Dictamen y declaraciones de validez de la elección

Although only a small minority of final year students and taught postgraduates said that they

definitely did not (3%) or might not (8%) seek a degree-related career, the most commonly

mentioned reason for seeking work not related to their degree was that they ‘have become more interested in another field’. This was the case for just over half the undergraduates and slightly under half the postgraduates who definitely or might not want a degree-related career (see Table 3.2). Among the rather small number of final years who were definitely not seeking a degree-related career, ‘not enjoying their degree course’ was mentioned by 41%. Other reasons mentioned by more than a quarter of this group were ‘being better paid’ and ‘having better long- term career prospects’ (in other sectors).

In order to obtain a better understanding, the larger group (34%) of students who said they

might pursue a degree-related career were also asked why they might not (see Table 3.2). Just

under a third (31%) of these final year undergraduates reported that they had ‘become more interested in another field’ and 29% that ‘there are too few jobs related to my degree in my preferred location’. This suggests that for a minority of STEM students work location is a constraint.

Analysis was also carried out to examine how reasons for not wanting a STEM career varied by subject. In order to have larger numbers, final year students who might not and definitely did not want a degree-related career were combined for this analysis. Even so the number of students in six of the subject areas was very small (less than 20). The results are shown in Appendix Table B3.9.

Table 3.2 Reasons for non-degree related career intention (UK final year students and taught postgraduates who might, might not or definitely do not want to pursue an occupation related to

their degree)

Final Year UK students UK Taught Postgraduates

M ig h t M ig h t n o t D e fi n it e ly n o t M ig h t M ig h t n o t D e fi n it e ly n o t % % % % % %

I have become more interested in another

field 31 54 58 21 42 43

There are too few jobs related to my degree

in my preferred location 29 17 10 34 17 0

I will find it easier to get a job 27 22 11 12 25 0

There are too few career opportunities in

my field 24 21 19 29 25 0

I will be better paid 20 29 31 18 42 29

My course did not prepare me well enough

to get a degree-related job 15 8 8 6 8

0

I have not enjoyed my degree course 12 23 41 6 8 0

I will have better long-term career prospects 10 26 32 11 25 29

I was put off by my work experience 7 14 11 3 8 0

I have tried and failed to get jobs directly

related to my degree 7 3 1 12 0

0

I was put off by knowledge of other people

doing that kind of work 6 10 11 8 0

0

I never intended to work in this field 4 18 27 6 33 29

I was put off by knowledge from a relative

doing that kind of work 2 1 2 0 0

0

Other reason 8 17 13 16 25 57

Not answered 1 0 0 6 0 0

Number of cases 1024 237 101 112 12 7

In all the subject areas where there were more than 20 respondents, ‘becoming more interested in another field’ was the most frequently mentioned reason for not wanting a degree-related career. ‘Being better paid’ was also mentioned more frequently by final year students in some subject areas, notably Biological Sciences (39%), Chemistry (49%) and Physics (40%), as a reason for not wanting degree-related work. Other reasons were also mentioned more frequently by students from some subject areas. These included:

 ‘Having better long-term career prospects’ in Biological Sciences (41%)

 ‘There are too few career opportunities in my field’: Geography (50%)

 ‘I was put off by my work experience’: Computer Science (31%), Engineering (30%). For comparative purposes the same analysis was also carried out with the larger group of final year students who might want a degree-related career in order to understand whether there are differences by subject area in the reasons given for possibly not wanting to work in a STEM degree-related occupation (see Appendix Table B3.10).

It is clear that a significant reason for students in some subjects for considering not working in their field was to do with work availability. The following three reasons that are clearly linked to work availability were mentioned more frequently by students in certain subjects:

 ‘There are too few jobs related to my degree in my preferred location’ in Biological Sciences (39%), Sports Science (36%), Psychology (35%), Other Physical Sciences (39%), Architecture, Building and Planning (41%), Geography (37%) and Forensic Science/Archaeology (48%);

 ‘There are too few career opportunities in my field’ in Subjects allied to Medicine (36%), Sports Science (54%), Psychology (32%) and Forensic/Archaeology (58%);

 ‘I will find it easier to get a job’: Psychology (39%), Other Physical Sciences (36%), Geography (35%) and Forensic Science/Archaeology (42%).

 In addition, it was only within Architecture, Building and Planning that a significant proportion of students reported they ‘tried and failed to get jobs directly related to their degree’ (29%), although this was of a small sample. This reason was mentioned by very few students of other subjects.

These findings suggest that there are push and pull factors at work. In some subjects, the difficulty of finding degree-related work is a significant issue, while in others it is the attraction of other fields and occupations that is more significant.

There were also some gender differences (see Appendix Table B3.11). Male final year students in both these groups (those who do not want degree-related work and those who might consider it) were more likely than females to mention being better paid (Males: 23% and 34%; Females: 17% and 24%). In contrast, more female students who might consider degree-related work mentioned that there were too few jobs in their preferred location than males (34% compared to 24%). More female respondents than equivalent male ones said they have become more interested in another field (60% compared to 51%).

Clearly, some of these differences might reflect the different gender balance across subjects. Nevertheless, these findings suggest that more female final year students were geographically constrained, while more male final year students were motivated by potential financial rewards. The actual number of PhD students who definitely do not or might not want to work in a career

postgraduate research and others had become more interested in another field or wanted to use their high-level skills but not in their current field (see Appendix Table B3.12). Half those who might want to work in a career related to their research would consider not doing so because there are too few career opportunities in their field, 38% because there were too few relevant jobs in their preferred location and 37% because they would be better paid doing other work.

Three key findings about reasons for choosing or not choosing degree-related work:

1. Being better paid was mentioned by approximately equal percentages as a reason for doing degree-related work and also for not doing it. However, it was only ever

mentioned as a reason by a minority of respondents (around a third).

2. Interest in the work was the overwhelming motivating factor influencing the students’ career intentions to work in a degree-related occupation, and becoming more

interested in another field was also the main reason for deciding to pursue a career not related to their degree.

3. These findings suggest that most STEM students are happy to adopt a ‘satisfying’ approach (i.e. to look for a good enough level) as far as pay is concerned but a maximising one for intrinsic job interest/satisfaction. However, it is clear that pay is slightly more important to men than women and more significant in certain subject areas than others. It also appears that pay both keeps some students in STEM but tempts others out.