campusreview . com . au policy & reform teacher education undergraduates has remained relatively steady over the last year , with 80.8 per cent employed fulltime in 2019 and 80.6 in 2020 – a mere 0.2 per cent drop .
The latest GOS report has also confirmed data from the ABS Labour Force Survey , showing that employees in service type activities ( including the entertainment industry and the events sector ) “ have been most impacted by COVID-19 restrictions ” and therefore experienced significant cuts in full-time employment .
For example , tourism , hospitality , personal services , sport and recreation undergraduates registered a full-time employment rate of just 52.4 per cent in 2020 , compared with the 2019 figure of 56.4 per cent . While full-time employment in these study areas is historically more difficult to obtain , the overall employment rate for these areas is also down one per cent this year to 82.4 per cent .
Undergraduate communication graduates continue to experience difficulty entering the labour market , with the GOS report finding that “ the largest falls in undergraduate full-time employment by study area have been in communications , down from 60.1 per cent in 2019 to 52.8 per cent in 2020 , a fall of 7.3 percentage points ”.
Other study areas that experienced dramatic drops in undergraduate full-time employment since 2019 include creative arts ( -7.1 per cent ), architecture and built environment ( -6.8 per cent ), and dentistry ( -6.2 per cent ).
SALARIES AND GENDER The average undergraduate full-time salary in 2020 “ ranged between study areas from a high of $ 84,000 down to $ 49,600 , with a standard deviation of $ 7,800 ,” according to the GOS report .
In 2020 , study areas with the highest graduate salaries were dentistry ($ 84,000 ), medicine ($ 75,000 ), social work ($ 70,000 ), teacher education ($ 70,000 ), and engineering ($ 69,500 ).
Conversely , study areas with the lowest median undergraduate salaries were pharmacy ($ 49,600 ), creative arts ($ 52,000 ), tourism , hospitality , personal services , sport and recreation ($ 53,500 ), and communication ($ 55,600 ).
Salaries were also skewed according to gender . For instance , the 2020 GOS report found that “ the variation in salary between study areas was higher for male graduates , with a standard deviation of $ 8,300 compared to $ 7,400 for female graduates ”. The report suggests that the gender gap in undergraduate salaries upon graduation is partly explained by the fact “ that females are more likely to graduate from study areas which receive lower levels of remuneration ”.
However , the report also adds that , at undergraduate level , females earn less overall than their male counterparts within the majority of study areas . Study areas showing the biggest gaps between male and female salaries include dentistry ($ 10,700 ), law and paralegal studies ($ 4,900 ), business and management ($ 3,400 ), humanities , culture and social sciences ($ 3,100 ), and science and mathematics ($ 2,800 ).
There was , however , some positive news for females in the social work and engineering areas , “ where female undergraduate median salaries are higher than or equal to their male counterparts ”. Despite this outcome , the GOS report made clear that the gender gap in median salaries still largely persists , created by a number of factors such as subject choice , occupation , experience , age , personal factors and “ possible inequalities within workplaces ”.
UNIVERSITIES : EMPLOYMENT AND SALARIES
While salary and employment outcomes can vary across Australia ’ s institutions , the GOS report emphasises that “ it is important to acknowledge that factors beyond the quality of teaching , careers advice and the like , such as course offerings , the composition of the student population and variations in state / territory and regional labour markets , may also impact on employment and salary outcomes ”.
In 2020 the majority of universities experienced drops in undergraduate fulltime employment , correlating with the overall decline in “ overall labour market conditions ”. That said , there were three universities that registered increases in their undergraduate full-time employment rate between 2019 and 2020 .
The University of Southern Queensland , for instance , increased its undergraduate full-time employment rate from 76.1 per cent last year to 78.9 per cent in 2020 , a rise of 2.8 per cent . The University of New England similarly experienced an increase in this area , “ up from
As in previous recessions , young and less experienced individuals fare worse in a downturn .
78.2 per cent to 80.6 per cent , an increase of 2.4 percentage points ”. Finally , Southern Cross University also registered an increase ( albeit a slight 0.2 per cent ), with its rate of undergraduate full-time employment increasing from 74.9 per cent in 2019 to 75.1 per cent in 2020 .
“ Graduates from regional universities are more likely to be older , study externally and part-time and maintain a continuing connection with the labour market which explains , in part , why graduates from these universities may have fared better in the current downturn ,” the GOS report said in explaining this outcome .
“ Also graduates from regional universities are more likely to have completed vocational degrees and , as noted above , these graduates have also fared better in the current downturn .”
USQ also registered the highest median full-time salary for graduates immediately upon graduation ($ 70,700 ), followed by the University of Tasmania ($ 70,300 ), University of New England ($ 70,000 ), Central Queensland University ($ 69,700 ), and Charles Sturt University ($ 68,900 ).
“ A similar caveat applies with these universities having a larger number of graduates who studied externally , were older , studied part-time and maintained a continuing connection with the labour market while studying which explains , in part , why graduates from these universities may have reported higher salaries immediately upon graduation ,” the report states .
Torrens University registered the lowest median full-time salary for graduates immediately upon graduation – $ 52,200 – while high-ranking universities such as the University of Melbourne and the University of Western Australia also registered median full-time salaries upon graduation of below $ 60,000 in 2020 .
The average across all universities was $ 64,700 .
The survey is administered annually by the Social Research Centre for the Australian Government Department of Education Skills and Employment . ■
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