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Staying around? Brighton and Hove, and its graduates

06 May 2008

Every year, university graduates represent the single largest flow of human capital in the UK. They are highly educated, and importantly, highly mobile workers. This means cities and employers must compete for their services.

New research from the Institute for Employment Studies and The University of Sussex’s Career Development and Employment Centre (CDEC), uses evidence gathered from a large-scale survey of final year students (over 650 students) to shed light on new graduates’ aspirations.

Welcoming the report, Linda Buckham, Director of CDEC at the University of Sussex said:

‘This research is the first part of a longer study to understand more about Sussex graduates, the importance of high-level skills and the contribution graduates play in the local and regional economy. In working in partnership with the Institute for Employment Studies, the University Career Development & Employment Centre wishes to understand more about the talent planning of employers and how high-level skills can contribute to economic growth for the future.’

Brighton and Hove is a vibrant city on the South Coast that has experienced substantial economic growth over the last decade. To sustain economic growth over the next decade and manage the transition to a high value added, knowledge-based economy, Brighton and Hove needs to attract and retain highly-educated knowledge workers in an increasingly competitive labour market. The findings for Brighton & Hove have important, and wider, implications for universities, employers and cities in general.

What attracts students?

• teaching quality (85.5%)
• quality of city life (70.7%)
• first impressions of university (66.6%)
• research reputation (64.2%)

Whilst similar universities place great store by research excellence, this comes a distant second to teaching quality as far as prospective students are concerned. And this creates opportunities for new universities and others who can compete for students on quality of teaching and delivery. It is also the case that prospective students are swayed by their first impressions, often gained from one-day visits. (Universities administrators take note!) But quality of city life is second overall in the minds of prospective students when making their decision. This gives some cities (and universities by default) a head start in the competition for students.

What graduates expect from the world of work

• After 6 months, only 40.5% of graduates expect to be in permanent jobs,
  30.9% expect to be in temporary jobs and 14.7% expect to take time out.
• After 3 years, 61.6% expect to be in permanent jobs,
  12.7% running their own businesses, and 8.9% still taking time out.
• The top 4 desired occupations are
  1. teaching/academic (19.8%)
  2. media/design/art (16.4%)
  3. science/ICT (11.9%)
  4. development/community/charity work (11.6%).
• The top 4 desired sectors are
  1. public sector (33.5%)
  2. creative industries (19.8%)
  3. business services (13.5%)
  4. science/ICT (9.5%)

Our evidence suggests that students expect their transition from university to secure, long-term employment will take time. For many, their initial labour market experience will be a succession of relatively low-paid temporary jobs. Ultimately, the vast majority expect to be in stable employment, with a substantial minority (1 in 8) expecting to be engaged in entrepreneurial activity. In terms of what jobs, the public sector is their favoured destination, although the creative industries are well placed to attract graduate talent. The highly-paid business services sector does not appear to be particularly interesting for the majority of graduates, perhaps reflecting limited work experience during vacations, such as call centre jobs.

What graduates want from employers: opportunities and ethics

• 85.3% of graduates look for employers who provide training and development opportunities. This is particularly important for graduates with no family experience of higher education.
• Pay and other financial benefits are important (73.4%), but much less so than training and development opportunities.
• Graduates also aspire to work for employers with a good industry reputation (71.1%), a sound ethical policy (68.4%), and a sound environmental policy (61.7%).
• They are not particularly bothered about how large or small an employer is, or indeed whether the employer has a history of graduate recruitment.

Our results suggest that employers need to pay more than lip service to ethical and environmental issues if they want to attract graduate talent. It would also appear that career development is a primary concern. Whilst pay is obviously important, employers would be foolish to rely solely on remuneration as a means of marketing themselves to knowledge workers.

What gives a city competitive advantage

• The top 5 factors that make a city attractive to graduates are
  1. friendly atmosphere (90.6%)
  2. availability of affordable housing (85.2%)
  3. good restaurants, cafes, bars, clubs (82.3%)
  4. good public transport (81.2%)
  5. good standard of healthcare (76.8%)
• By contrast, international transport links and road congestion are very minor issues.
• But a city must also provide
  1. genuine graduate level opportunities (77.6%)
  2. decent pay (72.2%)
  3. low unemployment (59.7%)
• These findings suggest that cities that manage to combine a vibrant social scene with good quality public services are well placed to attract graduate talent.

For further information

For further press information about this study and similar work within IES, please contact:

IES: Marc Cowling, Emma Pollard, and Linda Barber on 01273 686751

CDEC, University of Sussex: Bridget Millmore, 01273 678429

CHA: Sarah Pinkerton or Keir Bosley, 020 7622 8252

The Brighton Factor: New graduates and their local labour market. Pollard E, Barber L, Millmore B, Hunt W, Cowling M. IES Report 450, April 2008

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