A study by Sir William Wakeham, the former Vice-Chancellor of Southampton University, into the employment rate of various Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) degrees has concluded that Biological Sciences are a ‘particular problem’. His report said, “Something like 40% of graduates were in non-graduate jobs, and many were in low paying occupations, even years after graduation”. Another area of concern was Computer Science, although this was very much linked to the university attended, with Oxford Computer Science graduates actually top of the graduate starting salaries.
For some STEM areas, the results were nuanced, for example Chemical Engineering graduates had high unemployment rates but also the highest salaries of all engineers, again linked to the institution attended. Bio-engineering employers normally demanded a post-graduate qualification. For Systems Engineering graduates, Sir William said that “Nobody is any longer employing people from these courses, and it would be better if students didn’t start them”. He also said that there were some concerns with Earth, Marine and Environmental Sciences and Agriculture Science.
Sir William also said that a major concern was graduates' “attitude to work”, with many lacking work experience and training in mathematical and statistical skills. He also said that, “Students are not engaged with their own career until after the final year examinations, and that is not good enough”. [source GTAssociates]
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