Unis must be up-front about what a degree delivers and when says equity expert

Not all graduates are the same when it comes to employment opportunities – people who are first in family to complete a degree can do it especially tough

Sarah O’Shea (Uni Wollongong) reports the experience of first in family grads, often from equity groups, in her

fellowship report for the National Centre for Student Equity in Higher Education, at Curtin U.

Professor O’Shea used qualitative research and stats to identify the complex circumstances of FIF graduates. But among the detailed data and closely-argued evidence there is a stark statement;

“Many of the participants in the study felt that they had been the victim of a hard-sell in terms of their degree, and that they had been misled as to the employability outcomes of their qualification.”

O’Shea explains at-length the contexts of family circumstances and individual experiences, or the lack of them and that create such disillusion; “not all students realise the importance of participating in internships or work-related opportunities. Instead respondents in this study indicated that as undergraduates they were playing by the ‘old rules of the game’, which centred on getting good grades rather than extending themselves in terms of co-curricular opportunities.”

But she also has some suggestions for universities, including;

* “university marketing and institutional administrators need to be upfront and clear about the length of time it takes to become established in a degree-related field of work,

* “staff across careers/support services in conjunction with academic/teaching staff need to explicitly and repeatedly evidence the importance of participation in extracurricular opportunities (i.e. volunteer experiences; work related or internship opportunities) whilst students are undertaking degrees,

* “careers services in partnership with academic and technology developers (both in university and industry) should develop ways to move beyond traditional models of internships or ‘work experience’ as being place-based, block, daytime models.”

And then there is the big one;

“Independent university peak bodies should provide a realistic cost-benefit analysis for different fields of study so that students can make informed choices about the qualifications they pursue. Ongoing interrogation of the longitudinal ‘opportunity costs’ of gaining a degree need to be prioritised to ensure that learners are clearly informed about the cost benefits of different qualifications.”