University degree leads students back to teach

Charlotte Harland wants to be a television presenter but was dismayed when that occupation did not feature in the top 25 jobs. Photo / Doug Sherring

Uni leavers earn more and are more likely to get a job, but not where they want

The good news is you are studying for the degree of your dreams. The not-so-good news is your only option might be to become a school teacher.

New research reveals for the first time the career pathways Kiwi students have followed after graduating.

Universities New Zealand examined the top 25 jobs secured by about 650,000 graduates of all levels aged 29-38, across every course. The data was gleaned from the 2013 Census.

In general, people with BA or BSc degrees in traditional subjects such as maths, physics, English, chemistry, biology and history mainly ended up as secondary school teachers.

"The data debunks a few myths about how useful some degree subjects are when it comes to gaining employment," said Chris Whelan, executive director of Universities NZ.

Although many may not end up where they plan, Whelan said the data showed only two per cent of arts graduates ended up unemployed.

"A lot of people perceive many with arts degrees will end up working in service jobs but that is not the case.

"Although they might not get an extremely well-paid job as an engineer or an IT consultant, many become teachers or policy analysts.

"It is also quite clear that if you are studying physics, if you want to actually work as a physicist or a scientist, you have to achieve PhD or Masters level."

Whelan said the figures would give students a better idea of where their higher education may lead. The full data is expected to be publicly available via Careers NZ next year.

Charlotte Harland is in her final year of a BA in Communication Studies at Auckland University of Technology. She wants to be a television presenter but was dismayed when that occupation did not feature in the top 25 jobs secured by previous graduates in that field.

Harland, 21, was surprised to learn most turned out to be graphic designers or worked in public relations.

"If I had known this beforehand I might have chosen a more specialist course," she said. "The market is not good out there and when I graduate I am thinking of taking any kind of job to get some money and then go travelling until things improve."

It was revealed this week businesses may be placing less importance on university degrees than in previous years but employees with tertiary education still earn more on average than those who don't, according to research by recruitment company absoluteIT.

In the past few months, consultancy firms EY and PwC in the UK announced they were ditching university scores as a key measure in their graduate recruitment programmes, in the hope of diversifying their talent pool.

Whelan said having a degree was almost a given these days in New Zealand and the focus was now on graduates having an "X Factor" to make them stand out.

"In 1992 just 8.2 per cent of the population had a university degree but this jumped to 21.6 per cent in 2013 and is still rising," he said.

"Twenty-five years ago having a degree was a winner, now it is a qualifier."