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Graduate outcomes are promising , but gender gaps persist .
By Wade Zaglas
The future looks bright
The 2020 Graduate Outcome Survey – Longitudinal ( GOS-L ) report recently released by Quality Indicators for Learning and Teaching ( QILT ) showed a significant jump in the number of graduates in full-time work since 2017 and varying gender gaps in terms of salaries .
The GOS-L surveyed graduates who completed the 2017 QILT Graduate Outcomes ( GOS ) survey to analyse how their career – or further study – has progressed in the three years to 2020 .
“ The GOS-Longitudinal is arguably the most important survey in the QILT suite because it tells a comprehensive story about the medium-term employment outcomes for Australian higher education graduates ,” Lisa Bolton QILT Research and Strategy said about the report .
Although some may argue the COVID-19 pandemic might have skewed the results in terms of participation , 95 per cent of responses were received prior to the government mandating the COVID-19 social distancing measures on 23 March .
“ The 2020 GOS-L report shows that graduate labour market outcomes improve substantially over the first three years after graduation ,” Bolton said .
“ In 2017 , 73 per cent of undergraduates who went on to complete the GOS-L were in full-time employment four months after completing their course . In 2020 , the fulltime employment rate for the same cohort of graduates had risen to 90.1 per cent .
“ This represents an increase of 17.1 percentage points in the full-time employment rate over the three years following graduation . Along with results for 2019 , this represents the highest fulltime employment rate three years after graduation since 2013 .”
SALARIES The survey also highlighted gains in the median salary of undergraduates employed full-time . In 2017 , for instance , undergraduates registered a median salary of $ 60,000 . However , in 2020 the average salary for undergraduates rose by 25 per cent to $ 75,000 .
FIELD OF EMPLOYMENT AND GENDER
The 2020 QILT survey highlighted that undergraduates from more “ generalist fields of education ” had less optimistic outcomes in the short-term compared with more practical , “ vocational ” degrees in fields like medicine , pharmacy , engineering and dentistry where full-time employment rates remain among the highest .
An important point to consider , however , is that the employment gap between different study areas narrows considerably during the three-year period , dropping from 43 percentage points between the highest and lowest to just 19 per cent . Another interesting finding from the survey was that – over the three-year period – fulltime employment rates for more generalist study areas rose up to 26 percentage points , while the more “ vocational ” areas of medicine and pharmacy improved by a mere one percentage point .
“ In terms of the gender salary gap , we see that females who completed the GOS-L earned $ 2,600 less than males , or 4.3 per cent in the short term . This salary gap increases over time and three years later the salary gap increases to $ 6,900 or 9.4 per cent ,” Bolton said .
According to the survey gender pay gaps “ are most evident in an increase over the three-year period for graduates from the study areas of dentistry , veterinary sciences , architecture and built environment and tourism , hospitality , personal services , sport and recreation ”.
POSTGRADUATE STUDIES The QILT report found that 86.2 per cent of postgraduate by coursework graduates were in full-time employment in the shortterm , rising to 94.1 per cent three years later . Full-time salaries for this cohort are $ 23,000 more than their undergraduate counterparts in the short-term and $ 23,000 more three years later . At that point their median fulltime salaries were roughly $ 98,000 .
“ Postgraduate coursework study is more often undertaken in conjunction with ongoing employment or in relation to specific career progression compared with undergraduates or postgraduate research students , however the gap in employment rates between these groups narrows considerably over the three years of the survey ,” Bolton said .
The survey also identified a gender salary gap between male postgraduate by coursework graduates and their female counterparts – $ 15,900 or 16.9 per cent in the short term . This gap in full-time salaries “ remained three years later with males earning $ 17,200 or 15.8 percent more than females ”.
Individuals with a postgraduate by research qualification enjoyed a full-time employment rate of 81.4 per cent in the short term , increasing to 90.1 per cent by 2020 . In terms of salaries , postgraduate research graduates also earn far more than their undergraduate or postgraduate coursework counterparts three years out , with a median salary of $ 103,000 in 2020 .
However , the gender pay gap in this cohort increases over time , “ with male postgraduate research graduate salaries at $ 1,200 or 2.2 per cent higher in 2017 four months after graduation and three years later this gap had widened to $ 4,000 or 3.8 per cent ”.
Participation in the GOS-L survey was open to graduates from any higher education institution that participated in the 2017 Graduate Outcomes Survey . Eightythree institutions participated , including 41 universities and 42 non-university higher education institutions ( NUHEIs ).
The overall response rate for the GOS-L survey was 50 per cent , slightly down on the 2019 response rate pf 55.9 per cent across undergraduate , postgraduate coursework and postgraduate research graduates .” ■
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