Communications and Customer Services, where high levels of interpersonal and communication skills are required. Carers with Credentials mainly public sector and social welfare posts where, again, excellent interpersonal and management skills are called for. McGrad Jobs which clearly represent underemployment.
This typology does not represent a hierarchy: clearly, under-employment is generally associated with dissatisfaction and low rewards, but in all the other categories, job-holders range from those who believe that they are in the ideal job for them through to the very dissatisfied. Salary level is associated with satisfaction with career development to date, but this varies by sector, occupation and degree subject. The highest salaries tend to be earned by Trad Grad generalists, New Knowledge Workers and New Persuaders, but some of the lowest salaries are also earned by people in these categories, as well as among Carers with Credentials, Gradual Graduates and McGrad jobholders. A typology of graduate job seekers their undergraduate experience or as a result of disappointing degree results but who had considered their realistic options and had set about making the most of the opportunities available; and Drifters, who had not had clear ideas at the outset and were still experimenting with a variety of options or waiting for something to turn up. Some were deliberately drifting by postponing career development for a finite period, but most were unsatisfied with the situation and looking for more appropriate opportunities. BIBLIOGRAPHY Harvey, L, V Geall, and S Moon, 1998, Work Experience: Expanding Opportunities for Graduates, Birmingham: University of Central England Salary level is associated with satisfaction with career development to date, but this varies by sector, occupation and degree subject Employment patterns need to be considered in relation to participation in postgraduate courses and training programmes. It is already clear from this evidence that there are different kinds of graduate career trajectories. High satisfaction with career so far is related to occupation and salary, but many of those taking a longer-term view are, for example, very satisfied to be in relatively low-paid employment, or have postponed serious career development to concentrate on other aspects of life such as travel. Examples of a diverse range of graduate career paths are cited in the full report and show that enterprise, initiative and career planning normally have played a strong role in successful outcomes. We identified three kinds of graduate job-seeker: Purcell, K and J Pitcher, 1996, Great Expectations: the New Diversity of Graduate Skills and Aspirations, Manchester: CSU Purcell, K, J Pitcher and C Simm, 1999, Working Out? Graduates Early Experiences of the Labour Market, Manchester: CSU Career Planners, who had undertaken their courses with a clear view of where they wanted to get to and who were most likely to be in an appropriate job and satisfied with their career development not always without having had to surmount obstacles along the way; Adapters, who had not thought ahead when choosing their course, or who had changed their minds about what they wanted to do in the course of