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In brief (Winter 07/08)

Skills shortages force London businesses to recruit from overseas

Businesses in London struggling to meet their skills needs are increasingly looking overseas for both graduates and lower-skilled staff, the CBI (www.cbi.org.uk) and KPMG revealed.

Results from the London Business Survey show that the majority (58%) of firms in the capital are recruiting from overseas to fill gaps. Contrary to the perception that overseas workers often perform low-skilled jobs, 83% of the firms recruiting from overseas are bringing in those with higher, degree-level skills.

According to John Cridland, CBI Deputy Director-General, "many employers are choosing foreign graduates over British applicants because they are of a higher quality and are more employable. British graduates are competing in the job market with a topslice of talent from overseas universities. To remain attractive to employers UK graduates need better careers advice and stronger employability skills in areas like teamworking and communication."

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Graduate unemployment fell by more than half three years after graduation

Analysis of data from the first ever HESA Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE) Longitudinal Survey reveals that, three and a half years after graduation, only 2% of graduates were unemployed compared with 5% six months after graduation when they were first surveyed.

The percentage of graduates in full-time paid employment had reached 74% (up from 57% when first surveyed), and 6% of graduates were in part-time paid work only (7% when first surveyed). The median salary of UK domiciled graduates who were working full-time at the Longitudinal Survey stage was £23,000. Graduates with postgraduate qualifications had the highest median salary (£28,000) followed by first degree graduates (£22,000) and other undergraduates (£20,000).

The report is available at www.hesa.ac.uk.

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Students ‘poor at predicting own performance’

First year university students tend to overestimate their scores when faced with specific tests, although females, white and working class students have less inflated views of themselves, according to research on students’ academic self-perception (http://ftp.iza.org/dp3031.pdf).

The study found that ‘working class’ students underestimate numeracy performance relative to ‘upper class’ students and women underestimate relative to men in literacy and numeracy. The gender and class gaps are especially large in numeracy, at around 20% of the average score.

Self-perception, however, is found to have limited impact on the expected probability of success and expected returns amongst the university students in the study.

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Shell Step student placement programme extended

Following an extensive review of the Shell Step student placement programme over the course of 2007, it’s 21st anniversary year, Shell UK have recently confirmed their continued support for the programme.

Shell Step is managed nationally by Step Enterprise Limited (SEL) who work with a network of 25 local delivery partners across the UK. Plans are now in place to deliver the programme up until 2010, and in 2008 partners expect to offer in excess of 600 project based placement opportunities for second year undergraduates in smaller businesses and community organisations. More details are available at www.shellstep.org.uk.

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UK outperforms overseas institutions on careers advice

Careers advice, careers service and work experience are rated more highly by international students at UK universities compared to those overseas, according to research from i-graduate for the Council for Industry and Higher Education (CIHE).

Comparing international students at UK universities and those at overseas institutions, the study found that international students in the UK are more satisfied than their counterparts at overseas institutions with their ability to earn money whilst studying, but less satisfied with their employability and the contacts made for the future. Overseas institutions also score significantly better on integration: meeting host friends and experiencing the host culture.

For more information, see the article ‘Does the UK lead the world in international education?’ at www.cihe-uk.com/docs/0711igradUKfwd.pdf.

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No problems of ‘over-supply’ of graduates….

Concerns about the ‘over-supply’ and ‘over-qualification’ of graduates are misplaced, research from the London School of Economics concluded.

Rather, skills mismatch, or inadequate levels of skills, is found to be more of a problem than over-qualification. The study supports the continuing expansion of higher education, but calls for appropriate policies to provide information and incentives that will direct people into subject areas, such as science and engineering, for which there is relatively high demand in the labour market.

A summary of the research can be found in the Autumn 07 issue of CentrePiece http://cep.lse.ac.uk/centrepiece/. The full report is available at http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/55/31/38006954.pdf.

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…But ‘over-educated’ graduates lack management and leadership skills

‘Over-educated’ graduates, defined as those not being in a graduate job, are not lacking in academic skills, but they failed to develop management and leadership skills whilst at university, according to another report from the London School of Economics.

Graduates who are over-skilled for the job, representing 15% of graduates, are also found to lack ‘unobservable characteristics’ associated with higher earnings, such as motivation, presentation and punctuality. The wage penalty for these graduates is estimated to be 21%, almost eradicating the financial benefit of higher education. The research, however, found no evidence that graduates from ‘new’ universities are at any disadvantage in the labour market.

The report ‘Over-education and the Skills of UK Graduates’ is available at: http://cee.lse.ac.uk/cee%20dps/ceedp79.pdf

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More students opting for career-related term-time job

While bar jobs and shop work still account for a big part of student earnings, over 40% of working students are now opting for more career-orientated or varied employment, according to the Royal Bank of Scotland’s (RBS) Student Living Index (RBS press release 12 November 2007).

The study revealed that 41% of students work during term time, and the numbers taking on office-based work has risen by 37% since 2004. Students in Dundee, Birmingham and Sheffield are the most likely to have a job whilst at university, earning an average weekly wage of £113, £110 and £98 respectively. On the other hand, students at Oxford, Durham, St Andrews and Southampton are the least likely to take on term-time employment. Only 15% of students work part-time during the term in Oxford compared with 61% in Dundee.

Content last updated: Feb 2008