Graduates opt for further studies over dole queue

Employment prospects for this year's graduates are even worse than before. The jobs crisis is forcing growing numbers of graduates to stay on at college. Shrinking employment prospects have left them with no alternative but to try to ride out the recession by extending their studies.

The trend masks an inevitable rise in unemployment among graduates as a result of the economic crisis. Colleges report a drop in the proportion of graduates from last year who got a job and a rise both in graduate unemployment and in the numbers pursuing further study.

The figures are based on a survey of the first destination of previous year's graduates carried out by individual colleges. The trends bear out statistics released by the state jobs and training authority FAS, which revealed that 12,000 graduates had registered with it since January.

Employment prospects for this year's graduates are even worse in the face of further retrenchment in both the private and public sector. NUI Galway stated that 51pc of primary degree graduates from last year decided to enter further study. Similar trends are reported across the higher education sector. While NUI Galway traditionally has a relatively high proportion of graduates pursuing further study, this is the first time the figure has gone over 50pc. The average in the higher education sector has been about 35pc-40pc.

While upskilling and higher educational qualifications are regarded as essential for the modern-day workplace, there seems no doubt that many are staying in college as an alternative to the dole queue.

In recent years across the entire higher education sector, the employment rate for graduates within the first year of leaving college was about 51pc-52pc, up to 55pc-60pc when those who got jobs abroad were included. This will show a general drop this year.

Some colleges, such as the University of Limerick(UL) and Dublin City University (DCU), and the institutes of technology, have a more vocational orientation to their programmes and have a higher employment rate for graduates.

Decline

In NUI Galway, the employment rate for last year was down in all disciplines, to an average of 40pc among primary degree graduates. A further 5.4pc said they were not available for employment, a category that would include graduates who decide to travel, and 3.7pc said they were seeking employment.

The University of Limerick said preliminary indications showed a decline in graduate employment last year to 65pc - relatively high compared with the national average. The college also reports more students entering further study.

DCU also signalled a decrease in the proportion of graduates going straight into employment last year and an increase in the proportion going into further study and in those seeking employment .

In UCC, 47pc of last year's graduates are in employment, 42pc are pursuing further study, while 7pc were seeking employment. There was no information supplied by a further 4pc.

At Campus we asked you what you though about being a graduate or emerging graduate in this current climate. Is emigration the only answer? Are there still jobs? Is continuing to study the answer? What about Volunteer work?

Here's what you said...