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What do Graduates do Next?

Connor H, La Valle I, Pollard E, Millmore B
Report 343, Institute for Employment Studies, December 1997

In an earlier study of graduates from Sussex University, it was apparent that many were experiencing a slow and turbulent start to their careers. Two years on, the careers of these same graduates have become more stable and less varied, and the quality of jobs has improved. Most are in jobs, the majority of which are at a high level and relatively well paid, and very few are unemployed.

Compared to two years ago, fewer are now in temporary work, more view their jobs as requiring ‘graduate ability’, and initial perceptions about being underemployed have diminished The vast majority are generally satisfied with their career development to date. Geographical mobility in the last two years has been generally low.

Written as a sequel to What Do Graduates Really Do? (IES, 1996) this research provides a rare perspective on what has become of graduates up to six years after leaving university in the early 1990s.

Where are they now?

Figure 1: Occupations of graduates

Source: IES/CDU surveys 1995 and 1997

By 1997, more graduates had moved into employment: 86 per cent were in jobs compared with 78 per cent two years ago. Unemployment had reduced to four per cent, a similar level to the national average for graduates.

Further study (as a main activity) had reduced slightly from 15 to 12 percent; the majority were doing PhDs. But almost half of the total graduates (44 per cent) had gained a postgraduate qualification by 1997.

Degree discipline was identified as still being the major factor affecting outcomes. Science graduates, especially in biological sciences, were more likely to be in further study, while engineering graduates were by far the most likely to be in jobs in 1997.

Geographical mobility over the last two years had been low: almost one in four were still living locally (ie in the Sussex counties).

Sixty per cent were in a different job to two years ago, but around 70 per cent were with the same employer.

In what kind of jobs?

There has been a general improvement in the ‘quality’ of jobs held by the graduates. The level of jobs had shifted upwards: 88 per cent were now in the top three occupational groups, compared with 78 per cent in 1995. The main increase was in, management & administration (up from 13 to 22 per cent) (see Figure 1).

Salaries had also improved on average: overall just over one in three graduates had annual earnings of £20,000 plus (but 43 per cent of 1991 graduates). The highest earners were graduates in engineering and mathematical science.

Only seven per cent were self-employed (a similar level to 1995), and permanent or continuing contracts were the norm. Temporary working had reduced and now applied to just one in five.

As in the previous survey, a wide range of employment sectors were represented. Media/arts and R&D featured more prominently by 1997. Average size of firm had increased slightly: one in three were in firms of under 200 employees and one in eight in firms of under 20 employees.

Career paths

The two surveys have enabled a detailed picture of career patterns to be built up covering the period 1991-97 which shows the following.

• There is more stability and uniformity in career patterns after about four years (see Figure 2).
• Differences in outcomes by gender and age are evident over the whole time period, though they vary in significance at different times. Degree discipline also has a major influence throughout the period.
• ‘Continuous’ employment is the most common career profile over the six years, but it applies to only around one in four graduates. However, if only the latter two and a half years are considered, two out of three graduates were in ‘continuous employment’.
• After steadily declining over the first three years, the level of further study (as main activity) begins to stabilise and continues at around the one in ten level. This shows a continuing commitment to learning during careers. It includes a number taking up full-time study after a number of years in work.
• The initial ‘bad start’ for 1992 graduates, seen in the previous survey, does not appear to have had a major lasting effect on careers.

Graduates’ views

A higher proportion in 1997 indicated that they felt they were broadly in graduate level employment (up from 80 to 91 per cent). This is likely to be associated with the upward mobility in job level reported above. When questioned about the relevance of their degree to their job:

• 62 per cent said the work required graduate ability, (up from 43 per cent two years ago).
• Considerably more knew that the previous holder of their job had been a graduate (43 per cent) than two years ago (15 per cent).
• 54 per cent said a degree was a formal entry requirement and 67 per cent said it had been helpful in getting the job. These figures have changed slightly over the two years, from 46 and 75 per cent respectively.

Job upgrading had affected a quarter of graduates in jobs where a degree was not an entry qualification but was now felt to require graduate ability.

The level of self-assessed underemployment, though down from 60 to 49 per cent, was still relatively high. The largest drop, however, had been among those who felt very underemployed, now only 12 per cent, compared with 26 per cent two years ago.

Figure 2: Labour market activity since graduation

Source: IES/CDU, 1995 and 1997

Despite this, levels of career satisfaction were generally high: 86 per cent were satisfied with overall career development to date, including 39 per cent who were very satisfied with it. These are higher figures than in 1995. They suggest that underemployment issues may not be viewed by individuals as important in career terms.

Career satisfaction was higher overall among the earlier than later graduate cohorts. Mature graduates and those with lower class degrees had the lowest levels of career satisfaction.

The study

The 1997 survey analysis covered 585 of the graduates who responded to the 1995 survey (64 per cent response) and represents about one in five of the total output of graduates who gained their first degree from the University of Sussex between 1991 and 1993. The research was undertaken as a joint study between IES and the University’s Career Development Unit (CDU) between April and October 1997.

What do Graduates do Next?, Connor H, La Valle I, Pollard E, Millmore B. Report 343, Institute for Employment Studies, 1997.
ISBN: 978-1-85184-271-1. £16.00. [PDF price: £8.00]

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