EMLT Bulletin 07 (September) - EN

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SEPTEMBER, 2015

7

EM G PL RA D O U U N AN IN T YM AT W IV D H E E ES ER A E N TM SI T T UK T IN TY HE ST O ER F

GRADUATE EMPLOYMENT IN THE UK AND AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WESTMINSTER Graduate Employment in the UK Our interest in the education- job mismatch between graduates and the labour market is based on changes in both Higher Education and the demand for graduate employment.

Two factors have influenced the UK graduate labour market over the last twenty or so years: the rising number of people with graduate qualifications and the changing nature of the labour market, that is a change in both supply and demand1.

According to data collected by the Office of National Statistics (ONS, 2013) the proportion of graduates in the population has increased from 17% in 1992 to 38% in 20132. Whilst the labour market has absorbed the majority of these graduates into higher skill jobs, the percentage of employed recent graduates (that is within six years of graduating) employed in low/lower middle skill roles has risen from 26% in 2001 to 38% in 2013. The unemployment rate of graduates is relatively low at 4% and is lower than those educated to A level standard (to 18 years of age) at 5%, and much lower than those with no qualifications at 44%. Therefore, by and large a graduate degree confirms advantages in terms of both finding a job and the skills level of employment.

However, there are gender differences in the employment rates for female and male graduates with 86% female graduates compared to 89% male graduates in graduate jobs.

Graduates also earn more than non-graduates. For example, at the age of 38 (after which pay levels out) a graduate in 2013 could expect to earn on average ÂŁ35,000 per year, compared to ÂŁ22,000 for someone educated to A level standard (although they reach peak earning at the earlier age of 34). There are significant differences in the earnings of graduate related to their degree subject and job.

The top five undergraduate degree subjects in terms of pay are in descending order: medicine; engineering; physical and environmental sciences; architecture; and maths and computer science. There are also gender differences in pay for men and women with a male graduate earning on average, ÂŁ3 more an hour than a female graduate.

Graduates are not equally spread across the employment spectrum. In 2013, 41% of employed graduates were concentrated in public administration, education and health industries compared with 21% graduates employed in banking and finance and 9% in transport and communication. These figures show that the destination for graduates is much more likely to be the service sector rather than manufacturing, a reflection of the nature of the UK economy.

Defining a non-graduate role, after Elias and Purcell (2013), as one which does not require the skills and knowledge acquired at university to do the job competently then nearly half of recent graduates, 47% (compared to 37% in 2001) are in non-graduate roles3 . However, if we look at graduates who have been out of full-time education for more than five years then the figure decreases to 34%. Less than 10% of non-graduates work in jobs requiring a high skill level.

The likelihood of gaining a higher or lower professional job also varies by type of university (de Vries, 2014). Six months after graduation, just over 50% of graduates from post-92 universities are in professional type jobs compared to around 80% of those from Oxbridge.

Not surprisingly employment rates vary by degree, with the employment rate highest at 95% for all graduates with a degree in medicine/dentistry (a graduate is defined as someone who has left education with a qualification above A level). Those with humanities degrees have the lowest employment rate at 84%.

According to de Vries (2014) the proportion of graduates in higher professional jobs from each degree subject in jobs 3.5 years after graduation is highest in medicine and related areas (just below 50%), then STEM subjects – science, technology, engineering and mathematics (about 44%); followed by economics and business (about 33%) and humanities and social sciences (about 17%). The proportion of graduates in higher professional jobs is lowest in hospitality, leisure, sport and tourism (just over 10%). For graduates six months after graduation the proportion from each degree subject in higher and lower level professional jobs is lowest for graduates in design and creative arts (about 33%) and highest for medicine and dentistry (about 98%), which far outstrips any other subject.

A significant number of graduates will certainly end up employed in an area different from their degree subject, not necessarily at a professional level, and may have to wait some time to find a job (perhaps seeking further qualifications in the meantime). For example, in 2014, only 23.4% of people graduating in fine arts had after 6 months a job as an arts, design and media professional. In contrast, 77.9% of economics graduates were employed at graduate level (52.7% in business, HR and finance). Only 39.8% of sociology graduates were employed in jobs considered to be of graduate level (Higher Education Careers Services Unit, 2014).

University of Westminster Data on Graduate Destinations (2015) This data applies to UK students six months after having graduated from the University of Westminster (cohort 2013/14) with undergraduate degrees. Of these, 82.9% are in employment or further study (just below the national average of 84.4%) with 8.3% unemployed (compared to a national average of 9.3%). 48.7% of graduates were in full-time employment and 13.8% in further study. Of those in work 53.4% were working at graduate level (this compares with the national average of 69% for all graduates and over 50% for graduates from post-92 universities, like Westminster).

The highest levels of graduate employment six months from graduating were found amongst students in the faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment at 75.9%; followed by Media, Art and Design at 57.5%; Westminster Business School at 51.8%; Science and Technology at 51.6%; and Social and Humanities at 45.9%. It is not possible to make direct comparisons with national averages as these faculties combine a variety of subjects but the figures tend to follow the national profile (except for Media, Art and Design which has a particularly strong reputation at Westminster).

About the University of Westminster: The University of Westminster, situated in the heart of London, has more than 20,000 students from over 150 nations studying degrees in six faculties – Architecture and Built Environment; Westminster Business School; Science and Technology; Media, Art and Design; Law and Social Sciences and Humanities. We educate graduates for professional life with internationalisation, employability and sustainability representing key elements in the University’s vision for the future.

The UK EMLT team are sociologists based in the faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, which is one of the largest faculties in the university and our Sociology degree was ranked the highest in London with a National Student Survey satisfaction score of 100% for 2014-15.

Celia Jenkins is a specialist in education and research methods; Dorrie Chetty is a specialist in youth and identity and Umit Cetin is a specialist in work and migration. Caroline Barnes and Derrick Wright are both former members of the Sociology department. Caroline is a specialist in work and the body and Derrick is a specialist in work and organisations.

References: • De Vries, R. (2014), Earnings by Degrees: Differences in the career outcomes of UK graduates • Elias, P. and Purcell, K. (2013), ‘Classifying graduate occupations for the knowledge society’. Futuretrack Working Paper No. 5. Warwick Institute for Employment Research.

Available at http://www2.warwich.ac.uk/fac/sco/ier/futuretrack/findings/elias_purcell_ soche_final.pdf [accessed on 22/9/2015] • Higher Education Careers Services Unit (2014), What do graduates do? (based on HESA DLHI Survey) • Higher Education Statistics Agency (2015) Higher Education Student Enrolments and Qualifications Obtained at Higher Education Providers in the United Kingdom 2013/14.

Available at http://www.hesa.ac.uk [accessed on 22/9/2015] • Office of National Statistics (2013), Full Report – Graduates in the UK Labour Market 2013

[1] Unless otherwise stated all statistics are for 2013 [2] A graduate is defined as a person who is aged over 20, not enrolled on any education course and who has a level of higher education above A level standard. Male graduates are agend betwen 21 and 64, female between 21 and 59.

[3] Examples of such jobs are receptionist, sales assistant, many types of factory worker, care worker and home carer.

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