Graduate skills, employment and careers

Peter Elias, Institute for Employment Research, University of Warwick

and

Kate Purcell, Employment Studies Research Unit, University of the West of England

Graduate transitions: the last 20 years

• explore assimilation of graduates within labour market

• develop new typology of occupations – used to study occupational change and graduate career paths

• compare experiences of three ‘cohorts’ of graduates

- 1979/80 grads (NCDS and 1980 Graduate Survey)

- 1992 grads (BCS, recontacted 1999/2000)

- 1995 grads (‘Moving On’ recontacted 2002/2003)

• explore movement of these graduates into/between occupational groups as they move through the labour market

• conduct detailed analysis of graduate outcomes 7 years on

Slide 2

Slide 3

Developing the new typology of occupations

• Traditional graduate occupations

• Modern graduate occupations

• New graduate occupations

• Niche graduate occupations

• Non-graduate occupations

Sources of information

• LFS (0.5 million graduates, 1991-2001 on SOC90, 2002-2003 on SOC2000)

• LFS text descriptions of job requirements, 1996/97

• Development work for SOC90 and SOC2000

Slide 4

Slide 5

Traditional graduate occupations

The established professions, for which, historically, the normal route has been via an undergraduate degree programme

• Solicitors

• Medical practitioners

• HE, FE and secondary education teachers

• Biological scientists/biochemists

Modern graduate occupations

Slide 6

The newer professions, particularly in management, IT and creative vocational areas, which graduates have been entering increasingly since educational expansion in the 1960s

• Chartered and certified accountants

• Authors/writers/journalists

• Software engineers, computer programmers

• Primary school and nursery teachers

New graduate occupations

Slide 7

Areas of employment to which graduates have increasingly been recruited in large numbers; mainly new administrative, technical and ‘caring’ occupations

• Marketing & sales, advertising managers

• Physiotherapists, occupational hygienists

• Social workers, probation, welfare officers

• Architectural technicians

• Clothing designers

Niche graduate occupations

Slide 8

Occupations where the majority of incumbents are not graduates, but within which there are stable or growing specialist niches which require higher education skills and knowledge

• Entertainment and sports managers

• Hotel, accommodation managers

• Buyers (non-retail)

• Medical, dental and other scientific technicians

• Nurses, midwives

Non-graduate occupations

Slide 9

Graduates are also found in jobs which are likely to constitute under-utilisation of their higher education skills and knowledge

• Call centre operators

• Sales assistants

• Filing and record clerks

• Debt, rent and cash collectors

• Routine laboratory testers

• Secretarial job, PAs, receptionists

Modern graduate occupations

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Age

% h

oldi

ng a

deg

ree

Men

Women

Slide 10

New graduate occupations

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Age

% h

oldi

ng a

deg

ree

Men

Women

Slide 11

Changing structure of the labour force, 1975 - 2000

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

%

Non-graduate job

Niche graduate job

New graduate job

Modern graduate job

Traditional graduate job

Slide 12

05

1015

2025

3035

4045

50

1 11 21 31 41 51 61 71 81 91 101

111

121

131

141

151

161

171

181

191

201

211

221

Months since graduating

%

Non-graduate jobs (1995 grads)

Non-graduate jobs (1992 grads)

Non-graduate jobs (1979/80 grads)

The movement of graduates out of non-graduate jobs, males

Slide 13

Movement of graduates between 1998/99 and 2002/03

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Traditionalgraduate

job

Moderngraduate

job

Newgraduate

job

Othergraduate

job

Non-graduate

job

Job held in 1998/99

Job held in 2002/03

Slide 14

Movement of graduates out of non-graduate occupations, by type of institution attended

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

% in

non

-gra

duat

e jo

bs in

eac

h m

onth

1 Old university (pre 1960)

2 1960s univ./CATs

3 1992 university

4 HE college (inc teacher training)

Slide 15

Percentage of employed graduates stating that they are using the skills developed on their 1995 degree course

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Traditional graduate job

Modern graduate job

New graduate job

Niche graduate job

Non-graduate job

Slide 16

Category of job in 2002/03 by type of institution where degree obtained

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Old university(pre 1960)

1960s univ./CATs

1992 university

HE college (incteacher training)

Per cent

Traditional graduate job

Modern graduate job

New graduate job

Niche graduate job

Non-graduate job

Slide 17

Category of job in 2002/03 by 1995 Degree Subject

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Arts

Humanities

Languages

Law

Social Sciences

Maths & Computing

Natural Sciences

Medicine & Related

Engineering

Business Studies

Education

Other vocational

Interdisciplinary

TOTAL

Traditional

Modern

New

Niche

Non-graduate

Slide 18

Mean value of measure of 'how appropriate do you think your current (2002/03) job is for

someone with your qualifications?‘(1 = very inappropriate, 7 = ideal)

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Traditionalgraduate job

Moderngraduate job

New graduatejob

Nichegraduate job

Non-graduatejob

Male

Female

Slide 19

Average annual earnings in 2002/03 for 1995 graduates, by type of job

and gender, full-time employees only

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

30000

35000

40000

Traditionalgraduate

job

Moderngraduate

job

Newgraduate

job

Nichegraduate

job

Non-graduate

job

Me

an a

nnua

l gro

ss e

arn

ings

Male

Female

Slide 20

Percentage of 1995 graduates who are ‘not very satisfied’ or ‘dissatisfied’ with the way

their career has developed to date (2002/03), by type of occupation and gender

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Traditionalgraduate job

Moderngraduate job

Newgraduate job

Nichegraduate job

Non-graduate job

% s

tati

ng

'n

ot

very

sati

sfi

ed

' o

r 'd

issati

sfi

ed

' w

ith

care

er

develo

pm

en

t so

far

Male

Female

Slide 21

Percentage of respondents stating that their current (2002/03) job is a 'dead-end'

job, by type of occupation and gender

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

Traditionalgraduate job

Moderngraduate job

Newgraduate job

Nichegraduate job

Non-graduatejob

% s

tati

ng

in

a 'd

ead

en

d' jo

b

Male

Female

Slide 22

Key issues viz graduate skills and jobs

• What do graduates do?

• What skills and knowledge are required in their work and how do these relate to the skills and knowledge developed on undergraduate courses?

• How has the expansion of HE impacted upon the occupational structure and the construction of jobs by employers?

Slide 23

Respondents’ use of skills in current (2002/03) job

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Per cent

Problem solving skills

Numeracy skills

Advanced computing skills

Research skills

Entrepreneurial skills

Management skills

Leadership skills

Team-working skills

Written communication

Spoken communication

Some

A lot

Slide 24

The qualitative investigation

• 200 interviews with a sub-sample of survey respondents (-almost 100 completed)

• Objectives:– To explore ‘How?’, ‘Why?’ and ‘Why not?’ questions –

• reasons for career outcomes;

• opportunities pursued, alternatives considered and perceptions of obstacles;

• the cumulative impact of decisions taken (- time out, obtaining further qualifications, impact of job moves or stability…);

• the actual jobs that graduates do.

• Methodology: structured telephone and face-to-face interviews, transcribed verbatim, analysed with Nvivo software)

Slide 25

The ‘intrinsic’ occupational classification: three elements of ‘graduate occupations’

• EXPERTISE (possession of specialist information, technical virtuosity and knowledge, etc.)

• STRATEGIC SKILLS (ability to co-ordinate, have vision, plan and manage projects and operations, take responsibility, etc.)

• INTERPERSONAL SKILLS (emotional intelligence, persuasion and counselling)

Slide 26

Traditional graduate occupations

EXPERTISE

INTERPERSONAL SKILLS

EXPERT

INTERPERSONAL

MANAGEMENT

Hospital Registrar

Microbiologist

Town/Project Planner

Secondary Teacher

Clinical Psychologist

Research Scientist

University Lecturer

Senior Chemical Engineer

Architect

Naval Architect

Principal Civil Engineer

Research Fellow (Post-doc.)

Senior Analytical Chemist

STRATEGIC SKILLS

Slide 27

Modern graduate occupations

EXPERTISE STRATEGIC SKILLS

INTERPERSONAL SKILLS

EXPERT

INTERPERSONAL

MANAGEMENT

Systems Designer

J ournalist

Service manager (Telecoms)

Client Manager

Statistical Progammer

Software Engineer

Actress

Education Administrator

Programme Manager

Design Engineer

Pricing & Business Analyst

Primary Teacher

Technical Manager

HR Officer

Education development Officer

Senior Surveyor

Business Manager

Technical Author

Production Systems Designer Engineer

Senior Manager (KPMG)

Commerical Specialist

Exec. Research Asst.

Technical Project Manager

Senior Project Co-ordinator

Chartered Tax Advisor

Accountant

External Funding Advisor

Senior Systems Developer

Slide 28

New graduate occupations

EXPERTISE STRATEGIC SKILLS

INTERPERSONAL

EXPERT

INTERPERSONAL

MANAGEMENT

Transport planner

Welfare Advice Worker

Research Co-ordinator

Unit Manager

Conference Consultant

Commercial Manager

HR Advisor/Assistant

PR Manager

Data Communications Administrator

Conference Manager

Recruitment Consultant

Marketing Account Director

Care Manager

Statistician

Operational Researcher

Regional Sales Manager

HR & Marketing Manager

Senior Social Worker

Events Officer

Med Lab Scientific Officer

Account Manager

Slide 29

Niche graduate occupations

EXPERT

INTERPERSONAL

MANAGEMENT

Nurse

Manufacturing BuyerHall Manager

Conference Manager

EXPERTISE MANAGEMENT

INTERPERSONAL SKILLS

Slide 30

Non-graduate occupations

INTERPERSONAL SKILLS

EXPERTISE STRATEGIC SKILLSEXPERT

INTERPERSONAL

MANAGEMENT

Personal Assistant

Sales Assistant

School Secretary

University Admin Officer

Slide 31

NEW GRADUATE – Technical Expert /interpersonal skills

• Unit Manager, large manufacturing company• Salary: £30,000 - £32,999• Degree: Electrical & Electronic Engineering,

2:1, Old University• Production systems management, emphasis

on technical/engineering knowledge & problem-solving, budgetary controls, staff management

Interview 23, male aged 29

Slide 32

NEW GRADUATE - Hard and soft interpersonal skills/specialist

knowledge

• Recruitment Consultant, Resourcing and Business Consultancy

• Salary: £40,000 - £49,999• Psychology, 2:1, 1960s University• Client interface, candidate search,

interviewing and recommendation, pitching for business - presentations, cold-calling...

Interview 51,male aged 32

Slide 33

NEW GRADUATE - Information management, specialist

knowledge, counselling and negotiation skills

• Welfare Advice Worker, Charity - Community project

• Salary: Less than £9,999 (p/t)• History/Social Science, 2:2, HE College• Provision of support/advice on range of

welfare issues, interviewing, home visits...

Interview 12, female aged 40

Slide 34

‘NON-GRADUATE’ job - ‘1990s niche?’ occupations

Grocery manager, large multinational retail corporation;

• Salary £27,000;• Economics 2.2, ‘old’ university;• Dealing with suppliers, developing and

presenting promotional materials, development of promotional plans with regional clients, analysing sales trends, selling products and negotiating orders.

Interview 90,male aged 28

Slide 35

Other ‘NON-GRADUATE’ jobs recorded on the self-completion questionnaire

• Administrators• Civil servants• Countryside rangers• Customer service representatives• Farmers• Detective constables and policemen• Museum Documentation Assistant

Slide 36

Implications• In the graduate labour market there are distinct clusters of

‘graduate jobs’ which attract a graduate earnings premium and after seven years, most graduates have entered one of these.

• The subjective perceptions of the majority of graduates is that they are in appropriate employment for people with their skills and qualifications.

• Career aspirations, earnings and expectations vary considerably among graduates, according to qualifications and occupational area.

• There is little evidence to support the argument that there is an oversupply of graduates. Over the past 25 years, the number of jobs which can accommodate graduates has increased by 3 million. Forecasts suggest this trend will continue.

Slide 37