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STEM graduates (Summer 09)

STEM graduates

Introducing the debate on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects, skills, graduates and careers

“In 2007, 22.5% of chemistry graduates employed in the UK were working as scientific researchers six months following completion of their degree – the highest percentage amongst all science subjects. The same number (22.6%) entered ‘other professionals, associate professional and technical occupations’ which include laboratory technicians, health and safety officers and researchers not elsewhere classified”

(What do graduates do? 2009)

The demand for STEM skills

In January 2009, the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS)1 published a report concerning the demand for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) skills as well as a report on the demand for STEM graduates. The report concerning demand for STEM skills follows a consultation process to gather evidence and is part of a government programme to develop a view on the UK’s future needs for STEM skills. In the white paper the “Innovation Nation” published in March 2008, DIUS committed to “…develop a better understanding of the demand for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) skills from different sectors of the economy, the need for different STEM specialisms, and the level of skills needed” .

The report on STEM graduates was produced by Rob Wilson from the Warwick Institute for Employment Research using data from the Labour Force Survey (LFS). The report aims firstly to develop and to present some benchmark projections of employment of people with graduate level qualifications in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects. Secondly, the report aims to use these results to provide a better understanding of ‘demand-supply’ issues for STEM personnel to employment of people with graduate level qualifications in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects.

STEM and the economy

The focus on and importance attached to STEM graduates is a product of how STEM subjects have been linked to the UK economy, the UK’s ability to be competitive internationally and the idea of the knowledge economy being driven by science and innovation. Wilson includes information from recent government reports:

“In the Ten-year Science and Innovation Investment Framework Annual Report 2005 (a joint Treasury, DTI, DfES publication) it is argued that, in an increasingly knowledge-driven global economy, science and innovation are a crucial element in ensuring the UK’s long-term competitiveness” (Wilson 2009:40).

STEM and employability

The focus on STEM also fits into another “hot topic”, namely employability, although in the slightly simplistic sense of being able to transfer higher level skills and knowledge acquired in the higher education system into a career, implementing the skills knowledge in for instance the shape of a commercial product. Looking at recent research, Wilson writes:

“Greater priority needs to be attached to innovation policy which focuses on not only the ability to generate new knowledge, but also to identify, adapt and use that knowledge (and knowledge generated elsewhere) for commercial gain... The linear model (of universities doing research and industry applying the results) needs to be replaced by a model which recognises the need for much closer collaboration with flows of people and ideas moving in both directions” (Wilson 2009:41).

The report suggests that there will continue to be requirements for STEM graduates and that “…apart from medicine, the demand for most STEM subjects is likely to grow faster than for other disciplines over the coming decade” (Wilson 2009:10).

STEM gradautes in non-STEM jobs

In the DIUS report The Demand for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) skills (2009) a puzzling finding stands out, namely that STEM graduates do not necessarily go into STEM occupations, in fact “the proportion of STEM graduates who work in science occupations three and a half years after qualifying stands at 49%“ (DIUS Demand for STEM skills 2009:56). Furthermore, it seems that although there are high returns to science graduates who work in science occupations, and employers frequently claim they face problems in recruiting science graduates, there appears to be a large proportion of science graduates who work in non-science occupations (and do not get a premium for doing so). DIUS argues that there is a need for more research to better understand the career decision making of STEM graduates and the reasons (pull and push factors) why they may leave science and how this may differ across STEM subjects.

DIUS suggests that one possible explanation is “a skills mismatch with some STEM graduates not obtaining jobs in science-related occupations even though employers are offering relatively high wages. The existing data, however, cannot determine the extent to which this is due to individual choice (STEM graduates choosing not to pursue a career in science) or mismatch (employers deciding that some STEM applicants do not meet their requirements)” (DIUS Demand for STEM skills 2009:5). In order to understand this better, DIUS has commissioned another research project “STEM graduates in non-STEM jobs” to uncover the reasons why some STEM graduates do not work in STEM occupations.

Looking closer at STEM students and STEM graduates career choices and career paths is one way to find out more about this puzzle and in this edition of Graduate Market Trends we present some current research looking at the careers of chemistry graduates as well as the experiences of being a science PhD student and the career decision of women pharmacists. What are the push and pull factors in relation to STEM careers and to what extent are the career decisions that graduates make a result of personal autonomous choice or dependent on external structures and organisational working practices?