HESA Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Institutions 2007/08 reveals female graduates more likely to enter employment

Data from the newly released HESA Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Institutions 2007/08 publication shows that female graduates were more likely to be in full or part-time employment six months after graduating, while male graduates were more likely to be in further study or unemployed. The publication provides coverage of the DLHE survey which asks graduates what they are doing six months after graduating. 75.7% of 2007/08 first degree graduates responded to the survey (76.5% of females and 74.6% of males).

72.9% of female first degree graduates were in some form of employment* after six months, compared with 67.9% of male graduates. 16.2% of male leavers who gained first degrees in 2007/08 went on to further study only, compared 15.1% of female graduates.

Meanwhile 10.3% of male first degree graduates were assumed to be unemployed** after six months, compared to 6.5% of female graduates. The overall proportion of leavers with first degrees who were assumed to be unemployed rose to 8.1% for 2007/08 graduates, up from 5.6% for 2006/07 graduates.

The tables below show the destinations of leavers who graduated with first degree qualifications in 2007/08 and 2006/07 and completed the DLHE survey.

Source: HESA Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Institutions 2007/08

The HESA Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Institutions 2007/08 reference volume provides detailed coverage of the DLHE survey results, including analysis of data by mode and level of study completed, further study after graduation, and industrial and occupational classification of employment.

Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Institutions 2007/08 is available for purchase from http://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/publications or by calling +44 (0) 1242 211155.  Back issues of this publication are also available for purchase.

Results of the second Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Longitudinal Survey will be published in early September. This survey covers a sample of graduates from 2004/05 and asks what they are doing three and a half years after graduating.

Notes for Editors

1. Press enquiries should be directed to:
   
   • Simon Kemp
   • HESA Press Officer
   • 01242 211120
   • [email protected]
   • 95 Promenade, Cheltenham, GL50 1HZ.
2. In the above data 0, 1, 2 are rounded to 0. All other numbers are rounded up or down to the nearest multiple of 5.
3. Percentages in the tables above include both full and part-time first degree qualifiers, but exclude those who explicitly refused to give information.
4. * ‘Employment' includes those in full or part-time paid employment, voluntary/unpaid work, and those in both employment and further study.
5. ** ‘Assumed to be unemployed' includes those students who gave their employment circumstances as unemployed and looking for employment, further study or training, and who were also either in part-time study, training or research or not studying, plus those who were due to start a job within the next month and who were also either in part-time study, training or research or not studying.
6. HESA data is collected from all publicly funded Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the UK, plus the University of Buckingham, which is a non-publicly-funded institution. The 2007/08 data covers 166 HEIs (132 in England, 11 in Wales, 19 in Scotland and 4 in Northern Ireland).
7. HESA cannot accept responsibility for any inferences or conclusions derived from the data by third parties.
8. Definitions of the terms used in this press release follow:
   

   DLHE definitions:

   Coverage

   The HESA Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE) target population contains all United Kingdom (UK) and European Union (EU) domiciled students reported to HESA for the reporting period 1 August 2007 to 31 July 2008 as obtaining relevant qualifications and whose study was full-time or part-time (including sandwich students and those writing-up theses). Awards from dormant status are not included in the target population. Relevant qualifications exclude professional qualifications. Officially, the Crown Dependencies of Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man are not part of the UK or the EU. However, they are grouped with and assumed to be part of the UK in the HESA DLHE record.

   The data specifications of the Student and DLHE records use the term 'instance' to describe a student's engagement with the institution, which, because a student can have more than one instance of engagement, will exceed the number of students. Unless stated otherwise, DLHE data is based on an instance of engagement.

   Relevant qualifications for inclusion in the DLHE record are taken from the qualification awarded to the student instance during the reporting year, usually at the end of an instance. The qualification awarded may be different to the student's qualification aim, and each student instance may have a maximum of two qualifications awarded. Where two relevant qualifications are awarded, the highest award is selected as the relevant qualification for DLHE.

   HESA classifies courses according to a framework which aligns with the framework for HE qualifications in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (FHEQ), the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) (of which the framework for qualifications of HE institutions in Scotland is a constituent part) and the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) and Bologna frameworks. Details are available at www.hesa.ac.uk/C07051/a/COURSEAIM. It includes level M for taught masters degrees, and level H for honours degrees.

   Reference dates

   The reference dates for the 2007/08 DLHE return were 14 April 2008 (if the leaver obtained the qualification between 1 August 2007 and 31 December 2007) and 12 January 2009 (if the leaver obtained the qualification between 1 January 2008 and 31 July 2008).

   The reference dates for the 2006/07 DLHE return were 16 April 2007 (if the leaver obtained the qualification between 1 August 2006 and 31 December 2006) and 14 January 2008 (if the leaver obtained the qualification between 1 January 2007 and 31 July 2007).

   Rounding strategy

   Due to the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998 and the Human Rights Act 1998, HESA implements a strategy in published and released tabulations designed to prevent the disclosure of personal information about any individual. These tabulations are derived from the HESA non-statutory populations and may differ slightly from those published by related statutory bodies. This strategy involves rounding all numbers to the nearest 5. A summary of this strategy is as follows:

   • 0, 1, 2 are rounded to 0
   • All other numbers are rounded to the nearest 5.

   So for example 3 is represented as 5, 22 is represented as 20, 3286 is represented as 3285 while 0, 20, 55, 3510 remain unchanged.

   Level of qualification obtained

   First degrees are first degrees, first degrees with eligibility to register to practice (doctor/dentist/veterinary surgeon), first degrees with qualified teacher status (QTS)/registration with the General Teaching Council (GTC), enhanced first degrees and first degrees obtained concurrently with diplomas.

   Employment categories

   In the DLHE survey leavers are able to report separately what they are doing in relation to both employment and study and a matrix of possible outcomes is constructed. This matrix is used to define the key categories of outcomes such as employed and unemployed.

   As leavers report separately what they are doing in relation to employment and further study, it is possible to be involved in either employment only, further study only or employment and further study. Therefore where the terms ‘employment' and ‘further study only' are used, it is important to note that:

   • * Employment includes those in employment only, and those in both employment and further study
   • Further study only excludes those in both employment and further study.

   Matrix of standard categories for publication from DLHE

   Employment circumstances	Full-time study (1)	Part-time study (2)	Not in study (3)
   Employed full-time in paid work (01)	D	D	A
   Employed part-time in paid work (02)	D	D	B
   Self-employed/freelance (03)	D	D	A
   Voluntary work/other unpaid work (15)	D	D	C
   Permanently unable to work/retired (16)	G	G	G
   Temporarily sick or unable to work/looking after the home or family (17)	E	E	G
   Taking time out in order to travel (10)	G	G	G
   Due to start a job within the next month (11)	E	F	F
   Unemployed and looking for employment, further study or training (12)	E	F	F
   Not employed but NOT looking for employment, further study or training (13)	E	E	O
   Something else (14)	E	E	O
   Question not answered (XX)	X	X	X

   The values in brackets refer to valid values recorded for Employment Circumstances (field 5) and Study Circumstances (field 6) in the DLHE record.

   Publication categories

   Full-time paid work	A
   Part-time paid work	B
   Voluntary/unpaid work only	C
   Work & further study	D
   Further study only	E
   Assumed to be unemployed	F
   Not available for employment	G
   Other	O
   Explicit refusal	X

   ** Unemployment

   Assumed to be unemployed includes those students who gave their employment circumstances as unemployed and looking for employment, further study or training, and who were also either in part-time study, training or research or not studying, plus those who were due to start a job within the next month and who were also either in part-time study, training or research or not studying

   Gender

   Graduates of indeterminate gender are included in total figures but not shown separately.

Ends