tag:theconversation.com,2011:/fr/topics/graduate-employment-14293/articlesGraduate employment – The Conversation2023-01-26T17:08:27Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1965492023-01-26T17:08:27Z2023-01-26T17:08:27ZWhat are universities for? Canadian higher education is at a critical crossroads<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505191/original/file-20230118-12-zrgl8s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=11%2C39%2C3782%2C2485&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The University College building at the University of Toronto. Government budget cuts and the race to attract more students are changing the function and purpose of Canadian universities. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In recent years, Canadian provinces such as Ontario and Alberta have been attempting to <a href="https://www.universityaffairs.ca/opinion/in-my-opinion/canadian-universities-are-quietly-being-repurposed">repurpose and reprogram our universities</a> to more narrowly serve the labour market. They’re doing so by adopting <a href="https://academicmatters.ca/the-ugly-side-of-performance-based-funding-for-universities-2/">performance-based funding</a> in the most profound changes the sector has witnessed in decades.</p>
<p>These profound changes are encapsulated by the statements of former Alberta Premier Jason Kenney, who said his government was “<a href="https://calgaryherald.com/news/politics/alberta-taps-industry-heads-to-advise-on-post-secondary-needs">trying to retool the education system</a>.” </p>
<p>Last year, Kenney said government funding for universities should align with the needs of the labour market and criticized university <a href="https://education.macleans.ca/getting-a-job/yes-you-will-get-a-job-with-that-arts-degree/">arts programs</a> which he claimed provided “<a href="https://calgaryherald.com/news/politics/alberta-taps-industry-heads-to-advise-on-post-secondary-needs">very poor</a>” employment prospects for graduates.</p>
<p>It is unsettling to consider the long-term trajectory and the consequences of narrowing universities in their scope to more closely emulate technical and training colleges and the manner in which they serve the current labour market and industry.</p>
<p>Universities already feature a diverse mix of vocational and professional training programs as well as more broadly focused and flexible undergraduate and graduate degrees. There is little to be gained, and much to be lost, by attempting to turn <a href="https://www.universityaffairs.ca/news/news-article/ontario-blurs-the-line-by-expanding-degree-granting-options-for-colleges/">universities and colleges into lesser and more convoluted versions of one another</a>.</p>
<p>Both are necessary to provide a robust and diverse education system. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505705/original/file-20230121-15684-ifczsc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A group of people in graduation robes." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505705/original/file-20230121-15684-ifczsc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505705/original/file-20230121-15684-ifczsc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505705/original/file-20230121-15684-ifczsc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505705/original/file-20230121-15684-ifczsc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505705/original/file-20230121-15684-ifczsc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505705/original/file-20230121-15684-ifczsc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505705/original/file-20230121-15684-ifczsc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Graduates listen during a convocation ceremony at Simon Fraser University, in Burnaby, B.C.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck</span></span>
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<h2>The university’s contributions</h2>
<p>Responding to similar debates in the United Kingdom, former English literature professor Stefan Collini provocatively asked, “<a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/182024/what-are-universities-for-by-collini-stefan/9781846144820">What are universities for?</a>” It is now time Canadians ask that same question. </p>
<p>In that spirit we at the <a href="https://www.uregina.ca/">University of Regina</a> have set to gather many national and international scholars, heads of funding agencies, administrators and policy-makers to engage in discussions on the topic at the appropriately entitled symposium: <a href="https://www.whatareuniversitiesfor.ca/">What Are Universities For? Exploring roles, challenges, conflicting tensions, and promising re-imaginings</a>.</p>
<p>The challenges facing academic institutions demand that we ask such questions, and that we start to grapple with what the answers might be and the legacy we are leaving the next generation.</p>
<p>The university is an entity like no other, and should perhaps be more accurately described as a “<a href="http://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/22777">multiversity</a>.” Urban geography scholar Jean-Paul Addie has listed seven social and economic ways universities benefit society: Being economic engines, changing the face of a city, attracting global talent, building international connections, helping to address societal challenges, fostering creativity and open debate and improving people’s lives.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/seven-ways-universities-benefit-society-81072">Seven ways universities benefit society</a>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505706/original/file-20230121-7984-rn6w4x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A man speaks to a classroom of students." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505706/original/file-20230121-7984-rn6w4x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505706/original/file-20230121-7984-rn6w4x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505706/original/file-20230121-7984-rn6w4x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505706/original/file-20230121-7984-rn6w4x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505706/original/file-20230121-7984-rn6w4x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505706/original/file-20230121-7984-rn6w4x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505706/original/file-20230121-7984-rn6w4x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Universities are about more than preparing people for the workforce. They foster important research and teach students how to think critically.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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<h2>What are universities for?</h2>
<p>At their core, universities are institutions charged with performing <a href="https://cou.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/COU-George-Fallis-The-Mission-of-the-University.pdf">teaching, research and service</a>. Universities are immensely diverse and quite adept at integrating a variety of conflicting demands and purposes: From fostering ground-breaking scientific research, to transmitting and critiquing knowledge, to supplying teachers for our schools and medical personnel to our hospitals.</p>
<p>Intriguingly, if you ask the students themselves about the purpose of higher education, the answer is: it depends. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2020.1830039">Research has found</a> the way students view universities is contingent on how much the education costs. </p>
<p>In countries like Denmark, Germany and Poland, where governments provide greater financial support for university students, there is greater emphasis on the social benefits of higher education. Universities are seen as contributing to a more enlightened and reflective society, and helping their country to be viewed more competitively worldwide.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-the-purpose-of-university-your-answer-may-depend-on-how-much-it-costs-you-151526">What's the purpose of university? Your answer may depend on how much it costs you</a>
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<p>However, in England, Ireland and Spain, where students are expected to shoulder more of the financial cost of their university education, they were more likely to see it as a means to employment.</p>
<p>Canada should avoid pitting these conceptions of higher education against one another. We ought to respect the many and varied benefits of an inclusive, accessible and robust post-secondary education system.</p>
<h2>Canada’s crossroads moment</h2>
<p>Current trends in Canada are a great cause for alarm. <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/220120/cg-c001-eng.htm">Ontario ranks last in the country for university funding</a> as a percentage of total revenue. The government of Alberta has recently <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/alberta/article-postsecondary-students-grapple-with-increased-tuitions-as-a-result-of/">slashed hundreds of millions in funding from the province’s universities</a>. Both provinces are the first to subject their universities to narrowly conceived funding metrics.</p>
<p>Canadians must realize that we are at a critical juncture. Canada’s universities should not be an arena for shortsighted and partisan politicking. We urgently need to ask ourselves what kind of society we hope to maintain, foster and create and link that to how universities can best serve that society.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/196549/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marc Spooner does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Forcing universities to only serve the needs of the labour market undermines their abilities to educate students and conduct research.Marc Spooner, Professor, Faculty of Education, University of ReginaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1731522021-12-06T19:06:21Z2021-12-06T19:06:21ZGraduates lose pay advantage in tougher times, but overall workforce entrants seem surprisingly satisfied<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435768/original/file-20211206-13-1qe9pfs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C6118%2C4082&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Around 400,000 people under the age of 25 leave full-time education and embark on their careers each year. The latest <a href="https://melbourneinstitute.unimelb.edu.au/hilda/publications/hilda-statistical-reports">HILDA Survey Statistical Report</a>, released today, shows how they have been faring since 2001. Full-time work has become harder, and the pay advantage university graduates enjoy has decreased. Yet, overall, new recruits to the workforce remain at least as happy with their jobs as they have been over the past two decades.</p>
<p>Over most of this century, and probably much of the 20th century, getting a foothold in the labour market and progressing up the career ladder has been a significant challenge for these young people. </p>
<p>Today, about 40% find full-time work in their first year out of full-time education. A further 35-40% get part-time work. </p>
<p>Their median hourly earnings are about two-thirds of median earnings of all workers. But, because many don’t have full-time jobs, their median weekly earnings are just over half those of the median worker.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/students-choice-of-university-has-no-effect-on-new-graduate-pay-and-a-small-impact-later-on-what-they-study-matters-more-171491">Students' choice of university has no effect on new graduate pay, and a small impact later on. What they study matters more</a>
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<p>Five years after entering the workforce, about 85% are employed, two-thirds of them full-time. Earnings have also increased relative to the median worker five years after entry, but remain about 10% lower. </p>
<p>The educational attainment of young new entrants has increased considerably since 2001. The proportion with a university degree has increased from 15% in the early 2000s to 23% in recent years. The proportion who did not complete high school has halved from 24% to 12%. </p>
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<h2>Poorer rewards for better qualifications</h2>
<p>Despite having better qualifications, young people’s employment outcomes and trajectories have not improved at all. Indeed, since the boom years before the global financial crisis (GFC), there has been a marked deterioration.</p>
<p>Full-time employment in the year of labour market entry has fallen from 50% to 41%. Unemployment has risen from 8.4% to 11.2%. Full-time employment rates in the following years have similarly fallen.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/1-in-4-unemployed-australians-has-a-degree-how-did-we-get-to-this-point-156867">1 in 4 unemployed Australians has a degree. How did we get to this point?</a>
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<p>The fall was most dramatic between the pre-GFC boom years (2004-2007) and the 2012-2015 period, and has been especially large for university graduates. </p>
<p>Those graduating in the pre-GFC boom years had a full-time employment rate of 68%. This fell to 53% for those graduating between 2012 and 2015.</p>
<p>In the boom years, graduates’ median earnings were 97% of overall median earnings in the year after graduation. By 2012-15, that proportion had fallen to only 82%. </p>
<p>There has since been a slight improvement. Some 56% of those who graduated between 2016 and 2018 were employed full-time in the year following graduation. However, outcomes for graduates were still considerably down on the early years of this century. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435788/original/file-20211206-68670-1ox6ut3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Vertical bar chart showing new graduates' rates of full-time employment and earnings compared to other workers, 2004-18" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435788/original/file-20211206-68670-1ox6ut3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435788/original/file-20211206-68670-1ox6ut3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=379&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435788/original/file-20211206-68670-1ox6ut3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=379&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435788/original/file-20211206-68670-1ox6ut3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=379&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435788/original/file-20211206-68670-1ox6ut3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435788/original/file-20211206-68670-1ox6ut3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435788/original/file-20211206-68670-1ox6ut3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://melbourneinstitute.unimelb.edu.au/hilda/publications/hilda-statistical-reports">Chart: The Conversation. Data: HILDA Survey 2021</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/want-to-improve-your-chances-of-getting-a-full-time-job-a-double-degree-can-do-that-157306">Want to improve your chances of getting a full-time job? A double degree can do that</a>
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<p>Perhaps most striking is the decline in the relative earnings of university graduates in the years after they join the workforce. Career trajectories are now considerably “flatter” for more recent graduates. </p>
<p>For example, five years after entering the workforce, median earnings for those graduating in the first three years of this century were 23% greater than overall median earnings. By contrast, for graduates who entered the labour market in 2013 and 2014, median earnings five years later were still slightly below overall median earnings.</p>
<h2>More part-timers, paid less, but fairly satisfied</h2>
<p>In short, new entrants to the workforce are more likely to be part-time and paid less relative to the general population of workers. Curiously, however, they do not seem to be unhappy about their jobs. In some ways, quite the reverse is true.</p>
<p>The HILDA Survey measures workers’ satisfaction with a variety of aspects of their jobs. These aspects include the job overall, pay, job security and flexibility to balance work and non-work commitments. </p>
<p>Moreover, a battery of questions are administered each year that provide measures of “job quality”. These include the extent to which the job makes (excessive) demands of the worker, the level of autonomy the worker has, the interest and variety of the work, the security of employment and the fairness of the pay.</p>
<p>On all of these measures of job satisfaction and job quality, young new entrants report their jobs being at least as good now as they did in the early years of this century. </p>
<iframe title="Job satisfaction of employed new entrants, 2001-19" aria-label="Interactive line chart" id="datawrapper-chart-CjGEM" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/CjGEM/1/" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border: none;" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>It is of course possible that job quality has on average improved. Aspects that come to mind include job security, flexibility to balance work and non-work commitments, job demands, autonomy and task variety.</p>
<p>However, it remains somewhat perplexing that, on a 0-10 scale (0 represents complete dissatisfaction and 10 complete satisfaction), average satisfaction with pay has increased from 6.7 to 7.4 between early this century and recent years. Similarly, average agreement of workers with the statement that they are fairly paid has risen from 4.4 to 4.9 on a 1-7 scale (1 corresponds to strong disagreement and 7 to strong agreement).</p>
<p>Objectively, pay has declined for new entrants relative to the broader workforce, particularly for university graduates. It therefore seems new entrants’ expectations have been recalibrated to reflect the harsher reality of the modern labour market.</p>
<p>Still, it is hard to understand why subjective assessments of jobs have <em>improved</em> in the context of objective data to the contrary. Perhaps young new entrants have lowered their expectations too much.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/173152/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Roger Wilkins receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p>Rates of full-time employment and pay relative to other workers have fallen for the latest generation of new workers. Yet the HILDA Survey shows their reported job satisfaction has risen.Roger Wilkins, Professorial Fellow and Deputy Director (Research), HILDA Survey, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1714912021-11-10T19:08:21Z2021-11-10T19:08:21ZStudents’ choice of university has no effect on new graduate pay, and a small impact later on. What they study matters more<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/431218/original/file-20211110-27-p73c7z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=455%2C0%2C3781%2C2476&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Every year in Australia school leavers suffer ATAR anxiety, worrying about whether they will get into their preferred course and university. <a href="https://www.qilt.edu.au/general/article/2021/11/04/graduate-incomes-data">New research</a> by the Commonwealth Department of Education, using Australian Taxation Office earnings data, examines in detail how much difference what a person studies, and where, makes to their future income. </p>
<p>It finds students’ course choices matter more than their choice of university. Qualifications in some fields of study lead to much higher incomes nine years after graduation. Which university a student attends has little influence on short-term graduate earnings, but differences emerge over time. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/lets-not-focus-on-graduate-incomes-when-assessing-the-worth-of-education-106168">Let's not focus on graduate incomes when assessing the worth of education</a>
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<h2>Why might graduates of some universities earn more?</h2>
<p>We would expect some university effect on earnings. Universities vary in their teaching quality, at least as <a href="https://www.qilt.edu.au/surveys/student-experience-survey-(ses)">measured by student satisfaction</a>. In theory, those whose graduates learn more could expect labour market rewards. </p>
<p>Whether justified by objective learning gains or not, some universities are better known and more prestigious than others. This could influence employers when choosing between job applicants.</p>
<p>And some universities, especially those with many full-time and on-campus undergraduates, offer greater networking opportunities. The people met at university could open up employment and business opportunities. </p>
<h2>Why might graduates of some courses earn more?</h2>
<p>Previous research shows <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/mapping-australian-higher-education-2018/">graduate earnings vary greatly</a> according to a degree’s field of education. </p>
<p>Some degrees are entry points to specific occupations. The pay for those jobs is a major influence on graduate earnings. Other degrees provide more general skills that are valued to a greater or lesser extent in the labour market. </p>
<p>These differences reflect market conditions, occupational regulation and political decisions more than how good either the university or the graduate might be. University and graduate factors can influence who gets hired and promoted, but job markets set the salary range. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/want-to-improve-your-chances-of-getting-a-full-time-job-a-double-degree-can-do-that-157306">Want to improve your chances of getting a full-time job? A double degree can do that</a>
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<h2>What do the department’s results show?</h2>
<p>The Department of Education’s <a href="https://qilt.edu.au/docs/default-source/default-document-library/bachelor-graduate-incomes-report.docx?sfvrsn=11c4e648_0">graduate income report</a> and <a href="https://qilt.edu.au/docs/default-source/default-document-library/graduate-incomes-2017_18.xlsx?sfvrsn=8dc8da2_0">accompanying spreadsheets</a> show earnings at various time points after graduation. I will mainly discuss the medium-term results, as at 2017-18 for people who graduated in the late 2000s. </p>
<p>As the chart shows, bachelor degree earnings differ significantly by the field of study nine years after graduation. At the high end, half of medical graduates reported annual incomes of A$149,500 or more (the median). A quarter earned $206,900 or more (the 75th percentile). The equivalent figures for performing arts were $53,000 and $80,300. </p>
<p>The overall results (including fields not shown here) were a median of $77,100 and a 75th percentile of $102,600. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/431223/original/file-20211110-22-1hj2a0k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Bar chart showing median and 75th percentile earnings for bachelor degree graduates in 2017-18 by profession" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/431223/original/file-20211110-22-1hj2a0k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/431223/original/file-20211110-22-1hj2a0k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=349&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/431223/original/file-20211110-22-1hj2a0k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=349&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/431223/original/file-20211110-22-1hj2a0k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=349&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/431223/original/file-20211110-22-1hj2a0k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/431223/original/file-20211110-22-1hj2a0k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/431223/original/file-20211110-22-1hj2a0k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Source: Author/ANU. Data: DESE graduate income data from Australian Taxation Office records</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>The <a href="https://qilt.edu.au/docs/default-source/default-document-library/bachelor-graduate-incomes-report.docx?sfvrsn=11c4e648_0">department’s statistical analysis</a> shows substantial course differences persist after taking into account university attended and personal characteristics such as gender, socioeconomic background and ATAR. For example, compared to business and management graduates, law and engineering graduates earn an extra $11,000 a year. </p>
<p>Much of the apparent variation in earnings between universities reflects differences in enrolment patterns. For example, universities with more graduates in high-paying fields such as medicine, law and engineering end up with higher median earnings than universities that focus on teaching or nursing. </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/think-our-unis-are-all-much-the-same-look-more-closely-and-you-will-find-diversity-164319">Think our unis are all much the same? Look more closely and you will find diversity</a>
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<p>The department’s analysis does show, however, that a decade after leaving university Group of Eight (<a href="https://go8.edu.au/">Go8</a>) graduates earn about $4,300 a year more than others from a comparison group of universities. Australian Technology Network (<a href="https://www.atn.edu.au/">ATN</a>) university graduates also earn more than non-Go8 graduates. These findings take into account course taken and personal characteristics such as gender, socioeconomic background and ATAR.</p>
<h2>Does this change our understanding of graduate outcomes?</h2>
<p>These findings confirm general patterns observed in previous research. They do so in ways that give us more confidence in earlier results. </p>
<p>Several studies have found either <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/818-mapping-background-20141.pdf">no</a> or a <a href="https://www.voced.edu.au/content/ngv%3A79644">small</a> Go8 salary advantage for new graduates, after taking into account other factors known to influence graduate pay. The short-term results (one to two years after graduation) using ATO data also report no such advantage. </p>
<p>These findings count against strong prestige effects. If there were such effects, we would expect these to be greatest early in graduates’ careers, before they have had a chance to demonstrate their quality to employers. </p>
<p>Before now, longer-term earnings by university have been very difficult to analyse. Few data sources record both income and university attended more than three years after graduation. </p>
<p>The main exception has been the <a href="https://melbourneinstitute.unimelb.edu.au/hilda">HILDA survey</a>. Its data were used in <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/818-mapping-background-20141.pdf">a study I co-authored</a> at the Grattan Institute in 2014 and <a href="https://espace.curtin.edu.au/bitstream/20.500.11937/9628/2/240933_240933.pdf">a later one</a> by Curtin University researchers. </p>
<p>Both these studies found small university and larger course effects on income. The Grattan paper also found Go8 and ATN graduates doing slightly better. The Curtin paper found an earnings disadvantage for regional university graduates, with other university grouping differences not statistically significant. </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-does-your-choice-of-university-affect-your-future-45699">How does your choice of university affect your future?</a>
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<p>At the time of the Grattan paper there was some surprise that the university differences were not larger. Given the modest number of graduates in the HILDA sample, including people who finished university at many different times, its findings needed to be checked using other data sources. </p>
<p>The Department of Education’s analysis includes most graduates who finished in the same year. It both provides a much larger sample and lets us compare people at similar points in their career who faced common economic conditions. The strong parallels between the HILDA and ATO-based findings give us confidence the conclusions are right.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1458195949147365377"}"></div></p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/surveys-are-not-the-best-way-to-measure-the-performance-of-australian-universities-90166">Surveys are not the best way to measure the performance of Australian universities</a>
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<h2>Caveats and suggestions</h2>
<p>While a significant step forward, the ATO data source has some weaknesses. It relies on students borrowing under the HELP loan scheme to create the link between tax file numbers and enrolment records. The analysis excludes international students and domestic students who paid their fees up-front. </p>
<p>For future work using the ATO data I suggest looking at the effects of local labour markets. After taking into account courses taken and student characteristics, most of the universities showing earnings premiums are in NSW or the ACT. </p>
<p>Have universities there found a special strategy for improving graduate outcomes? Or are there simply more well-paid jobs in Sydney and Canberra? With the Grattan and Curtin papers both finding a NSW premium, the second explanation looks most plausible. </p>
<h2>Will student choices change?</h2>
<p>The ATO data show significant differences in earnings by course taken, but this is already well-known and probably won’t change students’ course choices. <a href="https://andrewnorton.net.au/2020/06/21/jobs-interests-and-student-course-choices/">Student interests</a> primarily shape these choices. </p>
<p>Within a prospective student’s range of interests, labour market prospects affect choices, but job availability is the <a href="https://andrewnorton.net.au/2020/06/28/financial-influences-on-job-seeking-university-applicants/">main driver of shifts in applications</a>. Nursing, which recorded a <a href="https://andrewnorton.net.au/2021/10/25/the-first-job-ready-graduates-university-applications-data/">big increase in applications</a> for 2021, may not lead to high salaries but is a reliable source of flexible employment. </p>
<p>On university choice, the main message is that earnings should only be a small factor in students’ decision-making. University attended explains only a small proportion of all the variation in graduate income. </p>
<p>A degree from a Go8 university is not going to open many doors that would otherwise be closed. A wide range of personal, occupational, firm, industry and broader economic factors influence long-term earnings.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/171491/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Norton has worked on projects funded by the Department of Education, Skills and Employment that include analysis of post-school outcomes. </span></em></p>Most of the universities whose graduates earn more after nine years in the workforce are in NSW and ACT. That suggests it’s more about where the best-paid jobs are than the universities themselves.Andrew Norton, Professor in the Practice of Higher Education Policy, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1573062021-04-21T20:14:32Z2021-04-21T20:14:32ZWant to improve your chances of getting a full-time job? A double degree can do that<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395910/original/file-20210420-15-14mf9l2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C10%2C3356%2C2220&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/beautiful-girl-students-happy-after-graduation-1082692739">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Career-related motivations are among the <a href="https://melbourne-cshe.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0016/1513123/FYE-2014-FULL-report-FINAL-web.pdf">most important factors</a> in Australian students’ decision to undertake higher education. This means universities must demonstrate their graduates’ ability to find work when seeking to recruit students in an increasingly competitive tertiary education marketplace. Our research shows double degrees (students study for two degrees at once) can greatly improve new graduates’ prospects of finding full-time work. </p>
<p>Some combinations increased the success rate by as much as 40% compared to students with a single “generalist” degree. The gains were biggest for students in the arts and sciences. </p>
<p>Yet double degrees are often overlooked as a way to improve graduates’ employability. Universities’ efforts to improve graduates’ employment outcomes generally focus on curricular and extracurricular programs such as work-integrated learning, internships and workshops. These will continue to grow in importance, as graduates are increasingly competing in a labour market where the supply of high-quality graduate jobs is <a href="https://www.afr.com/work-and-careers/careers/new-flinders-university-study-reveals-a-puzzle-in-the-graduate-job-market-20161006-grws5z">failing to keep up with the production of graduates</a>.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/1-in-4-unemployed-australians-has-a-degree-how-did-we-get-to-this-point-156867">1 in 4 unemployed Australians has a degree. How did we get to this point?</a>
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<p>However, recent Monash University research, as yet unpublished, shows something even more fundamental to universities — the structure of our educational offerings – can have a major impact on graduates’ employment outcomes. In particular, offering double degrees for undergraduates can make a significant difference.</p>
<h2>Why offer double degrees?</h2>
<p>Monash University has had a long-term focus on strengthening its double-degree offerings. The aim is to give students a more versatile skill set that increases their career flexibility and opportunities. </p>
<p>This focus on double degrees involves a huge resource commitment. It shapes many facets of Monash’s operations, from the design of our courses to the physical layout of our campuses.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/396210/original/file-20210421-15-9ttgnp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Table showing numbers of Monash University graduates with single and double degrees in various disciplines" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/396210/original/file-20210421-15-9ttgnp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/396210/original/file-20210421-15-9ttgnp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396210/original/file-20210421-15-9ttgnp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396210/original/file-20210421-15-9ttgnp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396210/original/file-20210421-15-9ttgnp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=650&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396210/original/file-20210421-15-9ttgnp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=650&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396210/original/file-20210421-15-9ttgnp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=650&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<p>Our approach is designed to prepare graduates to adapt to varying labour market demand for skills across different academic disciplines. The demand for specific disciplines expands and contracts based on economic forces that are often hard to predict. </p>
<p>A problem graduates then face is that the skills acquired in one academic discipline are not universally transferable. A student completing a law degree, for example, might be highly capable, but would struggle to leverage their skills (at least without substantial retraining) to become an engineer if that discipline was in greater demand. To improve employment outcomes, then, graduates need a broad skill set that allows them to be productive across different sectors.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/cheaper-courses-wont-help-graduates-get-jobs-they-need-good-careers-advice-and-links-with-employers-141270">Cheaper courses won't help graduates get jobs – they need good careers advice and links with employers</a>
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</em>
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<h2>What did the research find?</h2>
<p>When the results of the most recent national <a href="https://www.qilt.edu.au/qilt-surveys/graduate-employment">Graduate Outcomes Survey</a> were released, a key question for Monash was whether our investment in double degrees had helped graduates weather the labour market shocks of the pandemic. The national employment rate for new graduates fell from 72.5% in 2019 to 69.1% in 2020.</p>
<p>We examined undergraduate employment rates across Monash’s faculties based on whether students had undertaken double degrees. This yielded a number of interesting findings.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/396205/original/file-20210421-13-1tyua3y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Chart showing percentages of graduates in full-time work by degree or double-degree category" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/396205/original/file-20210421-13-1tyua3y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/396205/original/file-20210421-13-1tyua3y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=711&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396205/original/file-20210421-13-1tyua3y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=711&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396205/original/file-20210421-13-1tyua3y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=711&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396205/original/file-20210421-13-1tyua3y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=893&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396205/original/file-20210421-13-1tyua3y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=893&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396205/original/file-20210421-13-1tyua3y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=893&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<p>First, double-degree students have significantly higher full-time (FT) employment rates around six months after course completion for second degrees in humanities and social sciences (HASS) and in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). </p>
<p>Second, we found this effect is greatest for so-called “generalist” degrees. These do not have career pathways as clearly defined as other disciplines. Specifically, graduates from courses in science and in arts/art, design and architecture were much more likely to find full-time work if they completed a double degree.</p>
<p>The effect is less pronounced for more vocationally oriented courses, such as education, engineering (paired with STEM) and law (paired with HASS). This is not to suggest double degrees are not valuable for students in these disciplines. Double degrees allow students to keep their options open, insulating them somewhat from the notoriously unpredictable supply and demand for graduate skills.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/humanities-graduates-earn-more-than-those-who-study-science-and-maths-141112">Humanities graduates earn more than those who study science and maths</a>
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<h2>Isn’t it just the kind of person who does double degrees?</h2>
<p>These results prompted the question: are double degrees responsible for these strong employment outcomes, or are the people who study double degrees inherently more employable to begin with? In other words, do double degrees improve graduate employability, or do they merely reflect graduate employability? </p>
<p>To investigate this, we modelled graduate employment based on double-degree completion and students’ background characteristics. The effect held — the advantage associated with double degrees does not appear to be simply an artefact of the type of individual who chose to enrol in one.</p>
<p>Ultimately, Monash’s commitment to double degrees played a substantial role in achieving the highest full-time undergraduate employment rate of Victorian-based universities in 2020.</p>
<h2>What explains the employability benefit?</h2>
<p>So, why do double degrees give graduates such an advantage in the labour market? This is a much harder question to answer. </p>
<p>There is likely to be a human capital benefit, in that double-degree holders have gained a greater depth and breadth of skills than those with single degrees. The labour market recognises this through a greater likelihood of receiving a job offer. </p>
<p>There is likely also to be a signalling benefit as employers, faced with very little information on the productivity of the graduates sitting opposite them in job interviews, use the double degree as a sign of their productivity. It’s likely they make offers to graduates on this basis.</p>
<p>In a practical sense, the mechanism behind the effect of double degrees on employability is less important than the existence of the effect itself. Whether the effect is due to human capital factors, signalling or their combined effect, double degrees offer a significant employment benefit to the students who complete them and to the universities that develop and promote them.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/157306/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Completing two degrees at the same time can increase graduates’ rate of success in finding full-time work by up to 40%.David Carroll, Researcher and Senior Manager, Strategic Information, Monash UniversityKris Ryan, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Academic), Monash UniversitySusan Elliott, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Education), Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1568672021-03-28T19:07:26Z2021-03-28T19:07:26Z1 in 4 unemployed Australians has a degree. How did we get to this point?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391601/original/file-20210325-15-38a2es.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C49%2C5472%2C3587&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/side-body-young-asian-woman-student-1322117684">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A series of government policy reforms over recent decades aimed to increase the proportion of Australian workers with university degrees. They got that result, but what they did not expect to see was that almost one in four unemployed people would have a degree (although employees with a degree appear to have fared better during the COVID-related job losses). And more than one in four graduates can expect to be either unemployed or underemployed four months after completing their undergraduate degree. So how did that happen?</p>
<p>More than 30 years ago the Australian government initiated a plan that would give more Australians access to university education. The government wanted <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/07294360.2021.1877623">equity objectives to become a priority</a> of higher education management planning and review. The reforms paved the way for no upfront student fee payments and <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/Publications_Archive/archive/hecs">income-contingent loans</a>. </p>
<p>The goal of expanding university places was that, in time, Australian universities would be diverse in a way that <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ689631">reflected the general population</a>. Specific <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/07294360.2021.1877623">under-represented groups were targeted</a>. They included women, students with a disability, Indigenous students, students from poorer families, students from non-English-speaking backgrounds, and students from regional and remote areas.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/universities-have-gone-from-being-a-place-of-privilege-to-a-competitive-market-what-will-they-be-after-coronavirus-137877">Universities have gone from being a place of privilege to a competitive market. What will they be after coronavirus?</a>
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<hr>
<h2>The success stories</h2>
<p>The reforms, have, in part, achieved the desired outcomes. Universities today do better reflect the general population. Australia has also greatly increased the number of people graduating with higher education qualifications, as the chart below shows. </p>
<iframe title="Graduate numbers Australia-wide, 1989-2019" aria-label="chart" id="datawrapper-chart-bQavw" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/bQavw/1/" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border: none;" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Domestic female graduates, who were <a href="https://www.voced.edu.au/content/ngv%3A9695">one of the target groups</a>, now consistently outnumber domestic male graduates. Students with a disability, Indigenous students, students from low socioeconomic backgrounds and students from regional and remote areas have all had <a href="https://www.universitiesaustralia.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Data-snapshot-2019-FINAL.pdf">significant increases in enrolments</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Chart showing increases in domestic undergraduate student equity groups from 2008 to 2017" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391565/original/file-20210324-17-1txx5vx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391565/original/file-20210324-17-1txx5vx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391565/original/file-20210324-17-1txx5vx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391565/original/file-20210324-17-1txx5vx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391565/original/file-20210324-17-1txx5vx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=489&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391565/original/file-20210324-17-1txx5vx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=489&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391565/original/file-20210324-17-1txx5vx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=489&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.universitiesaustralia.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Data-snapshot-2019-FINAL.pdf">Data: Universities Australia</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-degree-promises-a-better-life-but-social-mobility-has-a-downside-too-150535">A degree promises a better life but social mobility has a downside too</a>
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<hr>
<p>Another success story is the large increase in working Australians who hold a university degree. From 1993 to 2013 the proportion increased <a href="https://www.readcube.com/articles/10.1111/1467-8462.12085?r3_referer=wol&tracking_action=preview_click&show_checkout=1&purchase_referrer=onlinelibrary.wiley.com&purchase_site_license=LICENSE_DENIED">from 12.4% to 27.9%</a>. It continues to increase to this day.</p>
<p>In May 2019, 12,921,100 people were employed in the Australian labour market. Of those, <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/labour/employment-and-unemployment/labour-force-australia-detailed-quarterly/latest-release">4,317,500 (33.4%)</a> held a university degree. In February 2020, 13,048,200 people were in work and 35.13% held a degree. By November 2020, the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic had reduced the labour force to 12,909,000. However, 4,763,400, or 36.89%, held a degree. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391577/original/file-20210324-23-u46yu6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Chart showing total labour force numbers and numbers and percentages of employees with degrees" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391577/original/file-20210324-23-u46yu6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391577/original/file-20210324-23-u46yu6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=192&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391577/original/file-20210324-23-u46yu6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=192&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391577/original/file-20210324-23-u46yu6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=192&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391577/original/file-20210324-23-u46yu6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=241&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391577/original/file-20210324-23-u46yu6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=241&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391577/original/file-20210324-23-u46yu6.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=241&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/labour/employment-and-unemployment/labour-force-australia-detailed-quarterly/latest-release">ABS Labour Force, Australia, Detailed, Quarterly</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>So while the total number of people in work was slightly lower in November 2020 than in May 2019, degree holders fared better during the pandemic. They continued to increase both in number of employees and as a proportion of the workforce.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/university-students-arent-cogs-in-a-market-they-need-more-than-a-narrow-focus-on-skills-140058">University students aren't cogs in a market. They need more than a narrow focus on 'skills'</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>But graduate jobs are harder to find</h2>
<p>However, the unintended and concerning statistics that resulted from policy reforms relate to the increases in unemployed people with a university degree. </p>
<p>For example, in May 2019 the number of unemployed was 694,900 but the number of <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/labour/employment-and-unemployment/labour-force-australia-detailed-quarterly/latest-release">unemployed with a university degree was 129,900</a>, or 18.7%. In February 2020, just before the pandemic hit Australia, there were 761,100 unemployed. Of those 22.45% held a degree. By November 2020, the percentage of unemployed with a degree had <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/labour/employment-and-unemployment/labour-force-australia-detailed-quarterly/latest-release">risen to 23.29%</a>, or almost one in four.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391572/original/file-20210324-19-cq9dem.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Chart showing proportions of unemployed people with degrees, May 2019 to Nov 2020" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391572/original/file-20210324-19-cq9dem.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391572/original/file-20210324-19-cq9dem.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=192&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391572/original/file-20210324-19-cq9dem.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=192&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391572/original/file-20210324-19-cq9dem.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=192&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391572/original/file-20210324-19-cq9dem.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=241&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391572/original/file-20210324-19-cq9dem.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=241&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391572/original/file-20210324-19-cq9dem.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=241&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/allprimarymainfeatures/5F60A449AE6DE5F6CA258090000ED52A?opendocument">ABS Labour Force, Australia, Detailed, Quarterly</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While the pandemic is largely responsible for the rise in unemployment, we also have a larger pool of eligible workers with university degrees. So it makes sense that, particularly in such challenging times, the number of unemployed with a university degree will increase.</p>
<p>Even so, prior to COVID-19, a large percentage of university graduates found it difficult to find full-time work. The <a href="https://www.qilt.edu.au/docs/default-source/gos-reports/2019-gos-l/2019-gos-l-national-report.pdf?sfvrsn=63fdec3c_4">2019 Graduate Outcomes Survey-Longitudinal</a> (GOS-L) showed many take time to find full-time graduate employment.</p>
<p>The GOS-L assessed the short-term (four months) and medium-term (three years) outcomes of graduates. It was based on a cohort analysis of graduates who responded to both the 2016 Australian <a href="https://www.qilt.edu.au/qilt-surveys/graduate-employment">Graduate Outcomes Survey</a> and the 2019 GOS-L. Graduates included those who completed undergraduate, postgraduate coursework and postgraduate research degrees. </p>
<p>The table below shows the outcomes for these 42,466 graduates within four months of completing their degree in 2016 and again in 2019, three years after graduating.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391854/original/file-20210325-13-zgx6gw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Chart showing the percentages of 2016 graduates with full-time employment at 4 months and 3 years after completion" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391854/original/file-20210325-13-zgx6gw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391854/original/file-20210325-13-zgx6gw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=226&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391854/original/file-20210325-13-zgx6gw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=226&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391854/original/file-20210325-13-zgx6gw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=226&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391854/original/file-20210325-13-zgx6gw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=284&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391854/original/file-20210325-13-zgx6gw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=284&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391854/original/file-20210325-13-zgx6gw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=284&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.qilt.edu.au/qilt-surveys/graduate-employment">2016 Australian Graduate Survey, 2019 GOS-L</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Significantly, 27.4% of undergraduate graduates were unemployed or underemployed four months after completing their degree.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/universities-dont-control-the-labour-market-we-shouldnt-fund-them-like-they-do-124780">Universities don't control the labour market: we shouldn't fund them like they do</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p><a href="https://derby.openrepository.com/handle/10545/621285">Previous</a> <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1057/hep.2011.26">research</a> and current statistics both prove that a university qualification does not guarantee a job. The 2008 <a href="https://www.voced.edu.au/content/ngv%3A32134">Bradley Review</a> prediction that by 2010 the supply of individuals holding undergraduate qualifications would not meet the demand has not eventuated. </p>
<p>From a national point of view, the ethos is the more people who have a degree, the more highly skilled the workforce. In time the job market will get better, but it might be different for some. </p>
<p>In these testing times graduates need to be resilient, determined and adaptable. They will have to take advantage of any opportunities and professional networks that their universities and alumni provide.</p>
<p> </p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/156867/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>More and more Australians are gaining university degrees. And increasingly that means a degree does not guarantee a job, although it did appear to offer some protection against COVID job losses.Lynlea Small, Casual Academic, School of Business and Creative Industries, University of the Sunshine CoastAmie Shaw, Senior Lecturer in Human Resource Management, Griffith UniversityRuth McPhail, Head of Department of Employment Relations & Human Resources, and Professor, Griffith UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1505352021-03-01T19:10:10Z2021-03-01T19:10:10ZA degree promises a better life but social mobility has a downside too<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380999/original/file-20210127-23-73wo8g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C1060%2C5515%2C3668&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/student-studies-hard-get-graduation-262296563">alphaspirit.it/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Higher education has long been associated with the promise of a good life. Participation, however, has no guarantees. </p>
<p>Former prime minister Gough Whitlam <a href="https://electionspeeches.moadoph.gov.au/speeches/1972-gough-whitlam">argued</a> that Australia’s higher education system was not straightforwardly a “great instrument for the promotion of equality”. Instead, it mainly functioned as “a weapon for perpetuating inequality and promoting privilege”. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.academia.edu/44228347/The_Persistence_of_Inequality_Education_Class_and_Cultural_Capital">Scholars</a>, too, have demonstrated how the rewards of higher education are unevenly distributed: it matters who you know, where you go to university and what you study. It also matters where you live.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/young-australians-prospects-still-come-down-to-where-they-grow-up-102640">Young Australians' prospects still come down to where they grow up</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>My <a href="https://www.whitlam.org/publications/2021/2/23/whitlam-western-sydney-and-the-promise-of-university">research</a> (soon to be <a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/series/understanding-student-experiences-of-higher-education/">published with Bloomsbury</a>) reveals the experience of upward social mobility can be emotionally costly too – particularly for graduates from the working class. </p>
<p>Moving up and becoming different from one’s family and friends can involve losses, not just gains. </p>
<h2>How do graduates see a good life?</h2>
<p>Young people today, particularly those from underrepresented groups, are <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/higher-education-participation-and-partnerships-programme-heppp">encouraged</a> to participate in higher education. </p>
<p>My small-scale qualitative research focused on the experiences of one of these underrepresented groups: working-class students and graduates who were the first in their family to attend university. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/odds-are-against-first-in-family-uni-students-but-equity-policies-are-blind-to-them-155647">Odds are against ‘first in family’ uni students but equity policies are blind to them</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>I interviewed six current students and 20 graduates from Cranebrook and its surrounding suburbs in the Penrith area of outer Western Sydney – a region known as Australia’s manufacturing heartland. </p>
<p>I was interested in how class and place shaped their experiences before, during and after attending university. </p>
<p>I was also interested in the “existential” dimensions of the mobility experience: how university becomes a means to a good life and what constitutes a good life.</p>
<h2>University isn’t necessarily about escaping</h2>
<p>For the research participants, going to university was not necessarily about class escape and escape from place.</p>
<p>“Doing well” involved finding suitable employment close to home and staying put in Penrith – a region not conventionally seen to be the site of a good life. Some outsiders imagine it to be a place of stagnation that lacks opportunities – <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Out-West/Powell/p/book/9781863735032">the “other” Sydney</a>. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/3-planning-strategies-for-western-sydney-jobs-but-do-they-add-up-139386">3 planning strategies for Western Sydney jobs, but do they add up?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>For the research participants, Penrith was instead a place of community, familiarity, security and possibility. Here was somewhere they could live out their version of the Australian Dream. </p>
<p>Of the 26 participants I interviewed, 20 continue to live in Penrith. Of the six who live elsewhere, four expressed a desire to return to Penrith. </p>
<p>The participants enjoyed the spaciousness of suburbia, as well as being close to family and friends.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"425537043548995584"}"></div></p>
<p>Small-scale class distinctions that operate in Cranebrook, the wider Penrith region and Western Sydney also shaped their visions of a good life. “Doing well” sometimes involved degrees of social mobility in place: moving to a “better” house, a “better” street, or a “better” neighbourhood. </p>
<h2>The pull of home limits social mobility</h2>
<p>Not all graduates, however, were able to achieve their version of a good life in Penrith. Western Sydney lacks graduate opportunities. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/1782930/where-are-the-jobs-report-part-1.pdf">Phillip O’Neill’s research</a> has highlighted how Western Sydney is home to a growing population of degree holders – a quarter of Sydney’s total – yet the region remains disadvantaged, particularly in terms of work opportunities for graduates. These jobs are concentrated in Sydney’s east, not west. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/jobs-deficit-drives-army-of-daily-commuters-out-of-western-sydney-139384">Jobs deficit drives army of daily commuters out of Western Sydney</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>O’Neill’s research, like my own, reveals Western Sydney’s graduates are “staying put”. </p>
<p>For ten of the 20 graduates in my study who stayed put in Penrith, this involved long periods of waiting for graduate employment, or reorienting careers and finding work in non-graduate roles. </p>
<p>Elise, for example, has a Bachelor of Communications and works for a marketing agency in Sydney’s CBD. She described the three-hour commute to her workplace as difficult and said her colleagues often made wounding jokes about Penrith. </p>
<p>Rather than move closer to the CBD, Elise was on the lookout for a new job in Penrith, “even like admin”, work that does not necessarily use her qualifications, but is closer to home – a move that also involves effacing class and geographical differences. </p>
<p>The pull of home can, indeed, work to curb the experience of upward social mobility. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="View of the M4 bridge crossing the Nepean River at Penrith" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381000/original/file-20210127-21-1tw6oap.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381000/original/file-20210127-21-1tw6oap.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381000/original/file-20210127-21-1tw6oap.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381000/original/file-20210127-21-1tw6oap.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381000/original/file-20210127-21-1tw6oap.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381000/original/file-20210127-21-1tw6oap.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381000/original/file-20210127-21-1tw6oap.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Rather than commute to the CBD, some graduates prefer to take on work that doesn’t make use of their qualifications but lets them stay close to home in Penrith.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/scenic-views-nepean-river-penrith-foreground-1318924232">Leah-Anne Thompson/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>‘Moving up’ has emotional costs</h2>
<p>Even for those who were able to live their version of a good life in Penrith, the experience of upward social mobility, and small-scale degrees of mobility within the area, could be emotionally unsettling. </p>
<p>It was for Pat. He grew up in Cranebrook’s pocket of social housing, works as an HR professional and now lives in one of Penrith’s more affluent pockets. </p>
<p>“Moving up” has meant Pat has lost those embodied aspects of the self that connected him to his friends in Cranebrook.</p>
<p>For example, Pat’s professional mentor encouraged him to have elocution lessons and he now speaks differently to his working-class friends. Pat described feelings of class difference in his middle-class workplace too. He finds himself floating, not quite fitting into either milieu. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/does-the-way-we-speak-affect-our-future-23503">Does the way we speak affect our future?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Young man changing his identity through education" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381011/original/file-20210128-21-1uo12kr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381011/original/file-20210128-21-1uo12kr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=283&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381011/original/file-20210128-21-1uo12kr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=283&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381011/original/file-20210128-21-1uo12kr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=283&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381011/original/file-20210128-21-1uo12kr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=356&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381011/original/file-20210128-21-1uo12kr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=356&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/381011/original/file-20210128-21-1uo12kr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=356&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Upward mobility can leave some graduates feeling they don’t quite fit in with either their original communities or middle-class workplaces.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/career-growth-education-concept-ambitious-young-1386446048?irclickid=QvHU5TWlxxyOTZKwUx0Mo3kyUkERsg3nYQriUk0&irgwc=1&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_campaign=TinEye&utm_source=77643&utm_term=&c3ch=Affiliate&c3nid=IR-77643">pathdoc/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Pat’s experience led him to question if the journey was worthwhile:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>There’s been times, you know, where honestly I think some days I would be happier still living in Cranebrook on the dole, you know? Living that lifestyle. Like there’s a lot of days where I think I would be happier doing that. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>The experience of upward social mobility can be tinged with what sociologist <a href="https://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=1275">Pierre Bourdieu</a> calls <em>la petite misere</em>, or ordinary suffering. </p>
<p>University is a means to a good life, but it’s a class-differentiated good life that is embedded in place and can become a site of personal and social tension.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/150535/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alexandra Coleman receives funding from Whitlam Institute, Western Sydney University. </span></em></p>The experience of upward social mobility through education can have unexpected emotional costs – particularly for graduates from the working class.Alexandra Coleman, E.G. Whitlam Research Fellow, Whitlam Institute, Western Sydney UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1416142020-08-06T19:59:59Z2020-08-06T19:59:59ZWhy degree cost increases will hit women hardest<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/349303/original/file-20200724-29-14m5dr4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/graduated-students-graduation-hats-gowns-outdoors-311391842">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The federal government’s proposed increase in the cost of <a href="https://theconversation.com/fee-cuts-for-nursing-and-teaching-but-big-hikes-for-law-and-humanities-in-package-expanding-university-places-141064">studying humanities and communications</a> degrees at Australian universities has stirred much debate. One aspect that should not be overlooked is that these changes will disproportionately affect women.</p>
<p>Under the proposed changes, student contributions for social science, communications and humanities (not including English and psychology) will increase by A$7,696 per year. That’s <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-20/study-arts-and-humanities-government-fees-tertiary-education/12374124">double their current cost</a>. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/if-the-government-listened-to-business-leaders-they-would-encourage-humanities-education-not-pull-funds-from-it-141121">If the government listened to business leaders, they would encourage humanities education, not pull funds from it</a>
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<h2>Pushing women into STEM?</h2>
<p>The government’s proposal has already been described as <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-22/university-fee-changes-dan-tehan-capitalist-economics-analysis/12377498">social engineering</a>, given the government’s declared aim is to boost numbers of graduates in areas of expected employment growth, including teaching, nursing, agriculture, STEM and IT. The intention of lowering fees in these areas appears to be to attract more students to study these disciplines in preference to humanities. </p>
<p>If the idea is to encourage students to leave the humanities and study science instead, it’s a flawed approach. It would take a lot more than simply changing the cost of study to attract women to the field. </p>
<p>Women remain underrepresented at only <a href="http://www.professionalsaustralia.org.au/professional-women/wp-content/uploads/sites/48/2018/08/2018-Women-in-STEM-Survey-Report_web.pdf">27% of the STEM workforce</a> across all sectors, despite a range of initiatives designed to improve the balance. </p>
<p>For women, the real deterrent to studying STEM-related disciplines is related to <a href="http://www.professionalsaustralia.org.au/professional-women/wp-content/uploads/sites/48/2018/08/2018-Women-in-STEM-Survey-Report_web.pdf">employment outcomes and conditions</a>, and challenges in even <a href="https://www.industry.gov.au/data-and-publications/advancing-women-in-stem-strategy/snapshot-of-disparity-in-stem">entering a STEM-based workforce</a>. STEM women are likely to earn <a href="https://www.industry.gov.au/sites/default/files/2019-04/advancing-women-in-stem.pdf">less than their male counterparts</a> and also face <a href="https://theconversation.com/humanities-graduates-earn-more-than-those-who-study-science-and-maths-141112">poorer pay prospects than those who study humanities</a>. </p>
<p>Perhaps more importantly, women in STEM have few examples of <a href="https://theconversation.com/women-in-stem-need-your-support-and-australia-needs-women-in-stem-113054">role models who clearly own the STEM space</a> – reinforcing a notion that STEM-based work is male-dominated.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/women-in-stem-need-your-support-and-australia-needs-women-in-stem-113054">Women in STEM need your support – and Australia needs women in STEM</a>
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<h2>Pushing women away from humanities?</h2>
<p>Increasing the costs of the humanities, then, <a href="https://www.afr.com/work-and-careers/education/university-tuition-hikes-won-t-change-behaviour-simon-marginson-20200705-p5593n">might not push people into STEM</a> or into areas such as nursing or education. But it might push them away from studying the humanities, and away from the vital work they do in a range of industries.</p>
<p>According to the federal government’s 2019 <a href="https://www.qilt.edu.au/qilt-surveys/graduate-employment">Graduate Outcomes Survey</a>, 64.2% of humanities graduates were in a full-time position six months out from graduation. Many were employed in positions in public administration, education, <a href="https://theconversation.com/if-the-government-listened-to-business-leaders-they-would-encourage-humanities-education-not-pull-funds-from-it-141121">business</a>, <a href="https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6807125/how-the-humanities-inform-the-sciences/">health</a> and <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/georgeanders/2015/07/29/liberal-arts-degree-tech/#1c5028c8745d">science and technology</a> – the very industries the proposed changes target. In these roles, they draw on skill sets acquired in their humanities degrees; skills that are remarkably similar to those <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-humanities-can-equip-students-for-the-fourth-industrial-revolution-103925">Industry 4.0 capabilities</a> employers are crying out for.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-humanities-can-equip-students-for-the-fourth-industrial-revolution-103925">How the humanities can equip students for the fourth industrial revolution</a>
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<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"732236898668666880"}"></div></p>
<h2>Women earn less, and will pay more</h2>
<p>Raising costs of studies in the humanities means these disciplines will shore up an <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/inquirer/an-education-inuniversity-funding-reform/news-story/7680d20e07389476dc37c17f32271fcb">effective reduction in government funding</a>. In the longer term, women will bear the costs of this “saving”. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-government-would-save-1-billion-a-year-with-proposed-university-reforms-but-thats-not-what-its-telling-us-142256">The government would save $1 billion a year with proposed university reforms — but that's not what it's telling us</a>
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<p>The reality is that humanities and social science disciplines attract more students than any other subject areas – the majority of whom are women. Women have consistently represented the bulk of enrolments in humanities and social science disciplines over the past ten years. In 2018, they accounted for <a href="http://highereducationstatistics.education.gov.au/">two-thirds of enrolled students</a>. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/351436/original/file-20200806-24-4jnj85.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Chart showing numbers of men and women enrolled in humanities degree courses from 2010 to 2018" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/351436/original/file-20200806-24-4jnj85.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/351436/original/file-20200806-24-4jnj85.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351436/original/file-20200806-24-4jnj85.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351436/original/file-20200806-24-4jnj85.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351436/original/file-20200806-24-4jnj85.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351436/original/file-20200806-24-4jnj85.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351436/original/file-20200806-24-4jnj85.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<p>Consequently, under the government’s proposal, many women will pay more for their tuition and yet they are <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/mapping-australian-higher-education-2018/">likely to earn less</a> than men. </p>
<p>Gender roles continue to have an impact on the career trajectories and earning potential of women in Australia. Even though this gender pay gap is narrowing, primary child-caring <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/by%20Subject/4125.0%7ESep%202018%7EMain%20Features%7EEconomic%20Security%7E4">roles and responsibilities</a> — including taking time away from work, working part-time or leaving the workforce completely — are mainly assumed by, and expected of, women. </p>
<p>As a result, female university graduates earn, on average, <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/mapping-australian-higher-education-2018/">27% less</a> than men over their careers. This means <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/809-doubtful-debt1.pdf">women take longer</a> to pay off their student debt.</p>
<p>The Australian university debt scheme is often praised because <a href="https://theconversation.com/full-response-from-spokesperson-for-the-department-of-education-and-training-52764">it doesn’t incur interest rates</a> or have a timeline for repayment. However, the tangible effects of a larger debt mean women humanities graduates will be in debt for longer. They will have less disposable income for longer. And they will have <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/life/paying-back-your-help-hecs-student-debt-explainer/10982072">limited capacity to invest money, and so expand income</a>, for longer.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1273864083264155648"}"></div></p>
<p>The argument that programs that traditionally attract more women – such as nursing and education – will be made cheaper, and therefore more accessible, doesn’t stack up either. Because there are more women in humanities-based degrees than other programs, the proposed changes still mean women will bear the brunt of these increases. Or be forced out of higher education if their calling isn’t teaching or nursing. </p>
<p>Making higher education unaffordable for women just adds to a raft of conditions that already ensure inequalities.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/an-open-letter-to-australias-education-minister-dan-tehan-signed-by-73-senior-professors-142989">An open letter to Australia's Education Minister Dan Tehan — signed by 73 senior professors</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/141614/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Deanne Gannaway has received funding from the organisation previously known as the Office for Teaching and Learning. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Grace Dunn does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Doubling the cost of degrees in the humanities and social sciences has a disproportionate impact on women because they account for two-thirds of the students.Deanne Gannaway, Senior Lecturer in Higher Education, The University of QueenslandGrace Dunn, Research Assistant in the Humanities and Social Sciences, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1247802019-10-08T18:57:29Z2019-10-08T18:57:29ZUniversities don’t control the labour market: we shouldn’t fund them like they do<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/295948/original/file-20191008-128681-784nma.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Some people are more employable than others. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>From 2020, universities will receive a certain amount of government funding based on four performance measures: student drop-out rates; participation of Indigenous, lower socioeconomic status and regional and remote students; student satisfaction with the university experience; and employment outcomes.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://ministers.education.gov.au/tehan/future-australian-universities-focuses-achievement">government finalised</a> the funding model in recent days and announced:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Graduate employment outcomes will be the most important factor under the performance-based funding model for universities[…]</p>
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<p>This model will determine more than A$80 million of extra university funding (on top of the <a href="https://www.afr.com/policy/health-and-education/university-funding-to-be-tied-more-to-producing-students-who-get-jobs-20191001-p52wkz">A$7 billion annual government subsidies</a>), which is based on population growth estimates in the Commonwealth Grant Scheme. </p>
<p>Graduate employment outcomes will account for 40% of this money. That’s double the weighting of the other three funding criteria. </p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/government-funding-will-be-tied-to-uni-performance-from-2020-what-does-this-mean-and-what-are-the-challenges-121694">Government funding will be tied to uni performance from 2020: what does this mean, and what are the challenges?</a>
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<p>Universities can do some things to improve graduate employment prospects, but their power over this aspect of “performance” is limited. Employment opportunities and outcomes are dictated mainly by the labour market. </p>
<p>And focusing on churning out employable graduates could, in fact, lead universities to discriminate against students who statistically have lower employment outcomes, such as those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds.</p>
<p>Here are three reasons giving employment outcomes twice the weight of other performance measures is a problem.</p>
<h2>1. The labour market determines employment outcomes</h2>
<p>Universities can make a difference to how employable a student is. They can do so through curriculum initiatives such as work-integrated learning, where students engage with industry and the community as part of their degree. </p>
<p>Research <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10734-017-0216-z">shows</a> internships during study were a key reason for graduates’ ability to secure a quality job.</p>
<p>But it’s the wider market factors that ultimately account for how many graduates find work. Figures show employment outcomes for graduates steadily improved for the last three years, in line with the falling rate of overall unemployment in Australia. </p>
<p>Between 2016 and 2018 – when the <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/allprimarymainfeatures/ABDB6FDCF59668D5CA2583A70011CA69?opendocument">unemployment rate fell</a> from 5.8% to 5% – the overall <a href="https://www.qilt.edu.au/docs/default-source/gos-reports/2018-gos/2018-gos-national-report-2018.pdf?sfvrsn=a729e33c_4">graduate employment rate rose</a> from 86.4% to 87%.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/graduate-employment-is-up-but-finding-a-job-can-still-take-a-while-109654">Graduate employment is up, but finding a job can still take a while</a>
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<p>External factors determine the availability of graduate job roles, recruitment bias (such as institution <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10734-013-9696-7">status</a>), as well as wider domestic economic conditions (such as economic uncertainty and business confidence) and globalisation (including trends in outsourcing labour). </p>
<h2>2. It’s a blunt measure</h2>
<p>The government-commissioned <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/node/52995">final report on performance-based funding</a>, released in August 2019, recommends employment outcomes be measured by “overall graduate employment rates for domestic bachelor students”. </p>
<p>These are tracked in the <a href="https://www.qilt.edu.au/about-this-site/graduate-employment">Graduate Outcomes Survey</a>. Graduates complete this survey four months after they finish their course.</p>
<p>Using “overall rates” is a blunt measure that doesn’t take into account the type of employment the graduate is in. It applies to any kind of employment – including full-time, part-time or casual work – as a percentage of graduates available for employment. </p>
<p>Nor does this measure give any insight into whether the work is related to the graduates’ degrees or is meaningful and satisfying for them.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/should-university-funding-be-tied-to-student-performance-75385">Should university funding be tied to student performance?</a>
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<p>Rising <a href="http://theconversation.com/the-problem-isnt-unskilled-graduates-its-a-lack-of-full-time-job-opportunities-90104">graduate underemployment</a> means graduates are increasingly overqualified in their roles and not drawing on the skills acquired at university. This is particularly problematic for those in more general <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/1475-4932.12413">degrees</a> such as humanities, creative arts and social sciences.</p>
<p>Because the survey is conducted four months after course completion, the data represent graduates’ transition to the workforce, rather than giving much insight into their actual labour market achievements.</p>
<h2>3. It could lead to discrimination</h2>
<p>Some people are more employable than others. This means a university’s graduate employment outcomes will depend on its cohort of graduates. </p>
<p>One of the performance-based measures encourages universities to engage with equity groups – Indigenous, lower socioeconomic status and regional and remote students. But <a href="https://www.qilt.edu.au/docs/default-source/gos-reports/2018-gos/2018-gos-national-report-2018.pdf?sfvrsn=a729e33c_4">evidence shows</a> low socioeconomic status students are less likely to find work than their peers.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/295955/original/file-20191008-128681-1uu8q9b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/295955/original/file-20191008-128681-1uu8q9b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/295955/original/file-20191008-128681-1uu8q9b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/295955/original/file-20191008-128681-1uu8q9b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/295955/original/file-20191008-128681-1uu8q9b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/295955/original/file-20191008-128681-1uu8q9b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/295955/original/file-20191008-128681-1uu8q9b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/295955/original/file-20191008-128681-1uu8q9b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Giving employment outcomes more weight may lead to unis discriminating against student groups that could lower it.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from shutterstock.com</span></span>
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<p>Giving “employment outcomes” double the weight of “participation by equity groups” may lead universities to prioritise enrolling students who are more likely to help them score better on the first measure. </p>
<h2>What could the government do instead?</h2>
<p>The measure of “overall employment” does acknowledge not all graduates can, or want to, work full-time. Yet, whether they have a job or not doesn’t give any insight into quality. In a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/1360080X.2019.1646377">recent study</a>, graduates rated enjoyment and interest in their job higher than job security when it came to defining career success.</p>
<p>It’s important for universities to support their graduates in finding quality roles. But whether or not this is happening can only be realistically gauged over a longer period than four months.</p>
<p>The United Kingdom <a href="https://www.hesa.ac.uk/files/NewDLHE_model_rationale_v2.pdf">now includes measures</a> for satisfaction and well-being in its own graduate outcomes survey, which it has shifted from six to 15 months after course completion. The UK has done this in recognition of the importance of intrinsic measures, such as career satisfaction, and the need to give graduates time to find their feet in the labour market.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/surveys-are-not-the-best-way-to-measure-the-performance-of-australian-universities-90166">Surveys are not the best way to measure the performance of Australian universities</a>
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<p>The purpose of education is not just about getting a job. It’s also about empowering students to achieve meaningful and sustainable careers for social and economic good. If the government wants to link universities’ performance to graduate outcomes, it needs an outcomes-based performance measure that universities have greater control over and that is related to students’ career readiness. </p>
<p>Universities could have some control of this by gauging the professional capabilities of students that employers consider important. These include teamwork, communication, critical thinking and problem solving. </p>
<p>Students complete the <a href="https://www.qilt.edu.au/about-this-site/student-experience">Student Experience Survey</a> when they start and complete their studies. These data on self-reported capability development could also be linked to later post-graduation responses on career success. This could be done with a more meaningful measure, such as career satisfaction.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/124780/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Denise Jackson has received funding from Spacecubed, Queensland University of Technology, Australian Business Deans Council, and AFAANZ.
Denise Jackson sits on the national board for the Australian Collaborative Education Network, the professional association for work-integrated learning in Australia. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ruth Bridgstock has received funding from the ARC and Graduate Careers for research in related topic areas.
</span></em></p>Graduate employment outcomes will determine 40% of the $80 million extra government funding for universities. This is a problem for three reasons.Denise Jackson, Associate Professor / Coordinator of Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) programs, ECU School of Business and Law, Edith Cowan UniversityRuth Bridgstock, National Senior Teaching Fellow, Griffith UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/746312018-10-04T09:19:49Z2018-10-04T09:19:49ZUniversities must look at local employment markets when building their graduates’ skills<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/239168/original/file-20181003-52688-17cspsx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Job seeking.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/single-college-graduate-gown-holding-hire-355358555?src=rl19rEfelzgEyUBsLbDhWA-1-1">Creatista/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Students are often reminded that a degree is “not enough”, and that they will also need “employability skills” – <a href="https://www.academia.edu/27938172/Being_Employed_Re-Thinking_Employability_Discourses_in_the_University?auto=download">a complex combination</a> of personal attributes, discipline-specific knowledge and generic talents – to succeed after university. They are encouraged while studying to develop skills such as problem solving, self-management and the ability to work as part of a team. </p>
<p>All valid attributes yes, but this view is based on the idea that graduates are young and highly mobile. But the truth is that not all graduates will want to – or be able to – leave their university town or city, <a href="https://www.hecsu.ac.uk/assets/assets/documents/University_of_salford_uncertain_transitions_2017.pdf">especially females and graduates from low-income backgrounds</a>. </p>
<p>As Brexit looms, advocacy organisation Univerisites UK has suggested that increased local graduate retention could ease current and potentially upcoming <a href="https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/policy-and-analysis/reports/Documents/2017/graduate-retention-meeting-local-skills-needs.pdf">skills shortages in the UK</a>. Yet the research to date shows that cities across the UK face a big challenge when it comes to <a href="http://www.centreforcities.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/16-11-18-The-Great-British-Brain-Drain.pdf">attracting and retaining</a> graduate talent. In <a href="https://luminate.prospects.ac.uk/the-reality-of-graduate-migration">2016</a>, only 58% of that year’s graduates went on to work in the area in which they took their degree. </p>
<p>One major hurdle to graduate retention comes down to the skills that local employers actually need from prospective staff. Just like it is not enough to have a degree, it is not enough to teach all graduates a generic skillset and hope for the best. Required skills can vary greatly from region to region, with some – like the ability to drive – proving pointless in areas with, for example, good public transport links. In north Wales, where I conducted my own <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Graduate-Careers-in-Context-Research-Policy-and-Practice/Christie-Burke/p/book/9781138301764">research</a> into the issue of graduate retention, the most valuable skills for a graduate to have on top of their degree are access to local networks, having their own transport and Welsh language skills.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/235220/original/file-20180906-190662-10x1eae.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/235220/original/file-20180906-190662-10x1eae.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235220/original/file-20180906-190662-10x1eae.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235220/original/file-20180906-190662-10x1eae.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235220/original/file-20180906-190662-10x1eae.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235220/original/file-20180906-190662-10x1eae.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235220/original/file-20180906-190662-10x1eae.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Interview day.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/confident-millennial-female-applicant-glasses-talking-1086491831?src=pyP_eh2WS67HjJJX4oGWiQ-1-33">fizkes/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Staying local</h2>
<p>Social contacts and contacts from former employment can help a graduate seeking to stay in their university town, but the close connections that come from going to school together and living in the same neighbourhoods are invaluable. When employers seek to fill vacancies, they can rely on who a candidate knows to infer the potential worker’s underlying ability. </p>
<p>That’s not to say “who you know” is always better than “what you know”. Not all members of a community will know the “right” people who can provide access to employment opportunities after all. And graduates from low income backgrounds often find their contacts are limited because their parents have no experience of the graduate labour market and the types of roles that they would be applying for.</p>
<p>This kind of social capital can be developed both as a student and a graduate. I have been working with Sociologists Outside Academia, a group within the British Sociological Association, to design an <a href="http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2018/05/04/applying-the-sociological-imagination-a-toolkit-for-tomorrows-graduates/">“applied sociology” curriculum</a>. The aim of this curriculum is to equip students with the skills, knowledge and professional outlook required to improve workplaces, organisations and communities. One of our recommended assessments would see students working on a local community problem, with the opportunity to pitch a proposal to a client verbally and in writing. </p>
<p>After graduation from universities in Wales, there are schemes such as the Knowledge Economy Skills Scholarships (KESS 2), a project supported by European Social Funds (ESF) through the Welsh Government, led by Bangor University. KESS 2 provides opportunities for graduates to build professional networks, and for funded PhD and research masters study in collaboration with an active business or company partner.</p>
<h2>Language skills</h2>
<p>Another skill of particular importance to the graduates I spoke to in north Wales was the Welsh language. <a href="https://www.northwalescollaborative.wales/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/NW-Population-Assessment-Full-Report-1-April-2017.pdf">Over half of the population</a> in some areas of north Wales speak Welsh. And there is concerted action by the Welsh government to double the number of Welsh speakers <a href="http://www.assembly.wales/Laid%20Documents/GEN-LD11108/GEN-LD11108-e.pdf">to one million</a> by 2050. </p>
<p>On top of this, <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Graduate-Careers-in-Context-Research-Policy-and-Practice/Christie-Burke/p/book/9781138301764">71% of employers in Wales</a> have stated that Welsh language skills (written and oral) were desirable for jobs in their companies. And that there is a <a href="http://www.careerswales.com/en/spotlight-on-tourism-hospitality-and-leisure/">shortage of bilingually skilled staff</a> in graduate occupations such as nursing and in the tourism industry. </p>
<p>While current graduates who went to school in Wales will have had some form of Welsh language education, not all would regard themselves as speakers of the language. And even among bilinguals, <a href="http://www.beaufortresearch.co.uk/BBQ01260eng.pdf">proficiency in written and oral communication can vary widly</a>. Research has suggested that while bilingualism is not the preserve of elites, disadvantaged households in Wales may believe that their form of bilingualism is <a href="https://wiserd.ac.uk/publications/welsh-speakers-and-welsh-language-provision-within-public-sector">inappropriate for professional environments</a>. </p>
<p>Many of my interviewees felt a lack of confidence in their Welsh skills. They felt that the Welsh they spoke at home was not the same as the more formal Welsh needed for employment purposes. There may be further problems too for those graduates of Welsh universities who did not go to school in Wales, and have had no Welsh language education. </p>
<p>Clearly, universities need to support their graduates by not just focusing on generic employability skills, but by looking at the regional economy. By taking into account what local employers might want from graduates, institutions can start to address the financial, academic and social hurdles that modern graduates, particularly those who have reached university through a non-traditional route, have to face.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/74631/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Teresa Crew receives funding from Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)</span></em></p>Having a good degree is not always enough to succeed.Teresa Crew, Lecturer in Social Policy, Bangor UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/901662018-01-17T18:44:14Z2018-01-17T18:44:14ZSurveys are not the best way to measure the performance of Australian universities<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/202231/original/file-20180117-53302-7x64gn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C170%2C991%2C453&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The surveyors start out with almost 100,000 graduate contacts, of whom less than 10% provide their supervisor's details and of those supervisors, less than half participate in the survey. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Depending on who’s doing the reading, the <a href="https://www.qilt.edu.au/about-this-site/employer-satisfaction">2017 Employer Satisfaction Survey</a> shows the overwhelming majority of employers <a href="https://www.universitiesaustralia.edu.au/Media-and-Events/media-releases/Grads-well-prepared-for-jobs--employer-satisfaction-remains-high--survey#.Wl1NX66Wa70">think graduates are well-prepared for jobs</a>. Or it might show universities <a href="https://www.senatorbirmingham.com.au/improving-the-employment-potential-of-graduates/">need to do more to address the needs of graduates and employers</a>. Or even that universities are <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/university-degrees-are-failing-to-deliver-for-business/news-story/554c200326874314f8b14ff161296503">not delivering to businesses</a>.</p>
<p>Concerns about whether universities are doing enough to make graduates job-ready are not new. As higher education policy expert Andrew Norton observed <a href="http://andrewnorton.net.au/2018/01/08/over-qualification-hard-to-measure-harder-to-avoid/">recently</a>, this issue was alive in the early <a href="http://www.voced.edu.au/content/ngv%3A29728">70s</a>. </p>
<p>In fact, you can go back in time even further. In the 1950s, the Report of the Committee on Australian Universities <a href="http://www.voced.edu.au/content/ngv%3A53782">called</a> upon both universities and government to do more to work with industry to identify future labour demand and offer courses accordingly. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/five-myths-about-australian-university-graduate-outcomes-87074">Five myths about Australian university graduate outcomes</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The release of the latest <a href="https://www.qilt.edu.au/docs/default-source/gos-reports/2017/2017_gos_national_report_final_accessiblea45d8791b1e86477b58fff00006709da.pdf?sfvrsn=ceb5e33c_4&_cldee=c29waGllLmhlaXplckB0aGVjb252ZXJzYXRpb24uZWR1LmF1&recipientid=contact-09dc957fbd87e7118120e0071b66a691-0930c8235d7d4a10bd63a0fdd8972b65&esid=f8ef3ba5-1cf7-e711-8134-e0071b68f7c1">Graduate Ouctomes Survey</a> had a similar effect in focussing attention on higher education performance. </p>
<p>A focus on graduate employability is not surprising. What is surprising is we are using mostly the same ways of measuring university performance we have for decades, when more accurate means exist. </p>
<h2>Why the way we use the surveys is flawed</h2>
<p>Like all surveys, the <a href="https://www.qilt.edu.au/about-this-site/employer-satisfaction">Employer Satisfaction Survey</a> has to account for and overcome a number of elements that can affect the validity of the results. For example, 4,348 survey responses sounds like a lot, but this represents only 9.3% of all possible employer contacts. </p>
<p>Also, the way employers are contacted is a problem. It’s the graduate who’s contacted and invited to provide their supervisor’s details to the survey team. So the surveyors start out with almost 100,000 graduate contacts, of whom less than 10% provide their supervisor’s details and of those supervisors, less than half participate in the survey. </p>
<p>Another issue is the survey relies largely on subjective measurements of perception. For example, data <a href="http://andrewnorton.net.au/2018/01/08/over-qualification-hard-to-measure-harder-to-avoid/">shows</a> the supervisors of graduates are more likely than the graduates themselves to think the graduate’s qualification is important. Two perceptions of the same qualification in the same context - which one, if either, is right? </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/202236/original/file-20180117-53328-12peyri.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/202236/original/file-20180117-53328-12peyri.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202236/original/file-20180117-53328-12peyri.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202236/original/file-20180117-53328-12peyri.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202236/original/file-20180117-53328-12peyri.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202236/original/file-20180117-53328-12peyri.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202236/original/file-20180117-53328-12peyri.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Employers and graduates had different ideas of how important the graduate’s qualification was.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The <a href="https://www.qilt.edu.au/docs/default-source/gos-reports/2017/2017_gos_national_report_final_accessiblea45d8791b1e86477b58fff00006709da.pdf?sfvrsn=ceb5e33c_4&_cldee=c29waGllLmhlaXplckB0aGVjb252ZXJzYXRpb24uZWR1LmF1&recipientid=contact-09dc957fbd87e7118120e0071b66a691-0930c8235d7d4a10bd63a0fdd8972b65&esid=f8ef3ba5-1cf7-e711-8134-e0071b68f7c1">Graduate Outcomes Survey</a> also relies on graduates being willing to complete the survey. The latest survey had a response rate of 45%, which is very good for surveys. But the survey is sent out only four months after graduation. It does not, then, necessarily reflect the short - let alone medium or long-term - employment prospects for the individual. </p>
<p>This is not to say the methodologies underpinning these surveys are not robust, or the <a href="http://www.srcentre.com.au/">Social Research Centre</a>, who deliver the surveys, are not experts in their field. It is and they are. When a survey is the best option for gathering data, then these types of survey should be run. But we shouldn’t be using findings such as these to measure university performance, when there are better options available. </p>
<h2>The missing link</h2>
<p>For decades now, there has been an administrative link between a graduate’s education and taxation records. If domestic students have ever wondered why they are issued with a<a href="http://studyassist.gov.au/sites/studyassist/helppayingmyfees/pages/track_debt"> Commonwealth Higher Education Student Support Number</a> (CHESSN), and why they need to provide their Tax File Number (TFN) to the university, this is the reason. </p>
<p>The CHESSN tracks their educational history, even when they change courses or institutions. Consequently it keeps track of their
<a href="http://studyassist.gov.au/sites/studyassist/helppayingmyfees/hecs-help/pages/hecs-help-welcome">HECS-HELP</a> debt. By linking the CHESSN to the TFN, a record of the debt can be provided to the Australian Taxation Office, for future collection. </p>
<p>This administrative link could also be used to provide accurate and detailed longitudinal analyses of which jobs all graduates end up in, not just those motivated to respond to a survey. As time passes - or by going back further into the records - detailed pictures can be provided about how graduates perform over time, which organisations recruit and retain the most graduates, which courses show evidence of greater graduate mobility, actual lifetime earnings (as opposed to predicted), and so on. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/202237/original/file-20180117-53289-1ke8jld.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/202237/original/file-20180117-53289-1ke8jld.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202237/original/file-20180117-53289-1ke8jld.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202237/original/file-20180117-53289-1ke8jld.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202237/original/file-20180117-53289-1ke8jld.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202237/original/file-20180117-53289-1ke8jld.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202237/original/file-20180117-53289-1ke8jld.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Students already have to provide their TFN to their place of study and work so that debt can be tracked.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Graduate outcomes would also be better contextualised against non-graduate outcomes, as well as national and international labour market trends. One-off, or purpose-specific analyses could be more easily provided to address specific government or community concerns as and when they arise. </p>
<p>If the government were to make key findings of these analyses publicly-available on a regular basis, students, politicians and policymakers would be able to make much more informed decisions regarding future study requirements. The current surveys would still be important, as they can provide additional information government records cannot. But when it comes to measuring university performance, hard data is the key.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-problem-isnt-unskilled-graduates-its-a-lack-of-full-time-job-opportunities-90104">The problem isn't unskilled graduates, it's a lack of full-time job opportunities</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Linking government records in this way is a sensitive issue. There would need to be a significant investment in the right infrastructure and systems to ensure the data was protected and analysed appropriately. Given the centrality of graduate employability to government higher education policy, now might be the time for this investment.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>The final paragraph of this article has been amended since publication to reflect that there is some existing legislation that could facilitate this data collection.</em></p>
<hr><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/90166/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tim Pitman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>An administrative link between a graduate’s education and taxation records already exists, and it could be used to give us more accurate and detailed longitudinal analyses of graduate outcomes.Tim Pitman, Senior Researcher Fellow, Curtin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/761502017-04-17T19:48:35Z2017-04-17T19:48:35ZDegrees of separation: companies shed degree requirements to promote merit over qualifications<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/165000/original/image-20170412-658-103wuuq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Companies relaxing degree requirements raises new questions about the value of a university education.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>At the end of 2016, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/6227.0">revealed</a> that close to two-thirds of all Australians had completed a degree or apprenticeship.</p>
<p>The growth in the number of people attending a university or TAFE has risen out of a cyclical demand-driven system called “academic inflation”. </p>
<p>Think supply and demand. If an employer can hire someone with a degree or someone without, they’ll hire the person with a degree because they are seen as the superior candidate. This puts pressure on everyone to get degrees. But once everyone has one, the value of having a degree goes down.</p>
<p>A couple of decades ago, a high school diploma was sufficient to get a job in journalism or business. Now a bachelor’s degree is required. </p>
<p>Where a bachelor’s degree was sufficient to get a job in research, now a master’s degree is required. Where a master’s degree was sufficient to get a job in university tutoring, now a PhD is required.</p>
<p>The number of people gaining master’s degrees has <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/24/education/edlife/edl-24masters-t.html?_r=0">doubled from the early 1980s</a> to the late 2000s. The PhD, once a niche qualification for the few, has become the definitive qualification of what it means to be an expert today. </p>
<p>For a young millennial, this means they might have to study three to six years longer than their parents did <a href="http://burning-glass.com/wp-content/uploads/Moving_the_Goalposts.pdf">to get the same job</a>. That’s three to six years of debt, without any increase in wages at the end of it. If that job requires only basic skills such as photocopying or research, then the millennial will not necessarily have any greater skills than their parents had with a high school diploma in the 1970s.</p>
<p>This is borne out by data from the US, showing that in 1973 only 28% of jobs <a href="https://cew.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/HelpWanted.ExecutiveSummary.pdf">required a degree</a>, compared to 59% in 2008.</p>
<p>When companies demand more and more degrees for very basic jobs, they cut off access for unskilled workers to break into the job market. In many professions, the traditional route into a job was through an apprenticeship, which required no professional training or degree, no private tuition or cost on behalf of the student. </p>
<p>Even a degree like law, which is today seen as a prestigious qualification, used to be taught exclusively by students apprenticing in legal offices. The cost was borne out by the business, rather than the student, meaning students could come from a <a href="http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/MelbULawRw/2000/37.html#Heading31">variety of backgrounds</a>, including former convicts.</p>
<p>As a result, universities are increasingly being blamed for <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-universities-make-inequality-worse-55155">cementing privilege</a>, by entrenching the positions of the wealthy in the job market, as those with the most access to degrees.</p>
<p>In response to concern over diversity and equality of access and opportunity, top firms including Ernst & Young and Penguin Random House have recently abandoned degree requirements altogether.</p>
<p>Ernst & Young <a href="http://www.ey.com/uk/en/newsroom/news-releases/15-08-03---ey-transforms-its-recruitment-selection-process-for-graduates-undergraduates-and-school-leavers">got rid of all degree requirements</a> in 2015, explaining that a candidate’s degree had no correlation to their future job performance. A year later, Penguin Random House followed suit, <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.co.uk/media/news/2016/january/penguin-random-house-uk-removes-degree-requirements-in-recruitin/">citing</a> the need to hire applicants from more diverse backgrounds.</p>
<p>PriceWaterhouseCoopers, <a href="https://www.spectator.co.uk/2013/07/why-im-hiring-graduates-with-thirds-this-year/">Ogilvy Group</a>, Apple and <a href="https://qz.com/180247/why-google-doesnt-care-about-hiring-top-college-graduates/">Google</a> have all relaxed their degree requirements in recent years, lowering required grades or targeting poor performing and non-college students. The idea is to hire people based on merit, rather than credentials, often by assessing candidates with psychometric testing or other performance based tests.</p>
<p>Instead of abandoning degree requirements altogether, some firms, including professional services firm Deloitte, have <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/education-34384668">chosen to hide</a> which university an applicant graduated from. The aim is to limit the “prestige” associated with an institution, so as to more accurately test the abilities of the applicant.</p>
<p>What matters in both this and the broader debate is a refocus on ability over credentials.</p>
<p>That some companies are relaxing degree requirements raises new questions about the value of a university education. The question is whether these few companies are outliers or the forerunners of a new trend of preferencing merit over qualifications. If the trend does persist, then the job market of the future may have as little barriers to entry as the job market of the 1970s.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/76150/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joshua Krook is a PhD candidate at the University of Adelaide School of Law. </span></em></p>While more people than ever are graduating from universities, some companies are abandoning degree requirements altogether.Joshua Krook, Doctoral Candidate in Law, University of AdelaideLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/753852017-04-02T19:31:03Z2017-04-02T19:31:03ZShould university funding be tied to student performance?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/163233/original/image-20170330-30342-1ambouh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">How do we measure success?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Government funding for Australian universities could soon be based more on how students perform - including academic results, whether they complete uni and get a job – and less on the number of students universities manage to enrol. </p>
<p>So why is this change likely? </p>
<p>There are concerns that while <a href="https://theconversation.com/government-spending-on-education-the-winners-and-losers-70264">more money is being spent on higher education</a>, retention rates <a href="http://www.latrobe.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/784028/La-Trobe-NPP-Re-recruitment-Research-Report-24-February-2017.pdf">either haven’t improved or have decreased</a> in some instances, and students are struggling to find <a href="http://www.afr.com/news/policy/education/graduates-lose-out-in-salary-slide-graduate-careers-australia-20150212-13dffx?login_token=M9i5oobVfM0ekIOWwrCKnHgPjvvWqGSFIaEqxuK16aH2yux6WUo8k3y45rR9tM2ZJ_Kv0CN6xcugWLFKSPu9fQ&expiry=1490831664&single_use_token=KRseIQt5i19STHl1FJUnWVQh2Aqe2WNOtqC457SNES3W12w4xh0kRqi-_G3WZAB21NkojoIJ9W3wBZ9bHkc3cg">well-paid jobs</a> post graduation – or jobs at all. </p>
<p>These issues are likely to translate into more performance-based funding.</p>
<p>Governments want universities to enrol students who will graduate, obtain work and serve the national interest. They also want prospective students to know their chances of success before choosing a course and institution. Tying public funding directly to outcomes is designed to increase efficiency and transparency. </p>
<h2>Other countries already doing this</h2>
<p>At least 35 US states have introduced some type of performance funding for universities. This ranges from small bonuses to larger incentives of around <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books/about/Performance_Funding_for_Higher_Education.html?id=ZVfzDAAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button&redir_esc=y&hl=en#v=onepage&q&f=false">90%</a> of state funding. As state budgets tighten, governments (and private donors) want to see real outcomes for their money. </p>
<p>In the UK, the government is rolling out the <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/teaching-excellence-framework-18979">Teaching Excellence Framework</a>, which aims to reward universities that demonstrate they are providing excellent teaching to students by allowing institutions to raise their fees, in line with inflation. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.hefce.ac.uk/lt/tef/">framework</a> will be based on student retention, employability metrics, and student satisfaction ratings. </p>
<p>Universities will only be able to charge maximum tuition fees if they record satisfactory achievement against these standards.</p>
<h2>This is already happening in some areas of Australian HE</h2>
<p>Performance funding exists only in some areas of higher education in Australia. </p>
<p>PhD completions count towards the <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/research-block-grants-new-arrangements-allocation-calculation-methodology">research block grant</a> funding of each university. The Australian government allocates nearly A$2 billion annually to universities through this fund, to help support infrastructure and other costs of research. </p>
<p>Employability and completion rates are also major components of the new <a href="http://www.nigelscullion.com/media+hub/Tailored+support+for+Indigenous+university+students">Indigenous Student Success</a> fund, which supports scholarships, mentoring and tutoring. </p>
<p>In increasing the proportion of funding tied to success and completion rates, the <a href="http://www.nigelscullion.com/media+hub/Tailored+support+for+Indigenous+university+students">government noted</a> that Indigenous students were 2.5 times more likely than other students to drop out in their first year of university.</p>
<p>But Education Minister Simon Birmingham has signalled there will be further reform. </p>
<p>The higher education standards panel is <a href="http://www.senatorbirmingham.com.au/Latest-News/ID/3339/Education-Minister-urges-uni-students-to-research-options-as-completion-rates-dip">reviewing</a> retention and completions “to consider what further reforms are required to help lift student success”.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.qilt.edu.au/">Quality Indicators of Learning and Teaching</a> have also been developed to provide more information on university outcomes and help inform the enrolment decisions of students. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.senatorbirmingham.com.au/Media-Centre/Media-Releases/ID/3339/Education-Minister-urges-uni-students-to-research-options-as-completion-rates-dip">minister</a> regularly emphasises the need for the Australian government to reward completions, including through funding.</p>
<p>Although there are some programs in place, performance based funding in Australia could expand in many ways. </p>
<p>The government has released indicators for university attrition rates, completions, and graduate outcomes. All of these can be used to allocate funds. However, performance based funding can become a significant risk to students, especially in terms of equity. </p>
<h2>Attrition rates are hard to measure</h2>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/163234/original/image-20170330-30342-n7p32z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/163234/original/image-20170330-30342-n7p32z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/163234/original/image-20170330-30342-n7p32z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/163234/original/image-20170330-30342-n7p32z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/163234/original/image-20170330-30342-n7p32z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=523&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/163234/original/image-20170330-30342-n7p32z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=523&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/163234/original/image-20170330-30342-n7p32z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=523&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Some students take longer to graduate than others.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>Attrition rates are arguably <a href="http://www.latrobe.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/784028/La-Trobe-NPP-Re-recruitment-Research-Report-24-February-2017.pdf">overstated</a>. Many students who withdraw from university <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-typical-university-student-is-no-longer-18-middle-class-and-on-campus-we-need-to-change-thinking-on-drop-outs-73509">simply return after a year</a> and are likely to have taken a formal leave of absence. These students are still counted as part of the university’s attrition rate. </p>
<p>Students who transfer between universities are also counted within the institutional attrition rate. Any “crisis” of attrition is therefore exaggerated.</p>
<h2>Students’ background a big influence</h2>
<p>With both retention and completion rates, a major determinant of outcomes is the type of students who are enrolled. </p>
<p>Group of Eight universities usually enrol the most academically prepared students, which is reflected in their high retention and completion rates. </p>
<p>Regional universities typically have <a href="https://theconversation.com/which-students-are-most-likely-to-drop-out-of-university-56276">lower retention</a> and completion rates because they enrol less prepared students. </p>
<p>Simply rewarding the universities that enrol the most prepared students would not capture institutional performance. </p>
<h2>Employability also hard to measure</h2>
<p>Measuring graduate outcomes is also problematic. Some groups of students have relatively <a href="http://research.acer.edu.au/rd_highereducation/22/">poor</a> graduate outcomes, such as those with a disability or non-English speaking background. </p>
<p>But these outcomes are often a reflection of employer <a href="https://works.bepress.com/rhasmath/13/">discrimination</a> and unconscious bias rather than university performance.</p>
<p>Another risk in performance-based funding is narrowed entry pathways, where the only students allowed to enrol are those most likely to succeed.</p>
<p>This effect can reproduce disadvantage, and block regional, mature age, or Indigenous students, those from low socio-economic status (SES) or non-English speaking background students, and those with a disability. </p>
<p>This issue has emerged in some US states, where there has been a <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/613777/pdf">decline</a> in financially disadvantaged student numbers and a <a href="https://www.bookdepository.com/Outcomes-Based-Funding-Race-Higher-Education-2017-Tiffany-Jones/9783319494357">decrease</a> in African-American and Latino entrants to some universities.</p>
<h2>Rewarding outcomes or performance?</h2>
<p>Rewarding outcomes is a very different concept from rewarding performance, and would likely reproduce inequality. To measure actual performance, we would need to control for the student population and context, and to measure changes over time. </p>
<p>In Ohio, Tennessee, and Indiana, completions by <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books/about/Performance_Funding_for_Higher_Education.html?id=ZVfzDAAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button&redir_esc=y&hl=en#v=onepage&q&f=false">“at risk”</a> students are weighted higher.</p>
<p>The UK government is now two years into a five-year program to implement the Teaching Excellence Framework. Consultation and technical <a href="http://www.hefce.ac.uk/lt/tef/">papers</a> are highlighting similar issues with age, ethnicity, disability and location of institutions. Universities will be benchmarked according to the demographics and academic preparedness of their student populations. </p>
<h2>Problems to address</h2>
<p>How should we then measure employment outcomes, for example, of regional universities where local unemployment rates may be higher?</p>
<p>What time frame do we measure performance in? The UK government has agreed to consider institutional results averaged over a <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/557140/Teaching_Excellence_Framework_-_Technical_Con_Response.pdf">three-year period</a>. </p>
<p>Since attrition and graduate outcomes are lagging indicators, there could be a significant delay between performance improvement and reward funding. </p>
<p>Other <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books/about/Performance_Funding_for_Higher_Education.html?id=ZVfzDAAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button&redir_esc=y&hl=en#v=onepage&q&f=false">unintended consequences</a> exist in the US, including higher compliance costs and a perceived weakening of academic standards.</p>
<p>And <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books/about/Performance_Funding_for_Higher_Education.html?id=ZVfzDAAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button&redir_esc=y&hl=en#v=onepage&q&f=false">evidence</a> from the US suggests little overall benefit has been made by introducing performance-based funding.</p>
<p>More public funding tied to performance is likely to happen here in Australia. But we will need to learn from overseas experiences and ensure it does not threaten equity.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/75385/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Harvey has received funding from the Australian Government through the National Priorities Pool to undertake research into the re-recruitment of students who have withdrawn from higher education, and the impact of university employability strategies on student equity.</span></em></p>There are already signs of this happening in Australia, but research from overseas reveals few benefits.Andrew Harvey, Director, Centre for Higher Education Equity and Diversity Research, La Trobe UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/673112016-10-21T05:04:58Z2016-10-21T05:04:58ZTeenagers with low reading levels don’t find it any harder to get work<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/142607/original/image-20161021-8865-kj75iw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Vocational education plays a role in providing opportunities for low-achieving school students to engage further in study and get a job.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Teenagers with low reading levels, who went on to further education, don’t find it any harder to get a job at the age of 25, <a href="http://melbourneinstitute.com/downloads/working_paper_series/wp2016n33.pdf">research shows</a>.</p>
<p>At age 25, young Australians whose reading proficiency at age 15 was ranked low in the international literacy and numeracy test were employed at the same rates as those with higher levels of achievement. </p>
<p>For both the low (below level 3) and medium (level 3 and 4) reading proficiency groups, 58% were employed full-time, with a further 13-14% employed part-time.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.oecd.org/edu/school/programmeforinternationalstudentassessmentpisa/35188570.pdf">Low proficiency levels in the Program for International Student Assessment</a> (PISA) tests are deemed to be those at a level insufficient for students to perform the moderate reading tasks that are needed to meet real-life challenges and are below <a href="http://www.acara.edu.au/_resources/Measurement_Framework_for_Schooling_in_Australia_2015.pdf">minimum Australian standards</a>. </p>
<p>Around one-third of Australian 15 year olds had low reading proficiency levels, with just over one half were in the medium proficiency group. </p>
<p>The study also found that low school achievers work in jobs that have similar expected lifetime earnings as the medium reading proficiency group.</p>
<p>The results are particularly surprising because it is well known from <a href="http://www.pc.gov.au/research/supporting/literacy-numeracy-skills/literacy-numeracy-skills.pdf">other research</a> that poor reading skills in adulthood are associated with poorer employment prospects and work in low-paid jobs. </p>
<p>It seems that not every teenager with low reading proficiency necessarily becomes an adult with poor reading skills.</p>
<h2>Investment in VET is the key</h2>
<p>These results can be explained by high rates of participation in, and good outcomes from, Vocational Education and Training (VET) by those with low reading proficiency. </p>
<p>Around 58% undertook VET study, 15% higher education study and 14% both.</p>
<p>In contrast, those from the medium group focused more on higher education — 42% higher education, 36% VET and 15% both.</p>
<p>Those from the low proficiency group compensate for studying below bachelor-level VET qualifications by choosing courses that have good labour market prospects.</p>
<p>Compared to the medium group which did not complete a university degree, the low group chose initial VET courses that had 6% higher graduate earnings.</p>
<p>It is thought that those with low reading proficiency at age 15 explore VET options from an early age.</p>
<p>Given the <a href="https://theconversation.com/government-knocks-out-478-courses-from-loans-under-vet-crackdown-66748">large number of VET courses</a> available – and the fact that most are designed to prepare students for specific occupations – early career exploration may mean the low proficiency group is better prepared to make course choices.</p>
<h2>Our approach</h2>
<p>Australia is one of only a handful of countries with the capacity to track outcomes of PISA participants through its Longitudinal Survey of Australian Youth (LSAY).</p>
<p>In comparing outcomes, we also controlled for a range of differences between the student groups that may confound the analysis, such as family socioeconomic and demographic background and grade level at age 15.</p>
<p>The results rely on the survey respondents at age 25 being representative of those first surveyed at age 15, which can be problematic if attrition rates are high, as they are here at around 75%. </p>
<p>In the paper, we report a number of supplementary analyses that indicate that the results are unlikely to be affected by non-random attrition. The results also do not appear to reflect particularly high levels of motivation or ambition among the low skill group members who remain in the survey. </p>
<h2>Implications for schools and policy</h2>
<p>Further education and training plays a role in up-grading the skills of individuals.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.oecd.org/canada/49893598.pdf">study of a Canadian PISA cohort</a> reported that when respondents were re-tested at age 24, the reading levels among those who had undertaken post-school studies had increased from their age 15 levels.</p>
<p>The findings in our research underlines the role that VET plays in providing opportunities for low-achieving school students to engage further in study and participate fully in a modern economy. </p>
<p>It also demonstrates the importance of course choice in shaping outcomes. </p>
<p>For schools and education departments, the message is to not only ensure access to VET, but also to support young people in making good course choices. Early career counselling is a step in this direction.</p>
<p>We stress that these results do not mean that academic achievement is unimportant. On the contrary, we find more marked differences in labour market outcomes at 25 between those with high reading proficiency (levels 5 and above), suggesting substantial returns to achievement among the most skilled.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/67311/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The research behind this article was commissioned by the Victorian Department of Education and Training. The views reported in this article are those of the authors and should not be attributed to the Department.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>The research behind this article was commissioned by the Victorian Department of Education and Training. The views reported in this article are those of the authors and should not be attributed to the Department. </span></em></p>Vocational Education and Training helps low school achievers up skill and avoid disadvantage in the workplace.Cain Polidano, Research Fellow, The University of MelbourneChris Ryan, Director, Economics of Education and Child Development, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/665782016-10-05T13:26:42Z2016-10-05T13:26:42ZSouth Africa’s economy would take a knock if starved of new graduates<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140493/original/image-20161005-14240-1yt1ijz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">South Africa's economy will be hit hard if universities can't finish the year.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Cornell Tukiri/EPA</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>There is a <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-10-05/student-protests-threaten-to-close-south-african-universities">real risk</a> that some of South Africa’s universities will not see out the 2016 academic year which ends in November. The ongoing “fees must fall” <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-student-protests-in-south-africa-have-turned-violent-66288">protests</a> have seen classes disrupted at some institutions, and there are fears that exams won’t be written.</p>
<p>What might a total shutdown mean for the country’s labour market in 2017? To find out, we conducted an analysis using <a href="http://www.copsmodels.com/models.htm">a model</a> designed for economic research by the University of Pretoria in collaboration with the global <a href="http://www.copsmodels.com/">Centre of Policy Studies</a>.</p>
<p>The model allowed us to isolate and measure the impact of a large reduction in graduates entering the labour market in 2017 against a “business as usual” baseline scenario.</p>
<p>The results were extremely worrying. In one simulation – the worst case scenario – assumed in our modelling to be a 90% reduction in graduates entering the labour market, 2017 would be a bleak year. South Africa’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) would fall dramatically, with the economy shedding around R5.6 billion. Investments would plummet. </p>
<p>South Africa produces around <a href="http://mg.co.za/article/2016-05-17-black-graduate-numbers-are-up">80 000 graduates</a> a year. But this excludes other non-degree qualifications like diplomas and certificates, which may also produce new skilled labour market entrants. In our model’s database, the relevant number worked out to be little lower – around 50 000 – since we assumed that some graduates also take up lesser-skilled jobs. They can move from there into skilled categories in later years.</p>
<p>Our analysis showed that a 90% reduction in skilled labour (graduates) entering the labour market in 2017 would have a negative impact on virtually every macroeconomic indicator. If it were accompanied by negative productivity or a loss in business confidence, the effects across the economy would be exacerbated and GDP could fall even further.</p>
<p>The results also suggest that inequality would deepen. Unemployment would rise and real wages for less skilled workers would fall. The only real winners in this scenario would be incumbent skilled workers, who would benefit from higher real wages.</p>
<h2>How the analysis worked</h2>
<p>Our economic modelling involved two simulation runs. The first generated a business as usual baseline projection for the economy. The second introduced the “shock” under investigation – in this case, a reduction in graduates entering the labour market in 2017. The results of the two simulations were then compared and the percentage change between the two runs calculated for each variable. </p>
<p>In conducting our analysis, we made a number of simplifying assumptions:</p>
<p>We made no explicit assumption about the potential impact of the shutdown on productivity, business confidence or any other naturally exogenous variables in the policy run. For the scenario discussed here, those variables are assumed to remain on their baseline path.</p>
<p>We also did not consider the cost of damages to institutions during the protests. For the purpose of this conversation, we restricted our analysis to 2017 – though it’s worth mentioning that the picture for 2018 remains bleak, even allowing for a bumper year of graduates entering the market.</p>
<h2>A bleak outlook</h2>
<p>Results for some of the key macroeconomic variables confirmed our worst fears. </p>
<p>The reduction of skilled labour supply in the economy resulted in a drop in employment of 0.29%. This led to a fall in real GDP of 0.14%, or around R5.6 billion in 2017. That’s equivalent to <a href="https://www.enca.com/south-africa/saa-losses-rocket-to-r56-billion">the loss</a> that national carrier South African Airways reported for the 2014/15 financial year. </p>
<p>On the back of reduced economic activity, and by implication, lower income generated, private and public consumption would fall by 0.2%. This is not good news, since the ability to consume is a proxy for welfare: the level of an individual’s consumption is an indication of how wealthy that individual is. In this scenario, as the economy adjusts to requiring a lower equilibrium amount of capital – a result of less skilled labour in the economy – investment spending would fall by over 0.8% in 2017.</p>
<p>Our results show that the average real wage rate in the economy would rise. The anticipated real wage increase would, of course, be restricted to skilled labour categories on the back of the skills scarcity created by the lack of new graduates. For lesser skilled labour categories, average real wages would fall slightly because of the shrinking economy and the associated shrinking of demand for labour.</p>
<p>Industries that are skilled labour intensive in their production process would, in our scenario, experience more damage. The biggest losers would include the education and health sectors. Their production would fall 0.25% below base. Given its strong link to the investment sector, the construction industry could be expected to shrink by 0.75%, shedding many jobs.</p>
<h2>Dire consequences</h2>
<p>Higher education has never been more important to the process of building human capital – poverty’s kryptonite. This is evidenced by the high return it yields to graduates. In South Africa and other developing countries the return on education is <a href="http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTDEBTDEPT/Resources/468980-1170954447788/3430000-1273248341332/20100426_16.pdf">much higher</a> relative to other countries. The historical shortage of skills in the economy has made a degree, a diploma or any other proof of skills a valuable asset for everyone and a ticket into a better life. </p>
<p>The immediate economic impact of a national shutdown of universities should not be ignored or neglected. It would have significant, and potentially dire, consequences down the line – especially for those who are most in need.</p>
<p><em>The views expressed here are the authors’ alone and are not necessarily those of the organisation they are affiliated with.</em></p>
<p><strong>Editor’s note: This article was updated after publication to clarify the impact of various scenarios on GDP.</strong></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/66578/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Roula Inglesi-Lotz receives funding from the National Research Foundation (NRF) South Africa. The views expressed here are those of the author, and not any of the funders.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Heinrich Bohlmann has received funding from the National Research Foundation. The views expressed here are his own. </span></em></p>Economic models suggest that South Africa’s GDP would fall, inequality would deepen and unemployment would rise if university graduates don’t enter the labour market in 2017.Roula Inglesi-Lotz, Associate Professor of Economics, University of PretoriaHeinrich Bohlmann, Senior Lecturer, University of PretoriaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/653942016-09-14T07:01:47Z2016-09-14T07:01:47ZTo get young people into work, we first need to understand how the workplace is changing<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/137687/original/image-20160914-4948-hxte65.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In 2015, one in five Australians aged between 16 and 24 spent at least a year out of employment, education or training.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Julian Smith/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The release of the OECD report, <a href="http://www.oecd.org/australia/investing-in-youth-australia-9789264257498-en.htm">Investing in Youth - Australia</a>, highlights persistent struggles faced by many young people in Australia. </p>
<p>This analysis of youth policies related to education, training, social and employment has wide ranging implications, which can be unpacked by considering three basic questions: Where are young people at? Where are young people going? And how will we know if they have got there?</p>
<h2>Where are young people at?</h2>
<p>The report is a reminder of the persistent problems facing certain young people who: leave school early, are female, live in remote areas (particularly Indigenous youth) and are migrants from non-English-speaking countries. </p>
<p>The report highlights that in 2015, one in five Australians aged between 16 and 24 spent at least a year out of employment, education or training. </p>
<p>At the extreme end, 11.8% of all 15 to 29 year olds, totalling around 580,000 young people, were not in employment, education or training (NEET). </p>
<p>This figure is more than 100,000 higher than in 2008. Nearly two-thirds of these young people were not even seeking work.</p>
<h2>Where are young people going?</h2>
<p>The OECD report rightly suggests continued examination of the educational and training pathways available to young people post school. </p>
<p>Importantly, the report suggests further establishing vocational education and training (VET) as an appealing educational pathway. </p>
<p>Again this is a long-term challenge, and one whose barriers are, in part, entrenched in seemingly widespread cultural norms about preferred avenues post school. </p>
<p>While systems that offer early streaming into non-university pathways, such as in Germany, are sometimes viewed with scepticism (and not without some justification), it is useful to remember that there is a social expectation or high valuation placed by many Australians towards one pathway: university. </p>
<p>Yet the evidence suggests a more nuanced picture.</p>
<p>In 2014, while <a href="http://www.fya.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/fya-future-of-work-report-final-lr.pdf">around 16% of Australians</a> aged 20-24 had a bachelor-level qualification or higher, a greater proportion of young people (29%) had lower and higher level VET qualifications. </p>
<p>But the provision side of training has been subject to criticism following the news that private providers have <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-10-19/training-college-watchdog-urged-to-stamp-out-%27spruikers%27/5823072">misled disadvantaged students</a> about fees, while sometimes offering inappropriate training for long-term unemployed people with high needs. </p>
<p>More needs to be done not only to make VET more appealing, but to support what is an often fragmented sector lacking consistent long-term policy and resources.</p>
<p>A salient question here is how best to align education and training to the contemporary labour market. </p>
<p>In a labour market that not only pays for what young people know, but what they can do with what they know, the development of necessary skills, dispositions and competencies sometimes arises from places that some may find surprising.</p>
<p>Johanna Wyn, one of the researchers on a major longitudinal study of Australian youth, <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/business/the-economy/generation-y-overqualified-but-unprepared-for-work-20151106-gkt2ud#ixzz3r3DEImpa">has suggested that</a> “the graduates most likely to be in full-time work by the age of 27 are those who have done an arts degree”, probably because they can “think outside the box”.</p>
<h2>How will we know if they have got there?</h2>
<p>A deeper question concerns the degree to which these pathways should be directly tailored to meeting market needs. </p>
<p>The OECD report highlights the importance of aligning student-chosen qualifications with employer needs. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.cciq.com.au/assets/Advocacy/Blueprints/Queensland-Education-Blueprint-33945.pdf">Surveys of business</a> suggest that young people are underprepared for working life and lack foundational skills in literacy and numeracy, as well as skills such as communication and problem-solving.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.bdo.com.au/getattachment/Insights/Publications/Future-Leaders-Index/Future-Leaders-Index-Part-3/FLI_PAPER-3_Infographics_Final.pdf.aspx">recent survey of 5,029</a> Australians aged 18 to 29 found that a majority (84%) believe students need more training to be work-ready.</p>
<p>But predicting what the labour force will look like, and therefore what is required by young people to navigate it, is difficult. </p>
<p>Look at how technology, for example, is transforming industry and working life.</p>
<p>One <a href="http://www.fya.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/fya-future-of-work-report-final-lr.pdf">review</a> published last year suggests that 60% of students are being trained in areas that will be radically affected by automation.</p>
<p>Several years ago, I facilitated a series of seminars engaging big employers of young people in Australia in which participants were asked to name what the nature of industry and workforce-readiness will look like in a generation. A significant proportion (like many of us) struggled to do so.</p>
<p>The fact is that working life is becoming more fluid, if not precarious. </p>
<p>Across the OECD, <a href="http://www.fya.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/fya-future-of-work-report-final-lr.pdf">the majority of the jobs growth</a> since the 1990s has been in roles that are temporary, part-time or self-employed.</p>
<p>The prospect of a career or even <a href="https://theconversation.com/youth-unemployment-crisis-more-about-job-quality-45231">desirable, secure work</a> is becoming more unattainable for many young people.</p>
<p>Another recommendation to come out of the OECD report was to</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“ensure a more systematic and rigorous evaluation of Commonwealth-funded social, educational and employment programmes…” </p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Need for evidence-based approaches</h2>
<p>At virtually every level of education, there is a push to provide more evidence-based approaches. And rightly so. The paucity of good evidence starts at the top. </p>
<p>A <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264225442-en">review</a> published in 2015 by the OECD found that since 2008, only one in ten of education reforms carried out amongst its member countries has been analysed by governments for the impact they have on students in schools. </p>
<p><a href="https://%20theconversation.com/only-one-in-ten-education-reforms-analysed-for-their-%20impact-oecd-36461">Some of the reasons</a> why so few are evaluated for impact included the lengthy trajectories of reforms and complexity of measuring their educational outcomes.</p>
<p>The emphasis of the OECD on measuring impact is appropriate; but there is also a risk that with greater emphasis on evaluation and assessment tools such as standardised testing, evaluation of educators’ performance and impact, the task of collecting evidence maybe driving and dominating the daily business of educators to the detriment of their core purposes, which leads to the last point.</p>
<h2>Education after work</h2>
<p>An interesting thought experiment arises in relation to the future of work. </p>
<p>Given the rapid technological change mentioned above, the impact of automation has implications for most areas of work. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/07/world-without-work/395294/">Some are speculating</a> about the possibility that labour as a core feature of life may become obsolete. </p>
<p>As a purely hypothetical exercise, this raises an interesting question: what would the purpose of public education be in a world without work? </p>
<p>One answer strikes at the very heart of what education has arguably always been: that education (schooling in particular) <a href="http://www.curriculum.edu.au/verve/_resources/National_Declaration_on_the_Educational_Goals_for_Young_Australians.pdf">is about</a></p>
<blockquote>
<p>“the intellectual, physical, social, emotional, moral, spiritual and aesthetic development and wellbeing of young Australians”.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This speaks of the moral purpose of education, something that continues to motivate and drive teachers throughout the world. </p>
<p>Benjamin Hunnicutt, an historian at the University of Iowa, <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/07/world-without-work/395294/">suggests that</a>, “We used to teach people to be free. Now we teach them to work”.</p>
<p>Education isn’t solely about preparing for work and economic imperatives, an idea which sometimes escapes thinking about how best to educate young people for life.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/65394/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lucas Walsh has received funding from the ARC.
This articles draws from his latest book, Educating Generation Next: Young People, Teachers and Schooling in Transition, which is published by Palgrave Macmillan (2016).</span></em></p>Working life is becoming more fluid, if not precarious. We need to look at how our education systems are preparing young people for a changing workplace.Lucas Walsh, Associate Professor and Associate Dean (Academic Staff), Faculty of Education, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/635152016-08-21T20:03:28Z2016-08-21T20:03:28ZWhat role should universities play in today’s society?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/133191/original/image-20160805-484-2ifsu6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Is the benefit of a university education overstated?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Universities historically exist as institutions for the creation and dispersion of knowledge. But today, many young people enter university solely to prepare for careers. </p>
<p>In an era of demand-driven funding – where universities have the option to recruit as many students as they wish – is it beneficial for most young people to hold a university degree? Or is the benefit of a university education overstated, setting some young people up to fail?</p>
<p>Arguably, the higher the skill level of our workforce, the higher our country’s <a href="http://www2.deloitte.com/au/en/pages/economics/articles/importance-universities-australias-prosperity.html">productivity</a>. </p>
<p>But the nature of Australia’s workforce is changing. </p>
<p>Young people need to be prepared for a variety of roles in a future that will be transformed by automation and digitisation. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.csiro.au/Tomorrows-Digitally-Enabled-Workforce">CSIRO</a> paints a picture that if institutions and modes of employment do not change, Australia will fail to compete with the world. </p>
<h2>Where are the jobs of the future?</h2>
<p>It is difficult to make accurate predictions about jobs of the future. </p>
<p>As the growth and subsequent decline in mining industry jobs show, industries can grow and contract faster than universities can supply graduates. </p>
<p>But we can look at current trends and predict the type of skills young people will need.</p>
<p>Occupations that rely on people skills have increased faster than average – for example, employment in health care and social assistance <a href="https://docs.employment.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/australianjobs2016_0.pdf">increased by over 20%</a> in five years. </p>
<p>And as some occupations decline in job opportunities, others are transformed. </p>
<p>Online share trading platforms have driven a <a href="https://docs.employment.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/australianjobs2016_0.pdf">20% decrease</a> over five years in employment of financial dealers, as people can track share prices directly. </p>
<p>Jobs requiring high-level expertise – financial investment advisers and portfolio managers – have increased by <a href="https://docs.employment.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/australianjobs2016_0.pdf">nearly 40%</a> in the same timeframe. </p>
<p>These roles draw on similar skillsets but at a higher level and across a range of functions, pointing to the need for young people to engage in cross-disciplinary deep learning.</p>
<p>These types of shifts in employment patterns and job descriptions are evident across industries, signalling that young people today will need to be more flexible and more entrepreneurial than in the past. </p>
<p>They need broad capabilities, while at the same time some roles are being transformed to require even deeper knowledge. </p>
<h2>What is the role of higher education?</h2>
<p>Higher education once represented a secure pathway to high-skill, high-wage jobs. But this pathway does not eventuate for over <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/node/36817">one in five</a> young people who enter university but fail to complete their degrees. </p>
<p>We need to ensure young people are well informed about their course selection and are supported to complete their degrees. </p>
<p>Labour market outcomes for tertiary educated young people are far better than those without qualifications or who leave school early, but many still often struggle to gain a secure foothold in the labour market. </p>
<p>Data from the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth reveal that graduate employment rates increase steadily upon bachelor course completion, rising to <a href="http://www.lsay.edu.au/">more than 90%</a> by around 24 years of age. However, around one-quarter of those employed can only find part-time work.</p>
<h2>What needs to be done?</h2>
<p>Universities are not now, nor have ever been, solely focused on preparing young people for the workforce. </p>
<p>A broad general education, such as an arts or commerce degree, provides young people with a range of capabilities that may be as, or more, relevant to the changing economy than some occupationally specific degrees. </p>
<p>Young people need career advice and workplace experience to develop and apply their skills in an occupational context. </p>
<p>Entrepreneurial skills will be needed if young people are to create their own jobs in the future.</p>
<p>We need to ensure we have the right models of education to suit a range of interests and career aspirations. </p>
<p>Universities often have an edge on enabling students to develop deep knowledge, while developing capabilities in a workplace context that is often better suited to vocational education and training providers. </p>
<p>Even so, <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/node/39331">enrolments of domestic undergraduates have escalated</a> while government funded enrolments in vocational education and training have <a href="https://www.ncver.edu.au/data/collection/government-funded-students-and-courses">declined by nearly 9%</a> between 2014 and 2015. </p>
<p>Some existing university courses, like medicine and dentistry, are applied in their very nature, while other courses including public policy and planning are adopting internships to bridge the gap. </p>
<p>These pathways are particularly important for generalist degree graduates, as the link between knowledge gained and workplace capabilities is more tenuous, and graduate outcomes tend to be lower. </p>
<p>For courses more tightly linked to vocational outcomes, the <a href="https://www.prospects.ac.uk/jobs-and-work-experience/apprenticeships/degree-apprenticeship">degree apprenticeship</a> path, as adopted in the UK, could provide an additional pathway to ensure skills learned in university can be applied to the workplace. </p>
<p>Both universities and vocational education providers have a shared role in securing the future labour force by fostering knowledge, analytic thinking, broad capabilities and technical skills in our young people. </p>
<p>A key priority should be ensuring young people are equipped and supported to make the choices that work for them and to choose a pathway that holds value in a rapidly changing economy.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/63515/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Megan O'Connell is employed by Mitchell Institute, which is part funded by Victoria University. Victoria University receives public funding.</span></em></p>Young people today will need to be more flexible and more entrepreneurial than in the past. Universities can help by designing courses that will have value in a rapidly changing economy.Megan O'Connell, Policy Program Director, Mitchell Institute, Victoria UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/634012016-08-03T20:07:41Z2016-08-03T20:07:41ZThere’s work (and life) outside of universities for PhD graduates<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/132739/original/image-20160802-17177-e3b9fl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">PhD graduates should aim for careers in industry.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock/Syda Productions</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The number of PhD students graduating from Australian universities continues to rise, with <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/documents/2014-award-course-completions">more than 8,000 in 2014</a> and about one in three in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines.</p>
<p>Our best estimates are that about half of these students will begin an academic career as postdoctoral research fellows or research assistants.</p>
<p>But over time most will move out of – and much less frequently back into – academic jobs.</p>
<p>Only around 2% of PhD graduates are expected to reach professorial levels and enjoy the privilege of an <a href="https://royalsociety.org/%7E/media/Royal_Society_Content/policy/publications/2010/4294970126.pdf">uninterrupted academic career</a>.</p>
<h2>Options and expectations</h2>
<p>Most PhD graduates are driven by a passion for their field and commit years to study. Some are sold on the promise that they will one day have an independent research career, like their supervisors.</p>
<p>The reality of fierce competition for grants, intense pressure to perform, inflexible funding regulations and 12-month contracts is often <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/scienceshow/the-perilous-road-for-graduating-phds/7652818">a stark and unwelcome revelation</a>.</p>
<p>But the modern PhD is not only a training to conduct specialised research. It is also a wider preparation for diverse employment.</p>
<p>A PhD equips people with the ability to think critically, to assess a problem in the context of the wider body of knowledge, and to produce original solutions independently. It also gives them the ability to communicate and articulate solutions. </p>
<p>Irrespective of whether they find careers in academia, graduates with STEM PhDs are more likely to be employed and <a href="http://acola.org.au/PDF/SAF13/SAF13%20RTS%20report.pdf">will earn higher salaries</a> than bachelors and higher-degree graduates from most other disciplines within five years of graduation.</p>
<p>This is seen by those in government as a positive for the economy. People with STEM PhDs are increasingly seen by employers in government, industry and the community sector as some of the best generalist graduates on the market. </p>
<p>So we need to do more to help PhD students understand that their training opens up a wide range of possibilities, with academic research being just one, and we need to support PhD students to explore what fits best for them.</p>
<p>We need better enrolment processes, supervision, skills development and internship opportunities. That way our most highly trained graduates would be better prepared to embrace the many opportunities that a PhD will bring.</p>
<h2>For those who stay in academia</h2>
<p>One key issue we need to address is how to plan for and achieve a healthy balance of senior, junior and mid-career researchers across the disciplines. We need to do this with equal opportunities for men, women and those from diverse groups to nurture a healthy pipeline of talented new scientists for the future.</p>
<p>But both the National Health and Medical Research Council (<a href="https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/">NHMRC</a>) and the Australian Research Council (<a href="http://www.arc.gov.au/">ARC</a>) have struggled to develop schemes that build and nurture research careers while simultaneously supporting proposals judged by peer-review to be the best and most worthwhile research ideas. </p>
<p>One scheme that has changed the game to an extent is the <a href="http://www.arc.gov.au/future-fellowships">ARC Future Fellowship</a> scheme. The Academy of Science <a href="https://www.science.org.au/supporting-science/science-policy/submissions-government/response%E2%80%94arc-future-fellowships">advocated strongly and instrumentally for</a> prior to its establishment in 2009, and for its continuation when <a href="https://theconversation.com/if-we-want-to-be-a-smart-nation-we-should-keep-future-fellowships-39323">threatened by budget cuts</a> more recently.</p>
<p>But with funding for just 100 Future Fellowships each year, this scheme is only a drop in the ocean. There is clearly much to be done.</p>
<h2>Investing in capability</h2>
<p>Australia is starting to recognise that to be a successful player in the world economy we do need to move into the innovation age. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/turnbull-seeks-ideas-boom-with-innovation-agenda-experts-react-51892">National Innovation and Science Agenda</a>, released last year, started that process.</p>
<p>Many have argued Australia needs to <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/business/federal-budget/federal-budget-scientists-push-for-more-research-funding-20160411-go3uaa.html">invest about 3% of GDP</a> in science and research to be on par with countries which have strong and successful innovation performance.</p>
<p>To achieve this, Australia would have to commit in the order of A$5 billion a year of additional public funding of research to leverage an additional A$10 billion a year in industry research and development. This is not an easy task and not something that will happen quickly.</p>
<p>Only when there is a firm commitment to investing in the research sector can the focus shift to building capacity in the longer term.</p>
<p>But the financial quadrant of government (and the industry sector) is often reluctant to make longer-term commitments, and wherever possible tends to retreat to short term programs because this maximises the flexibility to shift resources in response to the demands of the day. </p>
<p>The message that we need to reinforce is that good research is not done in little bites. Moving away from an environment where short-term funding cycles for research are the norm and towards a framework which commits to larger, deeper and longer-term programs would instantly provide a vehicle in which career structures for researchers can be embedded.</p>
<h2>Review of research training</h2>
<p>Looking at research training itself, we need to make sure the many thousands of PhD graduates produced each year are both better prepared for (and less shocked by) the reality that many will end up working in government or industry, and not in academia.</p>
<p>There is also a need to help students to attain and/or recognise their transferable skills. Industry, government or community sector placements can both expose students to those opportunities and to employer needs outside of academia. It also shows to employers the skill sets of PhD graduates.</p>
<p>We need to do more both to support and encourage the most intellectually and experimentally capable scientists at all levels to flourish in the research sector. That way we better prepare our most highly-trained graduates to contribute to society through a variety of rewarding occupations and careers, outside of academia.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/63401/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Professor Les Field is the Secretary of Science Policy, Australian Academy of Science. He receives funding from the Australian Research Council and is Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor at UNSW.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Holmes has received funding from UK (EPSRC and BBSRC) research councils, from the ARC, the European Commission, the Australian Government, the Victorian State Government, and various industrial research companies. These funding sources have all been acknowledged in peer-reviewed publications.
He has supervised some 100 doctoral candidates and 100 postdoctoral research collaborators. </span></em></p>Australia produces thousands of PhD graduates every year but many will find it hard to secure a university career. So we should do more to help them consider a career outside of academia.Les Field, Secretary for Science Policy at the Australian Academy of Science, and Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor, UNSW SydneyAndrew Holmes, President of the Australian Academy of Science, Laureate Professor Emeritus, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/569162016-04-04T06:19:40Z2016-04-04T06:19:40ZFactCheck Q&A: does it take 4.7 years for young graduates to find employment in Australia?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/116718/original/image-20160330-28451-1bewqu9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Entrepreneur and CEO, Holly Ransom, speaking on Q&A.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Q&A</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><strong>The Conversation is fact-checking claims made on Q&A, broadcast Mondays on the ABC at 9:35pm. Thank you to everyone who sent us quotes for checking via <a href="http://www.twitter.com/conversationEDU">Twitter</a> using hashtags #FactCheck and #QandA, on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/conversationEDU">Facebook</a> or by <a href="mailto:checkit@theconversation.edu.au">email</a>.</strong></p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/IHzNI0t6--Y?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Excerpt from Q&A, March 28, 2016.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<blockquote>
<p>What I find really interesting is it now takes a young person 4.7 years to find employment after graduating. That was a year back in 1986. – Holly Ransom, entrepreneur and CEO of Emergent, <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/tv/qanda/txt/s4415856.htm">speaking</a> on Q&A on March 28, 2016. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>The road from education to employment remains challenging for young Australians. A sluggish economy has dragged down the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0022185615571981">youth job market</a>, and until very recently there have been few signs of recovery. These problems are <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/07/revealed-30-year-economic-betrayal-dragging-down-generation-y-income">not unique to Australia</a>.</p>
<p>Entrepreneur and CEO, Holly Ransom, told the Q&A audience that it now takes a young person 4.7 years to find employment after graduating.</p>
<p>Is that right?</p>
<h2>Checking the source</h2>
<p>When asked for a source for that figure, Ransom’s spokeswoman referred The Conversation to a report published by the <a href="http://unlimitedpotential.fya.org.au/transition/full-time-work-is-decreasing-and-casual-and-part-time-work-are-increasing/">Foundation for Young Australians</a> (FYA). The analysis behind the report was conducted by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research using Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data. The report found that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Graduates from education are finding it harder to find full-time work. It is taking on average 4.7 years for young people to move into full-time work after completing full time education and 2.7 years to find any work (compared to one year respectively in 1986).</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/117042/original/image-20160401-28462-opek94.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/117042/original/image-20160401-28462-opek94.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/117042/original/image-20160401-28462-opek94.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=326&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117042/original/image-20160401-28462-opek94.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=326&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117042/original/image-20160401-28462-opek94.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=326&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117042/original/image-20160401-28462-opek94.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117042/original/image-20160401-28462-opek94.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117042/original/image-20160401-28462-opek94.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://unlimitedpotential.fya.org.au/transition/full-time-work-is-decreasing-and-casual-and-part-time-work-are-increasing/">FYA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>You can read the full report <a href="http://www.fya.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/How-young-people-are-faring-report-card-2015-FINAL.pdf">here</a> and the supporting analysis <a href="http://unlimitedpotential.fya.org.au/transition/transition-is-becoming-more-complex-and-challenging/">here</a>.</p>
<p>The first thing to note is that while Ransom’s quote referred to employment in general, the 4.7 years statistic refers to time taken to find a <em>full-time job</em>. The report estimates that the average time required to find <em>any job</em> is 2.7 years in 2013.</p>
<p>The 4.7 years statistic isn’t just about university graduates. It includes all young people (aged 15-24 years), no matter whether they went to university, did a vocational education and training course (like TAFE or an apprenticeship), or finished their education in high school.</p>
<p>Apart from these clarifications about the meaning of “employment” and “graduates”, Holly Ransom’s representation of the report’s findings is broadly accurate.</p>
<h2>How are the figures calculated?</h2>
<p>The figures in the Foundation for Young Australians (FYA) report were calculated using data from the ABS’ monthly <a href="https://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwism5-dsOzLAhXjKqYKHdk4BowQFgglMAI&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.abs.gov.au%2Fausstats%2Fabs%40.nsf%2Fmf%2F6202.0&usg=AFQjCNHN1GfwZpAJNqxiJDGf-CMf8nCxUg">Labour Force Survey</a>, which is primarily a cross-sectional survey.</p>
<p>This means that when comparing Labour Force Survey figures for different years, we are comparing two entirely different samples, although each represents the population at that point in time. It’s not looking at the same people or households over time.</p>
<p>When asked how the figure of 4.7 years was calculated, a spokeswoman for FYA told The Conversation that, using the ABS Labour Force Survey data, the researchers:</p>
<blockquote>
<ul>
<li>Looked at the average age at which more than half the population had left full-time education</li>
<li>Looked at the average age at which more than half the population has got full-time work</li>
<li>Then they compared those two numbers, factoring in that the people graduating and the people getting jobs are from slightly different age cohorts.</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<p>You can read the full response from FYA <a href="http://theconversation.com/full-response-from-foundation-for-young-australians-57112">here</a>. </p>
<h2>A few grains of salt</h2>
<p>Overall, the FYA report upon which Ransom’s quote was based showed that today’s young Australians are leaving full-time education <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/productsbyCatalogue/556A439CD3D7E8A8CA257242007B3F32?OpenDocument">later than in the past</a> and entering full-time employment <a href="http://education.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/1624532/LifePatterns_10YearFollowingGenY_FINAL_webversion.pdf">later</a> than in the past. That could be for a range of reasons. </p>
<p>The Labour Force Survey doesn’t actually ask employed people how long they took to find their job. As the FYA’s spokeswoman’s told The Conversation in relation to the figure of 4.7 years:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>It is worth noting that during these years [between full-time education and full-time employment] young people may be doing a range of things, including working part-time while studying part-time, travelling or volunteering overseas, working in a casual job or on a contract, and we are talking specifically about them finding full-time work.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>They might also return to full-time education. Remember: the data used for the analysis doesn’t follow the same people over time. Instead, it shows two snapshots of different people at different points in time – those in full-time education and those in employment. </p>
<p>To illustrate, let’s imagine two young people, John and Mary, who represent the two basic categories used in the real data analysis done for FYA. John is 18 years old and taking a gap year after completing his HSC. He takes part in the Labour Force Survey in 2007 and is recorded as not in employment and not in full-time education. John’s situation is used to estimate that young people start leaving the full-time education system at around age 18 in 2007. A year after participating in the Labour Force Survey, John starts looking for work and quickly lands a job.</p>
<p>Mary is 22 years old and recently completed a bachelor’s degree in accounting. She went straight to university after finishing her HSC and never previously had a full-time job. After graduating, Mary quickly found a full-time job. She takes part in the Labour Force Survey in 2007 and is recorded as in full-time employment and not in full-time education. Mary’s situation is used to estimate that young people who are not in full-time education start finding full-time jobs at around age 22 in 2007. A year after participating in the Labour Force Survey, Mary loses her first job and starts searching for a new employer.</p>
<p>Using data from the Labour Force Survey, we could conclude that the average duration between study and employment for young Australians was four years in 2007. This figure is obtained by subtracting John’s age when he took part in the survey (18 years) from Mary’s age when she took part (22 years).</p>
<p>Does this figure of four years fairly represent either person’s experience? Clearly, it does not.</p>
<p>Of course, this is a deliberate simplification. But it helps to illustrate some of the dangers in comparing different population snapshots and interpreting these as durations.</p>
<h2>Other data sources</h2>
<p>Graduate Careers Australia surveys show that:</p>
<ul>
<li>roughly <a href="http://www.graduatecareers.com.au/research/researchreports/graduatedestinations/">2/3 university graduates find work within four months</a> of graduating and;</li>
<li>roughly <a href="http://www.graduatecareers.com.au/research/surveys/beyondgraduationsurvey/%20of%20university%20graduates%20find%20work">4/5 university graduates find work within three years of graduation</a>.</li>
</ul>
<p>The National Centre for Vocational Education Research’s <a href="http://www.ncver.edu.au/statistic/21065.html">Student Outcomes Survey</a> shows that:</p>
<ul>
<li>64% of 15-19 year olds who completed a VET course in 2015 were employed six months after graduation and; </li>
<li>75% of 20-24 year olds who completed a VET course in 2015 were employed six months after graduation. </li>
</ul>
<p>These figures suggest that only a minority of young VET completers struggle to find work. </p>
<p>What about the broader group of young people, including those who have never done any tertiary study? The government’s <a href="http://www.lsay.edu.au/">Longitudinal Survey of Australian Youth</a> follows cohorts of young people for 10 years, starting at age 15. It allows comparisons between different cohorts at the same age. </p>
<p>Of those in the survey’s 2006 cohort, 55% had gained their first full-time job by the time they turned 21 (which, for this cohort, was in 2012). That represented a small decline compared to earlier cohorts from this survey.</p>
<p>So that data shows Australia’s current youth are indeed taking a bit longer than their predecessors to find full-time work. </p>
<p>The FYA’s estimate is that today’s average young Australian will not find full-time work until 23.4 years of age. This figure seems high compared to the Longitudinal Survey of Australian Youth’s evidence that most young people have attained a full-time job by age 21.</p>
<h2>Verdict</h2>
<p>Holly Ransom’s comment was a broadly accurate representation of findings published by the Foundation for Young Australians. It would have been more accurate to say “full-time” employment, but given the fast pace of live television, this omission is understandable.</p>
<p>Other data suggest that the current interval between study and work is typically shorter than FYA’s report implies.</p>
<p>Other data does, however, support the argument that Australia’s current youth are taking longer than their predecessors to find full-time work. <strong>– Joshua Healy</strong></p>
<hr>
<h2>Review</h2>
<p>This is a sound analysis. The FactCheck author correctly points out the dangers in trying to deduce dynamics (such as the time path taken to get a job) from static data (such as an average at a point in time). </p>
<p>For instance, according to the Labour Force Survey in 2014, the average duration of unemployment for the labour market as a whole was 36 weeks. This could be interpreted as meaning that on average someone becoming unemployed will take nine months to get a job. But the data also reveal that over 20% of the jobless were unemployed for less than four weeks and over 60% were unemployed for less than six months. Clearly, there are quite different interpretations possible from the same data set. </p>
<p>It is correct that Holly Ransom did, with the qualification pointed out by the FactCheck author, accurately quote the FYA report. </p>
<p>However, other data indicate that most young people get a full-time job relatively soon after completing study.</p>
<p>In the post-GFC economic climate, data do suggest the time taken to get the first full-time job has increased for VET and university graduates. <strong>– Phil Lewis</strong></p>
<hr>
<p><div class="callout"> Have you ever seen a “fact” worth checking? The Conversation’s FactCheck asks academic experts to test claims and see how true they are. We then ask a second academic to review an anonymous copy of the article. You can request a check at checkit@theconversation.edu.au. Please include the statement you would like us to check, the date it was made, and a link if possible.</div></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/56916/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joshua Healy is a researcher at the Centre for Workplace Leadership, which receives funding from the Australian Government Department of Employment.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Phil Lewis does not work for, consult to, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article. He also has no relevant affiliations. During his career he has received funding from many private and public sector organisations including most recently the ARC, NCVER, DEEWR, the AFPC, ABLA and CPA Australia.</span></em></p>Entrepreneur and CEO, Holly Ransom, told the Q&A audience that it now takes a young person 4.7 years to find employment after graduating. Is that right?Josh Healy, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Workplace Leadership, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/528602016-01-07T05:54:21Z2016-01-07T05:54:21ZShould I stay or should I go? The dilemma for unemployed teachers<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/107501/original/image-20160107-14013-t4qqc9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Not every teaching graduate will find permanent work. It's time to weigh up your options. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The new school year is nearly upon us and tens of thousands of students are either excited about new stationery and school shoes, or they are counting down their last days of holiday freedom. </p>
<p>More than 15,000 newly minted teachers are also excited about the prospect of stepping into their first classrooms, but unfortunately <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/graduate-glut-puts-trainee-teachers-on-the-scrapheap-20141019-115wa4.html">less than half of them</a> will find permanent employment.</p>
<h2>More teachers than we need</h2>
<p>We are currently preparing more teachers than we have positions. </p>
<p>We have patchy data on how many teachers are needed now and into the future, and in what subject areas they are required. In the absence of considered workforce planning, universities continue to enrol large numbers of teacher education students to boost overall student numbers and income. </p>
<p>Employers add to the problem by taking the cheap option and offering short-term contracts rather than permanent positions. </p>
<h2>Should they stay or should they go?</h2>
<p>The choice for thousands of unemployed new teacher graduates is between staying and doing casual teaching (also known as relief or supply teaching) or going where the work is (if their life circumstances permit). Or sadly, they just give up on teaching altogether.</p>
<p>There are advantages to casual teaching. There are fewer of the “after hours” responsibilities - less administration, not much marking, and no long-term planning, report writing or daily negotiations with tricky parents.</p>
<p>Good casual teachers are highly valued by schools. They are called on often during the year and become part of the school team so when a permanent position does come up, they are well-positioned to fill it. Their experience in the local context and knowledge of the school system makes them attractive candidates for school principals seeking to appoint new staff. </p>
<p>Working in a variety of schools and stepping into many different classrooms also provides casual teachers with lots of ideas for organising their own classrooms, when that opportunity finally arises. </p>
<p>However, long-term casual work can eat away at the soul of newly graduated teachers, who have been imagining themselves teaching their own classrooms from the day they began their teaching degree, and very often for years before that. They want to make a difference in students’ lives and that is hard to do when you are simply filling in occasionally for the main teacher. </p>
<p>Casual teaching can quickly begin to feel like running a kids’ club, and on the bad days lion taming seems an easier option. Before the casual route begins to wear down their enthusiasm and energy, newly graduated teachers should consider their other option - leaving. Not leaving teaching, but instead heading to where the jobs are - in remote Australia or overseas.</p>
<h2>Teaching in the UK</h2>
<p>Thanks to some poor workforce planning of their own, the UK currently needs teachers - and <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/uk-schools-snapping-up-nsw-teaching-graduates-20151222-glt4rq.html">they like newly graduated Australian teachers</a>. </p>
<p>Teacher salaries are lower in the UK, but, unlike casual teaching, the fortnightly income is predictable and you can budget accordingly. </p>
<p>In London the cost of living is high, but the lifestyle is exciting for a young graduate - and the continent is just a train ride away.</p>
<p>There are also jobs in other areas of England, where the cost of living is more reasonable. Often these jobs are in areas <a href="http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/education/graphic_recruitment_is_our_biggest_concern_say_norfolk_headteachers_1_3908092">where UK graduates choose not to go to</a>, where there are disadvantaged students in struggling schools. </p>
<p>For those who went into teaching to make a difference, these are excellent positions in which to achieve those visions - as are <a href="http://www.teaching.nt.gov.au">positions in the Australia’s remote indigenous communities</a>.</p>
<h2>Teaching English overseas</h2>
<p>Going overseas to teach English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) is another option, and there are <a href="http://www.eslcafe.com/joblist/">many TESOL opportunities</a> all over the world. </p>
<p>Being an English speaker with a general teaching qualification is often enough to get a position in some countries, but it isn’t enough to do the job well. Anyone considering teaching English overseas should do themselves and their students a favour and <a href="http://www.atesolact.org.au/teach/">first get a TESOL qualification</a>. </p>
<p>When you arrive in your new destination, <a href="https://www.tesol.org/connect/affiliates-regional-organizations/worldwide-affiliate-directory">join your local teachers association</a>. All new teachers need support networks, and teachers’ professional associations are the ideal way to meet other teachers with similar interests, as well as experienced teachers who can help new teachers through tough times. </p>
<h2>Reason for optimism</h2>
<p>If you are one of those many thousands of teachers waiting for a permanent position, it can feel extremely disheartening. Take heart, and hang in there. </p>
<p>This is just the first chapter in your teaching career, and it can be one that sets you up for a fascinating career story. Later chapters will be filled with tales from your very own classrooms. I know because my own teaching career began with casual teaching and a stint of teaching overseas.</p>
<p>If you decide to travel to find a teaching job, your experience away will give you an interesting edge when you return, and jobs will be easier to find. You will be a much better teacher for having seen the world through different eyes. </p>
<p>If you stay, make the most of the casual experience. Look at what other teachers do, keep notes, take photos, and collect resources. And make a good impression in the schools you work in - a permanent position is just a retirement away! They are even predicting <a href="http://research.acer.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1001&context=policyinsights">a teacher shortage by 2020</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/52860/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<h4 class="border">Disclosure</h4><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Misty Adoniou works for the University of Canberra. She has received funding from the ACT Education and Training Directorate, the International Baccalaureate Organisation and the International Organisation for Migration. She is on the Board of Directors of TESOL International.</span></em></p>Of the 15,000 newly graduated teachers, less than half will find permanent employment in Australia. Now’s the time to decide if you stay on to do casual teaching or work abroad.Misty Adoniou, Associate Professor in Language, Literacy and TESL, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/466032015-08-26T19:44:22Z2015-08-26T19:44:22ZUniversities need to change so students learn to keep up with the world<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/93009/original/image-20150826-1592-19x9zpr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Students need to be taught to be entrepreneurial and creative, not just the content in the syllabus.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com.au</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A recent report from the <a href="http://www.fya.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/fya-future-of-work-report-final-lr.pdf">Foundation of Young Australians</a> said that between 60-70% of our students are being educated in jobs that won’t exist by the time they graduate.</p>
<p>With a future that is not yet imaginable, how do universities prepare graduates for the world of work?</p>
<h2>Universities need to teach enterprising skills</h2>
<p>One recommendation in the report is to build a 21st-century workforce by </p>
<blockquote>
<p>placing enterprising skills at the heart of learning. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>The upcoming shifts listed in the report challenge our universities to develop greater numbers of entrepreneurial graduates. Entrepreneurial education should by no means be limited to business faculties. A robust discipline-based education can also foster entrepreneurial capacity in students.</p>
<p>Given our universities are educating for jobs that will no longer exist, how can we future-proof our education in this rapidly changing age? The managing director of a private education provider focused on entrepreneurship, Jack Delosa, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K28kF-cPhvA">said in a YouTube segment</a> that there is a skills gap between what the market needs and what universities are educating for. He said universities aren’t developing students who are adaptable to change or innovative.</p>
<p>An entrepreneurial education cultivates less tangible skills associated with an entrepreneurial mindset. These include the capacity to tolerate failure, self-awareness and the ability to act courageously and take risks.</p>
<p>Universities wishing to design curricula that build entrepreneurial capabilities face two main challenges. First, measurable learning outcomes are required to ensure accreditation with the <a href="http://www.teqsa.gov.au/regulatory-approach/higher-education-standards-framework">Higher Education Standards Framework</a>. Second, there is the increasing focus on scalability as student numbers continue to climb. </p>
<p>The existence of these two challenges falls in direct conflict with educational elements that will foster the core skills of innovation and creativity, which are at the heart of an entrepreneurial education.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/92985/original/image-20150826-32499-a2qhny.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/92985/original/image-20150826-32499-a2qhny.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/92985/original/image-20150826-32499-a2qhny.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/92985/original/image-20150826-32499-a2qhny.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/92985/original/image-20150826-32499-a2qhny.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/92985/original/image-20150826-32499-a2qhny.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/92985/original/image-20150826-32499-a2qhny.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/92985/original/image-20150826-32499-a2qhny.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Universities aren’t teaching students to be innovative and creative.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To unleash our students’ entrepreneurial skills, universities must move away from measuring academic success according to rigid marking criteria. They should focus on learning through experience and the cycle of failure inherent in creative endeavours. Rather than defining measurable learning outcomes, curricula should support aspirational outcomes that ignite lifelong learning and encourage inquiry beyond the classroom.</p>
<p>Universities must also get comfortable with the idea of providing an education focused on the whole person rather than only acquiring discipline-specific knowledge and skills. This has been accomplished at Stanford University where students undertake “<a href="http://www.stanford2025.com/purpose-learning/">missions not majors</a>”.</p>
<p>Under this model students are assisted in developing the “why” – their purpose for undertaking their studies. There is also an explicit recognition of the value of broad skills. A whole person education is critically important because the pathways between school, university and employment are no longer defined and adaptability is key for an uncertain job market. </p>
<p>When students can articulate their reason for study this helps them to gain a sense of meaning through their acquired experience. Understanding their purpose helps to build the confidence necessary to sustain them through uncertainty. </p>
<h2>Students need to change their outlook</h2>
<p>While financial and digital literacy are no doubt important in the future of work, the art of entrepreneurial education is cultivating an entrepreneurial mindset. This can only be accomplished through self-empowered students. Today’s students need to be prepared to actively create their own futures by thinking and acting more entrepreneurial throughout their university education. </p>
<p>One of my undergraduate students founded a <a href="http://bioquisitive.org.au/">community “biohacking” space</a> promoting greater public engagement with biology. The process of founding his own social enterprise showed the importance of engaging with a community beyond university to successfully start his enterprise.</p>
<p>Some university students are relying too heavily on acquiring academic skills rather than actively taking their future into their own hands. </p>
<p>The Centre for Creative Leadership <a href="http://insights.ccl.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/BlendedLearningLeadership.pdf">70:20:10 Model for learning and development</a> shows that students need to engage broadly for effective learning. This model suggests that 70% of development occurs through the actions of the individual, 20% through relationships and only 10% through classroom learning and reading. </p>
<p>Students have to build connections in a world where “it’s not <em>what</em> you know, it’s <em>who</em> you know”. Bennett Merriman, young entrepreneur and director of a workforce management company, told a recent <a href="http://herdsa2015.org/">higher education conference</a> that connectivity in our work place is important. He recommended that students should spend time developing their networks throughout their studies.</p>
<p>An entrepreneurial education provides a unique educational mix that builds the capacity of students to thrive in a complex world. Integrating the elements from entrepreneurship education into other educational domains offers students the gift of seeing an opportunity and understanding how to take it.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/46603/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rowan Brookes is the Course Director of the Bachelor of Science Advanced - Global Challenges degree of which a student is mentioned in this article.</span></em></p>With a future that is not yet imaginable, how do universities prepare graduates for the world of work?Rowan Brookes, Lecturer and Course Director , Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/452222015-07-28T20:07:56Z2015-07-28T20:07:56ZGraduating into a weak job market: why so many grads can’t find work<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/89877/original/image-20150728-7626-1dn0ae6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">From the graduation ceremony to the unemployment line</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com.au</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Times are tough for young Australians. The costs of education and housing are rising. The youth unemployment rate is <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0022185615571981">double the national average</a> and competition for good jobs is intense. </p>
<p>Many young people are taking longer to reach the conventional milestones of adulthood: independent housing, career stability, a partner and children. This is not because young people no longer want these things, but because they have become harder to attain.</p>
<h2>Degrees of importance</h2>
<p>A university education is often seen as a reliable pathway to a good career and a comfortable life, but this pathway also seems to be crumbling with ongoing weakness in the job market. </p>
<p>Graduate Careers Australia runs a large, annual survey of new graduates to track what happens to them after university. Over 100,000 graduates took part in the 2014 survey and the <a href="http://www.graduatecareers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Graduate_Destinations_Report_2014_FINAL.pdf">results were released last week</a>.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/grim-jobs-outlook-for-new-graduates/story-e6frgcjx-1227454542727">headline-grabbing figure</a> was that only 68% of bachelor graduates from the class of 2014 had a full-time job four months after graduating. That is the lowest full-time employment rate for new graduates since Graduate Careers Australia began measuring in 1982. The long-term average for the past three decades is 80.6%. The previous low (70.6%) was in 1992, after Paul Keating’s “recession we had to have”.</p>
<p>The 68% refers only to graduates who are available to work full-time. Those who study further, or who choose not to work immediately, are excluded. So the result is not because more graduates are taking a “gap year” after their studies. Outcomes are worsening for the graduates who want to work. </p>
<p>The 68% is also only for Australian citizens and permanent residents. Overseas students, who represent a large share of Australian university enrolments but whose full-time employment rates within Australia are lower, are also excluded. </p>
<h2>After graduation, unemployment?</h2>
<p>The Australian graduate labour market is in a serious slump. In some ways, the news is actually worse than the 68% figure lets on. First, more graduates are continuing into further study. </p>
<p>This is what we would expect with high unemployment: graduates stay out of the bad market and add to their qualifications, hoping to find work later when conditions have improved. The proportion of bachelor graduates staying on in full-time study has increased for the past six years; the trend is the exact opposite of the declining full-time employment rate. </p>
<p>Second, the chance of finding a full-time job straight after graduation is even lower (65%) for those aged less than 25 years. These younger graduates are the majority of all bachelor degree graduates, but their older counterparts seem to do better in finding full-time work. There may be an employer preference here against hiring younger applicants who have less general or specific work experience.</p>
<p>Finally, average starting salaries have declined for younger graduates who do find full-time jobs. In 2014, the median salary of graduates in their first full-time job was <a href="http://www.graduatecareers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Graduate_Salaries_Report_2014_FINAL.PDF">worth 74% of male average weekly earnings</a>. Like the graduate full-time employment rate, this ratio has been declining for the past six years and is at the lowest level yet recorded by Graduate Careers Australia.</p>
<p>There is now a real risk that, in attempting to expand access to higher education, governments and universities have effectively flooded the job market with new graduates, at a time when employer demand for them was slipping. The <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0927537109001018">research indicates</a> that those who are unlucky enough to graduate in a recession suffer long-term “scarring” effects in terms of their employment and earnings prospects.</p>
<h2>Get better grades, or better contacts?</h2>
<p>So what can be done to help new graduates in a weak job market? One clue comes from the Graduate Careers Australia findings for graduates who did and did not work during their final year of study. Those who did any work in that year, and especially if it was full-time, were more likely to be employed full-time after graduation than those who did not work while finishing their degree. </p>
<p>This strongly suggests that employers prefer to hire graduates with recent work experience, even if it is outside their field of study. Deepening students’ engagement with the job market just as they are about to graduate seems to boost their employment prospects. Students who spend all their time studying may not actually be maximising their appeal to future recruiters.</p>
<p>Many universities already offer placement services to their students. This sort of assistance helps graduates to link up with prospective employers. It also allows universities to tailor their courses somewhat to the skills that employers demand.</p>
<p>Such programs are undoubtedly easier to administer where there are clearly defined occupations for graduates to enter (like dentistry) than when the destinations and employers are varied (like humanities). Yet graduates in the second group are the ones who appear to be most in need of assistance. </p>
<p>Providing more targeted support to graduates facing a difficult job market is inexpensive when compared with the high personal and economic costs of graduate underemployment.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/45222/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joshua Healy is a researcher at the Centre for Workplace Leadership, which receives funding from the Australian Government Department of Employment.</span></em></p>The latest graduate survey found only 68% of bachelor graduates from the class of 2014 had a full-time job four months after graduating, the lowest since the survey started in the 1980s.Josh Healy, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Workplace Leadership, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/451582015-07-27T20:06:33Z2015-07-27T20:06:33ZCharging $22,000 for a graduate position won’t solve the problem of law graduate oversupply<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/89762/original/image-20150727-1341-1k7va0p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">So many law grads. So few jobs. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com.au</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>“<a href="http://adlawgroup.com.au">Adlaw</a>”, an Adelaide-based firm launching this month, announced its plans to charge law graduates A$22,000 up front for a job with them, with the promise of learning on the job and earning back that sizeable investment. While we are currently facing a problem of an oversupply of law graduates, this isn’t the way to go about solving it.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>There is a huge pool of law graduates entering the market with few prospects of finding employment as a lawyer. In South Australia alone there are currently in excess of 2000 law graduates who have no immediate employment prospects. Many will give up on pursuing legal careers altogether; abandoning the investment in legal education. - <a href="http://adlawgroup.com.au">Adlaw website</a></p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Why do we have too many law graduates?</h2>
<p>Since the 2007-08 financial crisis there has been a dramatic cutback in the use of legal services by large corporates in Australia, the US and elsewhere. This, in turn, has shrunk the market for law graduates. </p>
<p>According to the <a href="http://www.nalp.org/uploads/Classof2013SelectedFindings.pdf">US National Association for Law Placement</a>, prior to 2007 nearly 92% of graduates found a job. That number is now below 85%. In Australia that number is <a href="http://www.afr.com/news/policy/industrial-relations/lawyers-experience-starts-to-pay-off-but-graduates-struggle-20140801-j6ycw">78.5%</a> - the lowest since records began in 1982.</p>
<p>Yet Australian law schools are turning out graduates at <a href="https://www.collaw.edu.au/insights/12000-law-graduates-seeking-legal-work-dont-think/">record rates</a>. This is making the imbalance between the supply of and demand for law graduates even worse.</p>
<p>For the large law firms this has meant lower billing rates and fewer hours, a reduction in partner incomes, and a tough entry-level market for graduates. The reduction in legal costs is good news for corporates, but the lack of demand for grads raises the question of where these talented people go.</p>
<p>Small firms may not have the right incentives to hire more graduates in ways that ultimately increase the stock of qualified lawyers in the community. Sole practitioners and senior lawyers in small firms are understandably nervous about expanding their practices in order to train young graduates. </p>
<p>They must pay them the minimum wage of $48,000 a year and are subject to unfair dismissal laws. They also need to generate enough work for a new employee. Taking on a graduate who needs to be “fed” work is a risky proposition.</p>
<p>This leads to the old employment Catch 22-problem: one needs experience to get a job but one needs a job to get experience. It also raises the question of how to make sure enough community lawyers are trained.</p>
<p>Adlaw is trying to solve the employment Catch 22. But what should we make of the ethics and the economics of this arrangement?</p>
<h2>Competition won’t drive out the bad lawyers</h2>
<p><a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/legal-affairs/law-graduates-regulations-a-barrier-to-finding-employment/story-e6frg97x-1227454347134">Some commentators have suggested</a> that regulation of the legal services is the problem driving lack of employment opportunities for graduates. To be able to practise as a lawyer in Australia, a graduate has to work for a lawyer with an unrestricted practising certificate for two years.</p>
<p>It is easy to dismiss these kinds of regulations as part of closed-shop-style arrangements that limit supply and drive up the incomes of those lucky enough to be “in the club”. </p>
<p>Yet those seeking access to lawyers who aren’t big corporations (individuals transacting a property, writing a will, getting divorced, facing minor criminal charges, or engaged in other relatively minor litigation) are not in a great position to judge the quality of the services they receive. Often that quality won’t be apparent until after the legal work is done, and clients still have to pay even if they are not fully satisfied with the quality of the work.</p>
<p>Because of this, <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=9Nt-UU1ejPMC&pg=PR58&lpg=PR58&dq=competition+driving+out+bad+firms&source=bl&ots=pm7IEEm1PT&sig=IypA_xFPzmQsl6e0RSRVC2D-bc8&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CB4Q6AEwAGoVChMI2Nul17_6xgIVhiumCh3ZNQC_#v=onepage&q=competition%20driving%20out%20bad%20firms&f=false">competition will not drive out bad lawyers</a>. If competition won’t drive bad lawyers out of the market, the only alternative is to make sure they don’t get into the market.</p>
<h2>How to solve the graduate dilemma</h2>
<p>This means the answer to the law grad dilemma is neither making graduates pay for a graduate job, nor slashing regulations of who can practise law without supervision by a more experienced lawyer.</p>
<p>To ensure an appropriate supply of community lawyers working to provide all people with access to affordable justice, the government could subsidise training through additional tax deductions for small firms that employ legal graduates in the first two years after graduation. </p>
<p>This, however, would be potentially expensive. An alternative would be to expand the range of public interest fellowships available to legal graduates, and ideally to extend them to two years, to allow graduates to become fully qualified during such programs.</p>
<p>It may also be that the problem facing legal graduates, and law schools, is a more large-scale one than that. Post-2007, not all talented legal graduates are likely to find decently paid jobs as lawyers. Part of the response to this should undoubtedly be to find ways of increasing the number of such jobs, and in ways that help provide better access to justice for the community.</p>
<p>But part of the solution may also be in changing how law students and graduates understand the nature of a law degree itself – as not simply or even primarily a form of professional training, but instead as an advanced analytic training, which may or may not lead to becoming a practising lawyer.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/45158/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Richard Holden is an ARC Future Fellow.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rosalind Dixon does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>An Adelaide law firm announced its plans to charge law graduates A$22,000 up front for a job with them. While we are facing a problem of an oversupply of law graduates, this isn’t the way to go about solving it.Richard Holden, Professor of Economics, UNSW SydneyRosalind Dixon, Law Professor, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/400072015-06-04T20:09:10Z2015-06-04T20:09:10ZWho should go to university? Everyone, or just enough people to fill skilled jobs?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/83773/original/image-20150603-2325-1fpf396.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Graduates still have good mid- and long-term outcomes</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/51868421@N04/9603147332/">Flickr/Novartis AG</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>We have more people going to university in Australia than ever before. In <a href="https://theconversation.com/who-goes-to-university-the-changing-profile-of-our-students-40373">1971 only 2%</a> of the population over 15 years old held a Bachelor’s degree, in <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Products/6227.0%7EMay+2013%7EMain+Features%7EAttainment?OpenDocument">2013 it was 25%</a>. Last year a whopping <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/DetailsPage/6227.0May%202014?OpenDocument">1,149,300 people were enrolled</a> in a Bachelor’s degree or above.</p>
<p>However, <a href="http://andrewnorton.net.au/2015/01/13/is-this-graduate-employment-downturn-different-to-the-early-1990s-recession/">graduate employment rates are falling</a>. This leads many to ask whether <em>too</em> many people are going to university. Should everyone go to university? Or just the correct number to be able to fill highly skilled jobs in Australia?</p>
<h2>More education, the more benefits for all</h2>
<p>Philosophically, I am all in favour of providing a university experience to as many students as possible. The positive external effects of a highly educated population <a href="http://europa.eu/epc/pdf/joint_report_on_tertiary_education_-_ecofin_final_en.pdf">include</a> reduced crime rates and better health outcomes with associated lower public costs. Equally, it leads to stronger societies and communities, stronger democracies and, although slowly, it helps in reducing socio-economic inequalities. </p>
<p>And we should not forget the formative impact that “going to college” has on individuals, ranging from personal growth to greater job satisfaction once graduated. </p>
<p>While universal higher education is a positive goal in many aspects, not everyone will have the ability necessary to complete a degree. A <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/tomlindsay/2015/05/31/the-u-s-senate-pushes-to-give-universities-more-skin-in-the-game/">recent report to the US Senate</a> provided a painful reminder that universal tertiary education is not only about enrolling students, but equally about making sure they graduate and that subsequently they are in a position to repay their loans. Repayment, <a href="http://www.insidehighered.com/sites/default/server_files/files/Risk%20Sharing2.pdf">as the data shows</a>, goes hand in hand with completion and finding a job. </p>
<p>Ensuring their students can complete the degrees they are enrolled in is universities’ first responsibility.</p>
<p>While some may look at graduate employment rates and contend we have an oversupply of graduates, I fundamentally disagree. Not only is the <a href="http://www.graduatecareers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/GCA_GradStats_2014.pdf">middle- and long-term outlook</a> for university graduates still pretty good, in a knowledge-based economy there is no limit on the level of educational attainment. The higher and the better educated a country, the more competitive it becomes. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/83774/original/image-20150603-2313-16mfkil.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/83774/original/image-20150603-2313-16mfkil.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/83774/original/image-20150603-2313-16mfkil.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83774/original/image-20150603-2313-16mfkil.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83774/original/image-20150603-2313-16mfkil.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83774/original/image-20150603-2313-16mfkil.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83774/original/image-20150603-2313-16mfkil.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83774/original/image-20150603-2313-16mfkil.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Graduates should have broad skills.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/velkr0/3472576304/">VelkrO/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This point is illustrated by the <a href="http://www.weforum.org/reports/global-competitiveness-report-2014-2015">recent report of the World Economic Forum</a>. The report is based on a classic economic model in which a sound tertiary education system is a prerequisite for a skilled, well-educated workforce and a vibrant innovation system, which are the <a href="http://reports.weforum.org/global-competitiveness-report-2014-2015/methodology/">two pillars of all advanced economies</a>.</p>
<h2>Graduates need to be broadly educated</h2>
<p>A well-educated workforce doesn’t mean narrowly trained graduates in highly specialised and professional positions. Sure, we do need those – as anyone undergoing surgery or spending some time in a dentist chair will attest. But for an innovative society that is strongly service-based we need well-educated graduates who are the motor for process and product innovation. </p>
<p>This, in turn, means <a href="http://tsummit2014.org/t">“T-shaped” graduates</a> who possess in-depth disciplinary knowledge (the vertical bar of the T) but who also combine this with skills and abilities not specific to just one area (the horizontal top bar of the T). </p>
<p>These well-educated people can work in teams and have a capacity for deep listening. They can communicate and are instilled with an entrepreneurial spirit that enables them to create new jobs rather than venturing out to a pre-populated labour market.</p>
<p>This then is the second responsibility that is bestowed on universities. It is not only about completion but completing with the right set of skills and abilities. </p>
<p>This is not to say that nothing is happening. Far from it. </p>
<p>To take some random examples, over the last four years the University of Technology, Sydney almost doubled its enrolments in first-year chemistry from 650 to over 1,000, accompanied by significantly <a href="http://www.iml.uts.edu.au/pdfs/BAKERCasualAcademicsWshop2012.pdf">improved pass rates and reduced attrition</a>. Innovation and design labs exploring design thinking are popping up across the country.</p>
<p>But, as a sector, many of our approaches to teaching and learning are still traditional and many are antiquated. </p>
<p>This needs to change if we truly see university education as part of the engine room of a competitive, innovative society in the most dynamic socio-economic region of the world. This is not only about resourcing, it also is about “having skin in the game” as the US Senate report so aptly frames it.</p>
<hr>
<p><strong><em>The Conversation is running a series on “What are universities for?” looking at the place of universities in Australia, why they exist, who they serve, and how this is changing over time. Read other articles in the series <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/what-are-universities-for">here</a>.</em></strong></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/40007/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Leo Goedegebuure is Director of the LH Martin Institute, the University of Melbourne, which provides award and non-award programs and services to improve leadership and management across the sector. The Institute was set up under a Commonwealth Grant, but now is primarily self-funded. </span></em></p>A highly educated workforce is for everyone’s benefit, but only if the graduates have broad skills.Leo Goedegebuure, Director, LH Martin Institute, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/369062015-02-11T19:27:34Z2015-02-11T19:27:34ZJust graduating from university is no longer enough to get a job<p>Earn a university degree and get a job. This formula has worked with relative success for over 50 years. But increasingly in many fields today the formula is no longer working. </p>
<p>With <a href="https://www.universitiesaustralia.edu.au/australias-universities/key-facts-and-data#.VLTxo9KUd8E">nearly twice as many full-time students</a> (approximately 1.2 million) enrolled in university study as there were in 1996, competition for jobs is at an all-time high. This competition seems to be manifesting itself in credential inflation - the value of academic credentials decreases over time, along with the expected advantage given a degree holder in the job market.</p>
<h2>What’s behind this trend?</h2>
<p>Undergraduate programs are booming nationwide for a number of reasons, including <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/content/344/6186/843.full">higher future earning potential</a> and higher expectations for all levels of jobs. Jobs that high school graduates used to fill are being reserved for university graduates. </p>
<p>According to the <a href="http://stage.mcgraw-hill.co.uk/html/0071827129.html">Talent Equation study</a>, there has been a 10% increase in customer service, sales and management workers possessing an undergraduate education in just five years. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.careerbuilder.com/share/aboutus/pressreleasesdetail.aspx?sd=3%2F20%2F2014&id=pr813&ed=12%2F31%2F2014">Employers report</a> that they want degree holders because of the tight labour market and the evolution of their work. Economics researchers found that as universities expand the number of enrolled students, the average ability and wage <a href="http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/58863/1/__lse.ac.uk_storage_LIBRARY_Secondary_libfile_shared_repository_Content_American%20Politics%20and%20Policy_2014_April_blogs.lse.ac.uk-The_widening_wage_gap_between_college_and_high_school_graduates_is_down_to_the_growing_difference_in_.pdf">of university graduates decreases</a>. Yes, salaries suffer as more people graduate. </p>
<p>Essentially, it is the supply and demand of labour within free markets that drive this. Yet universities continue to increase enrolments, with particular emphasis on international students, aiming to equip learners with the skills and experience to succeed and compete on a worldwide scale despite the current economic climate.</p>
<p>Global competition in business has also driven the demand for higher education. Within almost all industries, there is a <a href="https://www.bostonfed.org/economic/neppc/researchreports/2010/neppcrr1002.pdf">shift to employ university graduates</a>. This has become the norm for most professional jobs. </p>
<h2>Being competitive in the job market</h2>
<p>Despite the demand for workers who hold a university degree, <a href="http://www.graduatecareers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Postgraduate_Destinations_2013_FINAL.pdf">32%</a> of graduates across all fields of study did not find full-time employment within four months of completing their degree in 2014. This chart demonstrates the severity of the downward shift of approximately 16% in employment of university degree holders over the past 14 years.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/71655/original/image-20150211-24655-1opqk4e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/71655/original/image-20150211-24655-1opqk4e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/71655/original/image-20150211-24655-1opqk4e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=352&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/71655/original/image-20150211-24655-1opqk4e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=352&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/71655/original/image-20150211-24655-1opqk4e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=352&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/71655/original/image-20150211-24655-1opqk4e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/71655/original/image-20150211-24655-1opqk4e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/71655/original/image-20150211-24655-1opqk4e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Employment data from Graduate Careers Australia surveys.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author compiled from GCA data</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>With some undergraduate courses having <a href="http://www.afr.com/p/national/education/the_degrees_of_unemployment_universities_e3nDZ8x89ziuXsEdNMOz9J">up to two-thirds of their university graduates</a> unable to find a job, students are seeking other ways to secure a job. These include postgraduate education. </p>
<p>Today, longer commitments to formal education programs (Masters/Doctorate degrees) are often required for jobs across all sectors. While most jobs require continual learning experiences to stay up to date with the latest developments, many jobs now demand advanced degrees. This includes those related to research (lecturer, statistician, economist), innovation (petroleum engineer, physicist), specialisation (counsellors, social workers) and administration (consultant, investment banker, school principal). </p>
<p>Overall, <a href="http://www.graduatecareers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Postgraduate_Destinations_2013_FINAL.pdf">61.2% of all postgraduates</a> indicate that their advanced degree was either required or at least important. Postgraduate education is structured to enhance one’s depth of knowledge and ability to apply skills in new and creative ways not always attainable through an undergraduate course alone. Postgraduate degrees are what bachelor degrees represented a generation ago — an upgrade from the status quo.</p>
<p>Attaining a specialisation certification, or expertise, is in some cases also required. Examples include a teacher with a Certificate of Gifted Education, a midwife who has advanced training in neonatal health, or a computer programmer who can code in multiple languages. From earning advanced degrees to job acquisition and career advancement, further education is central to achievement, more so than ever before.</p>
<p>Getting an undergraduate degree today shows you have a foundation of knowledge and skill. However, employers are increasingly seeking those with postgraduate qualifications as proof of their ability to think, analyse, solve problems, communicate effectively and improve outcomes. </p>
<p>This shift has occurred in about one generation; so what might the future hold for education? What will be required for getting a job in ten years’ time?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/36906/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Evan Ortlieb has received funding from the Department of Education - Victoria as well as Catholic Education Commission of Victoria. He works as a Course Leader and Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Education at Monash University. He is the President of the Ortlieb Foundation, Inc.</span></em></p>Earn a university degree and get a job. This formula has worked with relative success for over 50 years. But increasingly in many fields today the formula is no longer working. With nearly twice as many…Evan Ortlieb, Course Leader & Senior Lecturer, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/359572015-02-02T19:04:24Z2015-02-02T19:04:24ZHints, tips and pitfalls for graduates in getting their first job<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/68336/original/image-20150107-1992-1wahxra.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">There's more to getting a job than simply going to uni</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>For many years now I’ve taken more than just a passing interest in how students can best position themselves to land a job after obtaining their degree. To assist students in their goal I run “careers advice” seminars, I liaise with industry and I maintain a jobs board highlighting relevant jobs in the local area.</p>
<p>What I’ve noticed during this time is an extraordinary divergence in how graduates go about getting their first job. Here are some hints and pitfalls I’ve noted that may assist motivated job-seekers in their quest.</p>
<h2>Your primary barrier to employment is unemployment</h2>
<p>If you’ve <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-9442.2006.00462.x/abstract;jsessionid=2388EA80DB21939AA9276EC8C52A969C.f01t03?deniedAccessCustomisedMessage=&userIsAuthenticated=false">never held a job before</a>, <a href="http://www.newstatesman.com/economics/2013/04/its-not-tautology-clearest-barrier-employment-unemployment">employers will be wary of you</a>, as there is no way of judging your basic work skills such as reliability, getting on with other staff, or responding effectively to feedback. These skills are vital, as the best training is rendered useless if it cannot be effectively applied in a workplace.</p>
<p>Employment (or even volunteer) history is best if it is related to the job you are seeking – but failing that, <em>any</em> work will do. </p>
<p>On a recent episode of Insight, a graduate felt entitled to stay on government benefits until he secured a job in his chosen career because any other work would be degrading. </p>
<figure>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Insight SBS.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Compare his attitude to one of my graduates who waited tables for eight months before her dream job in forensic psychology came up (which she got). As an employer, who would you choose: someone who thinks they are too special to do work beneath them, or someone who has a strong work ethic and can adapt to whatever circumstances are thrown at them?</p>
<p>Be prepared to take on an insecure, low-paid position possibly tangential to your qualifications. Here’s another cautionary example: Graduate A refused even to apply for a job on the grounds that it was only casual and the work duties were beneath him (precisely the same first job I had as a new graduate). </p>
<p>Graduate B took said job, was promoted six months later and is now on his way to a stellar career in psychology. One year later, Graduate A remains unemployed and may really struggle to get a foot in the door now.</p>
<h2>Resumes, referees and grades</h2>
<p>At employment entry, <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001879102000313">good results will help</a> distinguish you from the crowd. A cavalier disregard for accomplishment (<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-no-consequences-education-produces-unemployable-graduates-33729">sadly encouraged by</a> our modern education system) suggests a lack of motivation, goal-striving and interest in self-improvement.</p>
<p>Write your cover letter and resume for the employer, not yourself. What does this employer want/need in an employee – and how can you give it to them? Letters or job interviews dominated by your expectations, enquiries re entitlements, a list of what you “can’t” do, or irrelevant yet potentially problematic personal information, will not be well received. </p>
<p>List some truthful positive qualities that will give a sense to a prospective employer where you might be best placed in their organisation. These are from my youngest two sons’ first ever resumes: 1) I am fit and strong and happy to do work that involves physical labour or heavy lifting; 2) I get on well with others and am conscientious with an eye for detail.</p>
<p>Be succinct but not uninformative. For example, consider the difference between: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>data entry </p>
</blockquote>
<p>and </p>
<blockquote>
<p>data entry of biological information from paediatric patients into an SPSS file, basic data cleaning and analytical tasks. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>The first version tells an employer you can type; the second version tells them you can be trusted with sensitive data, basic analyses and which software program you can use.</p>
<p>Like it or not, social media is one of your referees. If you’ve posted pictures of yourself dancing naked on tables, tweeted offensive comments, or indulged in long rambling posts about your nervous breakdowns, any worthwhile HR manager <a href="https://theconversation.com/social-media-puts-hr-ethics-under-the-spotlight-14208">will find them</a>.</p>
<p>Having a realistic appraisal of both your strengths and weaknesses is invaluable. It may come as a huge surprise to a number of job-seekers what their referees actually say about them. Why? Typically because of catastrophically poor insight on the part of the job-seeker, which raises further concerns about your ability to respond effectively to feedback. </p>
<p>If you have a history of short-term positions, consistently being let go, or difficulty obtaining a reference, seek honest feedback from a trusted source, and get help to change any problematic patterns of behaviour for your next position.</p>
<h2>Connect to the hidden job market</h2>
<p>You would be amazed how many jobs <a href="http://www.quintcareers.com/hidden_job_market_myth.html">aren’t advertised</a>, with employers fearing the tsunami of time-wasters they will receive. For example, I now have three local employers who contact me directly to see if I can recommend a student for their positions before they resort to advertising.</p>
<p>You absolutely can and will find success via door-knocking, networking and some plain old good luck: being the right person, at the right place, at the right time.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/35957/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rachael Sharman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>For many years now I’ve taken more than just a passing interest in how students can best position themselves to land a job after obtaining their degree. To assist students in their goal I run “careers…Rachael Sharman, Lecturer in Psychology, University of the Sunshine CoastLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.