Research reveals that graduates dominate the media

Citation

(2006), "Research reveals that graduates dominate the media", Education + Training, Vol. 48 No. 8/9. https://doi.org/10.1108/et.2006.00448hab.005

Research reveals that graduates dominate the media

More than two thirds of media workers are graduates, according to research by Skillset, the Sector Skills Council for the audio-visual industries. Around 69 per cent of people working in the media have a degree, compared to 16 per cent of the UK workforce as a whole. Some 44 per cent are media graduates and 56 per cent have a degree in other subjects. Almost 7,000 people working in the media participated in the survey, which reveals that 62 per cent of the workforce is male, 38 per cent had done unpaid work during their careers and 70 per cent got their first job through informal routes such as contacts.

Compared with the wider UK workforce, where 36 per cent are under 35 years and 26 per cent are aged 50 or more, those working in the audio-visual industries are relatively young. Nearly half are under 35 and only 15 per cent aged over 50. Unlike the wider UK workforce, there are proportionally more older men in the audio-visual workforce than there are older women, and proportionally more younger women than there are younger men – 45 per cent of women in the workforce are aged between 25 and 34 years in comparison with 37 per cent of men, and 18 per cent of men are aged 50 years and over compared with 10 per cent of women.

The survey highlights significant training needs to meet the skill demands of an industry characterised by change, and particularly by cutting-edge advances in technology. Two thirds of the workforce (62 per cent) reported a training need mainly to keep up to date with, or improve, current work (60 per cent) and to develop new technical skills (49 per cent). Of those who sought training, 84 per cent reported experiencing barriers such as fees that were too high (42 per cent), and difficulty assessing the quality of training (34 per cent).

The survey also shows that almost a quarter of respondents earned less than £20,000 in the past 12 months, and 38 per cent reported doing unpaid work during their career. More than a third earn between £30,000 and £49,999 and a further 11 per cent earn more than £50,000. However, it remains a difficult industry to break into and progress within – only 27 per cent heard about their most recent job through a traditional recruitment route such as an advertisement.