REVEALED: The university degrees you SHOULDN’T be studying if you want to land a job after graduating – and the ones that are almost certain to get you hired
- Science graduates facing uphill battle to get a job after university, report found
- Low levels of private and public research have restricted demand for graduates
- Medicine and teacher education degrees had best prospects within four months
- Study said jobs in the human, caring and public services will be in high supply
Thousands of graduates are facing an uphill battle to get a job after university, a new report has revealed.
The study by the Australia Institute’s Centre for Future Work found it was those with medicine and teaching degrees who have the best prospects after graduation.
By contrast, low levels of private and public research in Australia have restricted demand for graduates specialising in science, technology, engineering and maths.
Science graduates are facing an uphill battle to get a job after university compared to those with medicine and teaching degrees, a new report has revealed (stock image)
Survey data from 2018 showed 94.9 per cent of those with degrees in medicine were in full-time work within four months of graduation.
The median salary for medicine graduates when they first enter the workforce is about $70,000 a year.
Teacher education degrees, where graduates start on an average of $63,500, had a 83.3 per cent success rate of finding work quickly.
The report said jobs with a human connection would continue to be ready in supply.
‘This is especially true in human, caring and public services – which have been strong sources of new job-creation in recent years,’ researchers said.
Other industries which have experienced high demand for skilled graduates are nursing, business and management and law.
Science and mathematics came in at eighth on the list at 64.6 per cent.
The data showed a clear split in success rate between those holding vocational and generalist degrees.
Humanities communications and creative arts students, considered to be studying a generalist qualification, had as little as a 52.2 per cent chance of landing a full-time job in the four-month window.
2018 survey data showed 94.9 per cent of those with degrees in medicine were in full-time work within four months of graduation (stock image)
Data presented in the study also showed health care’s share of the job market has grown the most – by five per cent since 1986.
Lead researchers Alison Pennington and Jim Stanford argued rather than taking away jobs, the rise of technology was actually ‘freeing up’ jobs for humans.
They said the rise of social media and digital technology industries has led to the creation of new roles not previously possible.
‘The future of work will be marked by an increased role for jobs where technology complements human labour, and “frees up” humans to undertake more abstract, cognitive and emotional labour,’ the report said.
Researchers said problem-solving, leadership and people management skills will all be important qualities in the future of the Australian working world.