Poor job market could lead to unprecedented levels of postgraduate study applications

 

New research has revealed that half of the full time undergraduate students about to graduate are seriously considering postgraduate student because to the recession. 

 

The research carried out by Opinionpanel shows that 24% have applied for postgraduate study to date, but a further 26% say they are very or quite likely to apply in the future.

 

Postgraduate study is particularly popular amongst those studying at Russell Group and other old universities where almost a third of final year students have already applied for postgraduate study.

 

According to the study based on the net intention (those who are overall more likely to go into postgraduate study minus the number who are overall less likely), finalists are 7%  more likely to choose postgraduate study as a result of the recession.

 

For students not yet in their penultimate or final year, however, the current economic climate seems to be putting students off, with a net of 5% being less likely to complete a postgraduate course, perhaps because of the daunting prospect of more debt or additional study. 

 

A final year student studying Biological Sciencesat a Russell Group university, said, “I didn't get any job offers from the places I applied to, as there were more applicants per job, and those with postgraduate education were more desirable.” 

 

Students who are now less likely to go on to do postgraduate study mainly cited finances as their major point of concern for starting postgraduate study in the economic downturn.

 

The reality of the recession is clearly forcing final-year students to reappraise their plans in a big way. While just over half the students who are not yet in their final or penultimate year of study expect to take a graduate-level job after they complete university, only 34% of the current crop of final-year students expect the same. 

 

Conversely, the study shows that 15% of students in their final year now expect to take a non-graduate-level role (part-time or full-time), compared to just over 1% of students who are not yet in their final or penultimate year of study. It would appear that students are having to seriously downgrade their expectations. 

 

At the time of the fieldwork, one in five finalists (19%) had actually secured and accepted a graduate-level job.

 

“[I plan to] keep looking for a graduate job relevant to my degree. Possibly get a part-time job whilst I look for something more permanent.” said one Final year student, studying Chemistry at a Russell Group university.

 

Final-year students at new universities are most likely to say that they plan to take a graduate-level job. This may be because of the more vocational nature of many degree courses offered at these institutions as well as a lower level of interest in postgraduate study. Postgraduate study, on the other hand, is more popular amongst students at old universities.  

 

Phil Crofts, Research Director at Opinionpanel, said ‘’Our research shows that many final-year students are feeling pressured to go into postgraduate study, either by a perceived need to gain further qualifications to compete in the job market, or as a means of avoiding that competition. The danger is that after spending time and money gaining a postgraduate degree some students will find themselves overqualified. However, on the macro level, there could be a positive outcome with a better educated workforce and a country more able to compete in the global knowledge economy.” 

 

The Opinionpanel research is based on findings from an online survey of 1,002 full-time undergraduate students. The sample was representative based on quotas set for course year, gender and university type (Russell Group, other Old universities, New universities and Specialist institutions). The fieldwork took place from 6^th May 2009 – 7^th May 2009 and included students from 133 universities. All respondents were members of The Student Panel, Opinionpanel’s proprietary online panel of 60,000 students.

 

opinionpanel.co.uk