WORKING-CLASS ACADEMICS BLOG

Update of Beyond Graduation study. Does the subject you study matter?

Where I am up to with this research.  At present I am carrying out interviews with north Wales graduates to discuss their post graduation experiences.  I will be finishing my interviews in the next 2 weeks so please contact me if you have anything you would like to add to my research.  Let your voice be heard as at present research on graduate destinations tends to have a UK rather than local focus.

Findings to date – As I am in the progress of analysing my data I can’t give detailed update, but my preliminary findings supports existing evidence that suggests the subject you studied matters when it comes to post graduation opportunities.  My preliminary research suggests that Engineering graduates tend to have a smoother, more traditional graduate trajectory which often leads to secure employment or engagement with postgraduate study.  Business graduates often go onto self employment whilst Social Studies graduates tend to go onto further study or have healthy levels of engagement with full time or part time employment.  Engineering appears to benefit from a clear career path whilst Business and Social Studies graduates can either do very well or, unfortunately, not so well (if  secure employment is your aim).  Why do you think this is?

My early observations are that this may be because there are clearly defined jobs or careers that you associate with an Engineering degree – what career path would you associate with a Business or Social Studies degree?  Again I will stress that this is only my preliminary findings and that my analysis may differ slightly as time goes on – I do not finish this study until September 2012. There may be also examples of where the subject matters only when considered in conjunction with age, gender or other socio-economic characteristics   It may also be that graduates from specific subjects enter university for very different reasons i.e is gaining a graduate role the apex of going to university, or is gaining ‘higher’ knowledge something that you can’t put a price on?  What do you think?

Reminder of the details the study.  I am conducting research into the destinations of graduates from north Wales.  I am  focusing on those who graduated in 2008, with a degree in either Engineering & Technology; Social Studies or Business & Administration from either Bangor University; Coleg Llandrillo Cymru; Glyndwr University or OU Wales.

Further details.  If you would like to be kept up to date with the progress of this ESRC study or would like to contribute or even if you have any further questions you are welcome to email me on sopc2c@bangor.ac.uk, get in touch via this blog, or through Twitter @Beyond_Grad

Thank you.

Teresa