Navigating the graduate labour market: the impact of social class on student understandings of graduate careers and the graduate labour market

Abstract

Significant expansions in higher education over the last few decades have raised concerns about an over-supply of graduates in the labour market, such that a degree no longer seamlessly translates into a graduate career or occupation, with the increased life chances this could bring. In this paper, we report a study of undergraduates' perceptions of graduate careers and the graduate labour market. As the data showed perceptions were shaped strongly by social class we applied a Bourdieusian theoretical lens to examine the role of capitals and hysteresis of habitus on students' expectations. The study demonstrates how the classed nature of the graduate labour market manifests itself through differences in the level of understanding and preparedness for navigating the labour market. We highlight the structural barriers 'non-traditional' graduates face when entering and navigating a volatile graduate labour market.

The changing nature of graduate roles and the value of the degree

“…Some employers noted the overreliance on degree education for future employment as problematic. Recent evidence suggests that students of lower social class are more likely to believe that undertaking a degree will lead to guaranteed employment and less actively prepare for the labour market (Burke, Scurry, & Blenkinsopp, 2019). Stakeholders should be emphasising to students, including during university recruitment processes, the need to consider the bigger picture.…”

Constructing a graduate career future: Working with Bourdieu to understand transitions from university to employment for students from working‐class backgrounds in England

“…A number of recent studies of higher education transitions engage with the concept of habitus in this way (Abrahams, 2017; Abrahams & Ingram, 2013; Allen, 2016; Burke et al., 2017, 2020; Loveday, 2016; Nairz‐Wirth et al., 2017). These studies focus on the complex ways in which class operates symbolically, culturally and through the emotions (Reay, 2005a), shaping the habitus and displayed in levels of confidence and sense of entitlement to participate in higher education.…”

“…The concept of habitus enables links between individuals' inner emotional worlds and external social and structural processes; it both animates the social in the psychosocial and allows us to better understand how the psyche is formed in and through the social. (Reay, 2015, p.22) A number of recent studies of higher education transitions engage with the concept of habitus in this way (Abrahams, 2017;Abrahams & Ingram, 2013;Allen, 2016;Burke et al, 2017Burke et al, , 2020Loveday, 2016;Nairz-Wirth et al, 2017). These studies focus on the complex ways in which class operates symbolically, culturally and through the emotions (Reay, 2005a), shaping the habitus and displayed in levels of confidence and sense of entitlement to participate in higher education.…”

Dimensions of fit for doctoral candidates: supporting an academic identity

“…In higher education around the world, this has led to a diversification of the types of doctoral degrees and models of training available to students (see Yanhua, Kehm, and Ma 2018). Public criticism of doctoral education has noted the high attrition rate of students, the length of time taken to qualify and the narrow nature of the value of the degree in relation to preparation for non-academic labour markets (Burke, Scurry, and Blenkinsopp 2020). Therefore, integrating doctoral practice into higher education programmes with additional curricular provision has established a clearer structure for doctoral education and training.…”

“…Answering such questions matters because a positive attitude towards oneself as a learner and towards opportunities to learn is more likely to enable successful outcomes when pursuing doctoral study (Douglas 2020). Knowing how best to support and relieve the pressures of doctoral study is important if universities are to meet student expectations and prevent high attrition rates in postgraduate programmes (Burke, Scurry, and Blenkinsopp 2020). What is known about academic identity development is that it is based on selfassessment of intellectual and professional development as well as on the perceptions of others (Baker and Lattuca 2010).…”