Recetas finales

This Section focuses on the thesis sample of 4,572 first-degree graduates only; a comprehensive analysis of the whole Futuretrack cohort was presented in the Futuretrack Stage 4 report (Purcell et al., 2013). In the thesis sample, 49% of the graduates were women, compared to 57% in the Futuretrack survey as a whole (see Table 3.2).82 _{The smaller} proportion of women in the thesis sample is due to the relatively even proportions of men and women employed in the private sector (51% and 49% respectively), while in the public and not-for-profit sectors, about two thirds of the graduate employees were women.83 _More than half of the graduates were aged 18 and under at the time of starting their university degrees, and 15% (10% unweighted) were aged 21 and over, younger than Futuretrack respondents as a whole.84 _{Just over half of Futuretrack graduates in this sample were from} managerial and professional occupations backgrounds, 19% from intermediate occupations and 23% from routine and manual occupations, similar to Futuretrack as a whole. However, the proportion of graduates from routine and manual occupations was lower than the roughly comparable HESA (2010) figure of 30%.85 _{Similarly, in this sample and in the survey}

82 _{Futuretrack 'as a whole' in this case comprises first-degree UK domiciled graduates only (including} those unemployed, in self-employment, in public, private, and not-for-profit sectors).

83 _{Among full-time first degree graduates in 2009/10 and 2010/11, 56% were women (HESA, 2013b).} The over-representation of female respondents in survey data has been well-established in the majority of longitudinal research, including HESA LDLHE, and previous IER studies (Class of '99, Seven

Years On, etc.).

84 _{Typically, mature students are defined as those aged 21 or over at time of starting university (e.g.} UCAS and HESA definitions). The Futuretrack Stage 4 report differentiated between ‘younger’ mature student, those aged 21-25, and ‘older’ mature students, those aged 26 and over at the time of starting HE to facilitate a more detailed analysis (Purcell et al., 2013).

85 _{HESA Performance Indicators data, average proportion of entrants to HE in 2006/07 and 2007/08} from NS-SEC classes 4-7 (routine and manual). NS-SEC 4-7 includes the following occupational backgrounds: Small employers and own account workers, Lower supervisory and technical occupations, Semi-routine occupations and Routine occupations. NS-SEC 1-3 consists of the following occupations: Higher managerial, administrative and professional occupations, Lower managerial, administrative and professional occupations, and Intermediate occupations. The HESA years of entry to HE roughly corresponded to when the majority of the current Futuretrack graduates would have entered higher education.

93 as a whole, a slightly lower proportion of graduates self-described their ethnicity as non- white than in comparable HESA (2008, 2007) data (13% compared to 17%).86

More than half of the graduates in this sample attended a high or highest tariff university (over 60% unweighted), and 20% achieved a first-class degree, followed by 50% upper second and 20% lower second class degree classifications. Compared to HESA (2013b) statistics for full-time students, the average percentage of students gaining a first-class degree in 2009/10 and 2010/11 was 14% and an upper second – 48%, which shows that even when weights to correct for access tariff classification were applied, high-achieving students were still slightly overrepresented in this sample and in the Futuretrack survey as a whole.

Table 3.2: Comparison of thesis sample graduates' and all Futuretrack first-degree UK- domiciled graduates' personal characteristics

Personal characteristics Thesis sample only All Futuretrack first-degree UK domiciled graduates Female 49.4 56.9 Age groups 18 and under 54.0 47.2 19-20 31.2 27.6 21-25 8.8 11.0 26 and over 6.0 14.3 SES

Managerial and professional 57.2 54.5

Intermediate 19.0 20.1

Routine and manual 23.9 25.4

Ethnic group Asian 6.9 6.5 Black 2.7 3.0 White 86.7 86.5 Mixed 2.9 3.1 Other 0.8 1.0 Non-white 13.3 13.5 N 4572 9362

Source: Futuretrack Stage 4 thesis sample, UK-domiciled, UK-university first-degree graduates only, private sector, non-self-employed; All Futuretrack first-degree UK domiciled graduates. Weighted percentages.

86 _{All first-year UK domiciled HE students in 2006/07 and 2007/08 of all known ethnicity (HESA,} 2008; 2007).

94 The graduates in this sample were most likely to have studied humanities and languages, natural sciences, and business and administrative studies subjects (44% of all graduates, Table 3.3).87 _{This distribution was broadly similar to the Futuretrack survey as a whole, except} that a higher proportion studied medicine and related subjects and education in the survey as a whole. This was because graduates from these subjects were much more likely to work in the public sector (see Purcell et al., 2013), whereas this thesis sample focused on the private sector only.

In the sample, there were some key differences in the gender composition of the undergraduate subjects. The most male-dominated subjects were engineering and technologies, and mathematical and computer sciences (over 80% of graduates from these subjects were male). The graduate mix for the other subject groups was relatively even, with slightly more women than men graduating from humanities and languages (61% female) and the natural sciences (60% female).88

Looking at STEM and non-STEM subject groups only, a higher proportion of male graduates studied STEM subject groups compared to female graduates (26% compared to 17%). Conversely, a higher proportion of female graduates studied non-STEM subject groups compared to male graduates (32% compared to 24%).89 _{These differences echo findings from} earlier graduate labour market studies (e.g. Class of ’99, Purcell et al., 2005, p. 11) and the wider group of all Futuretrack respondents who completed an undergraduate degree (Purcell et al., 2013).90

87 _{Business and administrative studies graduates were underrepresented in the Futuretrack survey} as a whole (see Purcell et al., 2013, p. 203).

88 _{The high proportion of female graduates from natural sciences subjects is largely due to almost} 70% female graduates from biological sciences and related subjects; the physical sciences were relatively evenly split, with 45% female graduates.

89 _{There was a statistically significant association between sex and STEM/non-STEM subjects:} uncorrected χ2_{(1, N=4,562) = 142.76, design-based F(1, 4,561) = 112.46, p <.001.}

90 _{The gender ratios are not directly comparable owing to different subject group classifications used} in the reports.

95 Table 3.3: Comparison of thesis sample graduates' and all Futuretrack first-degree UK- domiciled graduates' HE background

HE experience Thesis sample only All Futuretrack first-degree UK

domiciled graduates

HEI tariff type

Highest tariff 26.5 25.0 High tariff 24.8 24.1 Medium tariff 33.0 32.5 Lower tariff 10.3 12.3 General HE college 1.5 1.6 Specialist HE college 3.9 4.3 Degree class 1st class hons. 19.9 18.6 2.1 class hons. 50.5 49.0

Unclassified 2nd class hons. 2.4 2.8

2.2 class hons 20.1 19.1

3rd class hons. 3.0 3.4

Ordinary degree (unclassified) 2.6 3.8

Other 0.2 0.2

Diploma 0.5 1.2

Medical degree 0.3 1.3

Foundation degree 0.5 0.5

Subject groups

Medicine & related 2.1 8.5

Natural Sciences 15.2 14.0

Mathematical & Computer Sciences 10.1 7.1 Engineering, Technologies, Building 10.3 8.8

Social Studies & Law 9.2 10.7

Business & Administrative Studies 12.3 8.2

Humanities & Languages 16.2 15.8

Creative Arts & Design 12.0 12.2

Education 1.9 4.9

Interdisciplinary including STEM 5.8 5.4 Interdisciplinary excluding STEM 5.1 4.4

All STEM-related subjects 43.4 43.7

N 4572 9362

Note: For some analyses in the Futuretrack Stage 4 Report, interdisciplinary subjects were divided into those that did and did not include a Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) component using Atfield’s classification (Purcell et al., 2013).91

Source: Futuretrack Stage 4 thesis sample, UK-domiciled, UK-university first-degree graduates only, private sector, non-self-employed; All Futuretrack first-degree UK domiciled graduates. Weighted percentages.

91 _{STEM, as defined by the UK government, emphasises the strategic importance of developing} science, technology, engineering and mathematics knowledge at university level for economic competitiveness. Futuretrack adopted a slightly more nuanced definition of subject groups, to accommodate for numerical skill development (see Purcell et al., 2013, p. 73, for more detail).

96 At the overall level, the graduates in this sample were broadly comparable to the Futuretrack respondents as a whole, to the UK graduate cohorts in 2009/10 and 2010/11 according to HESA data, to graduate cohorts in previous labour market studies (Class of '99 and Seven Years On). The main differences were that this sample had a slightly higher proportion of graduates with first class degree results, lower proportions of graduates from ethnic minority and routine and manual backgrounds compared to HESA statistics, and much lower proportions of graduates who did education and from medicine and related subjects, because they were more likely to be employed in the public sector. In addition, business and administrative studies students were slightly underrepresented in the Futuretrack survey. Thus, these differences should be borne in mind when looking at the analysis of graduate employment in small firms. However, for the regression analysis in Chapter 5, it is the effects of the variables on self-reported measures of skill utilisation that are important, and these differences do not present a problem because all groups are relatively well-represented in the model specification.