Age and first destination employment from UK universities

Are Mature Students Disadvantaged

Datos Bibliográficos

ID4096846
AutoresRuth Woodfield (0000-0001-7442-3186, University of Sussex, autor de correspondencia)
Año2011
Volumen36
Número4
Páginas409-425
Fecha de publicación2011-06-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaStudies in Higher Education (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0307-5079 • E-ISSN: 1470-174X
EditorialInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/03075071003642431
OpenAlexW1969103866
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas13
Referencias citadas13

This article analyses a recent cohort (2006) of UK graduates, and explores the previously neglected relationship between age and post‐degree employment. Much work on mature students assumes their overall experience to be one of disadvantage relative to traditional‐age graduates, and this includes employability research. Here, mature students are demonstrated to be advantaged in the graduate labour market through analysis of a wide range of variables and employment success measures, utilised to produce a detailed set of findings that augment previous understanding. Mature graduates, regardless of whether they studied part‐ or full‐time, secured paid work, graduate‐level work, and a higher salary more frequently. Key mediating factors in their success include being a woman science student and having a history of previous employment with their post‐degree employer. The relative employment success of mature students could not, however, be explained simply as a result of them already being in pre‐degree graduate‐level jobs

Demographic economics · Disadvantage · Disadvantaged · Economic growth · Economics · Employability · Higher education · Labour economics · Pedagogy · Political science · Salary · Sociology · Work experience · Engineering · Gender Diversity and Inequality · Higher Education and Employability · Psychology · Retirement, Disability, and Employment