April 17, 1998

Grads nab jobs

Grade 12 students across this province have been walking into their guidance counselors' offices and asking, "Where should I go next year? NAIT? SAIT? Grant MacEwan? The University of Alberta?" The choices are numerous, and at times, confusing. But a recent report prepared by the U of A's Population Research Laboratory for Advanced Education and Career Development may help some of those students make the right decision.

The 1997 Alberta Graduate Survey: Labour Market and Educational Experiences of 1994 University Graduates, prepared by sociologists Dr. Harvey Krahn and Dr. Graham Lowe, suggests students who want to work in the professions, managerial jobs and emerging knowledge economy-based jobs would do well to enrol at one of the province's four universities.

"University graduates as a whole are doing very well in the labor market in terms of employment, earnings, job satisfaction and the utilization of their skills," says Lowe, who along with Krahn, surveyed more than 6000 graduates of the Class of '94 from the province's four universities. "It's really a good news story."

Not including people enrolled in additional post-secondary programs, the researchers found only 3.5 per cent of the Class of '97 surveyed were unemployed -- well below the national unemployment rate. More than 20 per cent were in temporary jobs, about 15 per cent held more than one job and 11 per cent were self-employed.

And they're making good wages. Last year, employed alumni from the class of '94 reported an average monthly income of $3,097 before deductions. That's an annual income of $37,164, well above the Alberta labor force average of $30,758. Not all graduates from that year reported good wages, however, says Krahn. Those with below-average earnings were more likely to have studied in the fine arts, humanities, social sciences, physical education/kinesiology and biological sciences.

"While these graduates clearly make important contributions to society and the economy, employers do not offer them the same financial rewards," says Krahn.

Lowe suggests that may be happening because employers haven't altered their traditional recruitment patterns and haven't realized yet that graduates in those fields do have important leadership, communication and organization skills.

The study also confirmed what many social scientists have been saying for close to a decade: lifelong learning is a fact. Lowe and Krahn found 37 per cent of the graduates of '94 they contacted had enrolled in further post-secondary credit programs, and just under one-quarter were enrolled at the time of the survey. Most were full-time students. "They're going back for job-related reasons," says Lowe, and post-secondary institutions will have to respond to that trend by providing more appropriate and expanded ways of meeting people's educational needs. Accessibility really is the issue. Krahn says that despite frequent media comments on the attractiveness of technical education over university education, only about 10 per cent of the university graduates who returned to school moved into the college or technical school system.

The researchers also found interesting data on student debt. Fifty-seven per cent graduated with an average debt of $15,293 -- considerably less than the figure of $25,000 regularly used in media stories, says Lowe. (The extent to which costs determine access to a university education for certain segments of the population will deprive them of the possible economic success a university degree provides. For example, people in lower socio-economic groups and rural high school students may be seriously disadvantaged.)

And what about the entrepreneurial prowess of the Class of '94? Only 11 per cent were self-employed, less than the provincial average of about 20 per cent. Lowe says it isn't really realistic to expect these recent grads to have access to capital so early on in their careers. It may take a little longer for these people to start their own businesses.

Many Canadian employers, in both the private and public sector, continue to rely heavily on non-standard (part-time and temporary) workers to reduce costs, Krahn says. "The problem for these employers will be one of motivating and keeping university-educated employees who, like most everyone else, want some guarantee of employment security and career potential in return for their contributions in the workplace."

The survey will be sent to guidance counsellors across the province.

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