{"id":45531,"date":"2018-10-04T13:18:31","date_gmt":"2018-10-04T20:18:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/world.edu\/?p=45531"},"modified":"2018-10-04T13:18:31","modified_gmt":"2018-10-04T20:18:31","slug":"university-isnt-the-be-all-and-end-all-when-it-comes-to-employment-outcomes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/university-isnt-the-be-all-and-end-all-when-it-comes-to-employment-outcomes\/","title":{"rendered":"University isn\u2019t the be all and end all when it comes to employment outcomes"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"
\nThere is increasing pressure being placed on universities to deliver better \u201cvalue for money\u201d. Universities minister Sam Gyimah\u00a0wants school leavers to have greater<\/a>\u00a0access to the labour market outcomes for each individual course. This would mean that prospective students could see which ones provide a good return on their investment.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s thought by the government, that subject level awards, detailed information on employment outcomes and performance rankings would help to reveal differences in teaching quality \u2013 allowing students to make\u00a0informed choices in the higher education market<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The underlying assumption is that employment rates are a direct outcome of how well\u00a0students are taught in higher education<\/a>. There is a wider acceptance that workers with graduate qualifications are a distinct group of \u201cbetter educated\u201d people, whose \u201cadvanced skills\u201d should convey higher wages in the labour market. And so if graduates are not finding (suitable) jobs or are not paid premium wages, something must be wrong with what and how they are taught at university.<\/p>\n

Better educated?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The idea that universities need to take responsibility for how well students do in the labour market is far from new. In fact, over the last two decades, the success of higher education has been increasingly measured by the employability of its graduates. And because students in England are paying high amounts for their degrees, institutions are now meant to deliver the type of graduate that employers (are deemed to) want.
\n

\"\"

Employers are looking for more than just a university degree. Shutterstock<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

Of course, there is such a thing as a \u201cgraduate premium\u201d. Those workers with degrees earn, on average,\u00a0higher wages<\/a>\u00a0than those who don\u2019t. Those who study particular subjects, such as medicine, maths and economics, and those who have studied at\u00a0more prestigious institutions<\/a>\u00a0tend to earn particularly well. Graduates are also more likely to\u00a0be employed and to work in higher skilled roles<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The issue here, though, is the presumption these superior labour market outcomes must be the result of the skills and knowledge students develop during those years spent in higher education. But the evidence for this is not convincing.<\/p>\n

The role of education in work<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Social science research suggests that the \u201cgraduate premium\u201d is not positively driven by what graduates have learnt in higher education. Economists have tried to measure the pure effect of education \u2013 controlling for differences in preexisting abilities such as general intelligence. This proves to be\u00a0quite tricky<\/a>\u00a0to do, but it does seem as though this\u00a0seriously reduces<\/a>\u00a0the impact of the \u201cgraduate premium\u201d.<\/p>\n

Sociologists and labour market researchers have also pointed out that employers select and reward graduate workers on a much wider basis than merely the skills and knowledge developed at university. This includes factors such as personality, work experience, exclusive credentials, networks, cultural characteristics and skills not necessarily developed at university. They have also pointed out that because this access to many high-paying sectors, occupations and positions have become virtually closed off to those without (elite) university degrees.
\n

\"\"

Qualifications matter, but university isn\u2019t the only way to get them. Shutterstock<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

My\u00a0recent study<\/a>\u00a0looks at four occupations that are commonly thought of as \u201cgraduate roles\u201d: lab-based scientists, software engineers, financial analysts and press officers. My research shows that among these occupations higher education is not actually very valued by employers and workers. Also, the meaning of degrees within these occupations differs a lot between roles as well as between organisations and sectors.<\/p>\n

Graduate outcomes<\/strong><\/h4>\n

So as my research shows, although qualifications still matter \u2013 in particular to access certain occupations \u2013 the skills and knowledge developed in higher education certainly does not drive many forms of high-skilled work.<\/p>\n

Also, it\u2019s employers who offer jobs and set wages, not universities. So just because occupations with large shares of graduates pay well, it does not mean university education itself drives wages. Why particular degrees pay better than others depends on the jobs graduates do after university, rather than simply the degrees they hold. It seems hard, therefore, to believe that universities can be held responsible for their graduates\u2019 labour market outcomes.<\/p>\n

The universities minister has been rightly criticised for his\u00a0crude instrumentalism<\/a>. But Gyimah\u2019s recent drive for university courses to offer value for money also shows a crucial misunderstanding of the relationship between higher education and labour market outcomes. He isn\u2019t the first person to overestimate and misinterpret the role higher education plays in many occupations \u2013 and I\u2019m sure he won\u2019t be the last.<\/p>\n

Author Bio:<\/strong> Gerbrand Tholen is a Senior Lecturer in Sociology, City at the University of London<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There is increasing pressure being placed on universities to deliver better \u201cvalue for money\u201d. Universities minister Sam Gyimah\u00a0wants school leavers to have greater\u00a0access to the labour market outcomes for each individual course. This would mean that prospective students could see which ones provide a good return on their investment. It\u2019s thought by the government, that […]\n… learn more→<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":45532,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15645],"tags":[224440],"coauthors":[11733],"class_list":["post-45531","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education","tag-employability-of-graduate"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nUniversity isn\u2019t the be all and end all when it comes to employment outcomes - World leading higher education information and services<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/university-isnt-the-be-all-and-end-all-when-it-comes-to-employment-outcomes\/\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"University isn\u2019t the be all and end all when it comes to employment outcomes - World leading higher education information and services\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"There is increasing pressure being placed on universities to deliver better \u201cvalue for money\u201d. 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