Graduate employment: the class of ’99

Citation

(2006), "Graduate employment: the class of ’99", Education + Training, Vol. 48 No. 2/3. https://doi.org/10.1108/et.2006.00448bab.003

Graduate employment: the class of ’99

Research into the early careers of graduates reveals that most employed university leavers are in graduate-level jobs four years after graduation. The Class of 1999, a study led by Professor Peter Elias, at the University of Warwick Institute of Employment Research, and Professor Kate Purcell, at the Employment Studies Research Unit, at Bristol Business School, details the fortunes of 8,600 graduates from the full range of UK undergraduate courses, ranging from the oldest to most recently established UK universities. The study follows graduates from course completion to four years after leaving university. Job outcomes, earnings, debt, training and further learning were investigated, as well as general satisfaction with the higher education experience.

The study reflected the recent growth in numbers entering higher education and assessed whether the labour market had absorbed the extra graduates at the end of century. It found that the market for graduates remained strong, with 85 per cent of employed graduates in graduate-level jobs four years after leaving university. It also explored issues such as the impact of debt on the career choices made by graduates and whether studying for a degree still represented a good investment.

Key findings four years after graduation were:

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  Almost 85 per cent of employed leavers were in graduate-level jobs.

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  Two-thirds of graduates were in jobs related to their long-term career plans.

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  Only 2-3 per cent of graduates were unemployed.

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  Employers were continuing to value graduates’ skills and continued to pay well for them, with graduates earning, on average, more than £23,800, four years after completing their courses. There was some tentative evidence of a narrowing in the pay gap between graduates and non-graduates, a finding consistent with the view that the increase in graduates is easing high-level skill shortages in some areas.

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  Most graduates were satisfied with their decision to go into higher education.

Bill Rammell, Higher Education Minister, said: “This research provides compelling evidence that graduates are benefiting from the skills, knowledge and experiences that they have obtained through higher education. What is more, graduates continue to earn a substantial return from their degrees.” Professor Elias said: “There has been considerable interest in our finding that the earnings of these graduates have not grown as rapidly as those of previous graduates. However, it remains the case that most graduates will earn significantly more over their lifetimes than non-graduates. A degree remains a worthwhile investment.” The research should give prospective students encouragement, said Professor Purcell: “Nearly all the students we spoke to had good things to say about the value of their higher education. However, our analysis also shows that there remains a significant gender gap in pay. Some 5 per cent of the average difference between male and female earnings remains unaccounted for by any factor other than gender. More than a quarter of a century after the introduction of equal-opportunities legislation, we find that graduate women’s skills and knowledge are still more likely than men’s to be undervalued and under-utilised.”