Pandemic has had little effect on students’ feelings about the labour market, study shows
Almost 80 per cent of students feel confident about getting a graduate-level job despite the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on the job market, according to a survey by the Higher Education Policy Institute and polling firm YouthSight.
The survey, which explored students’ feelings about entering the labour market, revealed that 79 per cent of full-time undergraduate students felt very confident or slightly confident that they would be able to bag themselves a graduate-level role once they left university. Around 15 per cent felt unsure and just 6 per cent were not confident.
Despite this, 28 per cent put feelings of anxiety ahead of confidence when asked how they felt about entering the job market, with 23 per cent putting confidence first. Just 29 per cent said the coronavirus pandemic had changed their feelings.
A briefing by the Institute for Fiscal Studies on 17 April claimed it was a “bad time to graduate” as the coronavirus pandemic was likely to cause “a huge economic downturn”, leading graduate employers to shut their doors.
Hepi policy director Rachel Hewitt said the results showed that students were “confident about finding work but anxious about starting their career”, and the pandemic had heightened that anxiety.
“Universities need to provide as much support as they can for students who are entering the labour market in such uncertain times and employers need to be mindful of these results in their hiring processes,” she said.
Responding to the report, Nicola Dandridge, chief executive of the Office for Students, said: “The careers services that universities and colleges provide have a crucial role to play in helping to equip students with the confidence and skills they need to find professional employment. Their expertise will be particularly important during these difficult and uncertain times.”
Elsewhere in the report, students put an interesting career (49 per cent), being happy and fulfilled in their work (48 per cent) and having stability (47 per cent) over earning a high salary (41 per cent) when listing the four main factors behind a successful career.
The survey also revealed that 35 per cent expected to stay in their first job for one or two years, while 72 per cent are looking to start a career directly related to their degree. In the report, University of Oxford careers service director Jonathan Black said there were “some gaps” between students’ expectations of the jobs market and reality, as plenty of graduates stay in their first job for longer than two years and employers are more interested in graduates’ skills than what subject they studied.
Black urged universities and careers services to “work together to combat any misconceptions students hold when entering the workforce”.
Hepi and YouthSight surveyed 1,039 full-time undergraduate students between 27 March and 1 April.