The summer edition of Graduate Market Trends (GMT) launches today (22 July 2014) with the latest research on graduate underemployment, a look at a new toolkit that’s embedding work-based projects into masters education and an interview with Nick Hillman, former advisor to David Willetts.
The Higher Education Careers Services Unit’s (HECSU) quarterly journal features all of the latest stats, facts and information on the graduate labour market.
Inside the summer edition, readers will find how aspirations to go to university change between the ages of 13 and 16, and the motivations behind the decision to study a postgraduate qualification.
Speaking in an interview with GMT, Nick Hillman, Director of the Higher Education Policy Institute, stoked the higher education policy debate:
On policy imperatives for the 2015 election:
“I would like there to be a much deeper understanding about the value of legitimate international students to the UK… Blocking any individual who genuinely wants to come to study from spending lots of money before going home again, while leaving a useful imprint behind, is irrational. As a nation, we are good at all sorts of education and we should not limit ourselves to educating future Einsteins.”
On prospective UK students studying overseas to avoid loan debt:
“UK citizens will increasingly look abroad for their higher education and that’s almost certainly a good thing…. We Brits are not always good at immersing ourselves in other people’s cultures and going to study abroad is an excellent way to build the sort of transferable skills and international outlook that adds richness to people’s lives and which employers want.”
On the 2015 general election:
“The Opposition have spent four years telling people they might introduce a graduate tax after the next election without ever explaining how it would work. No political party is currently making a clear commitment to new higher education legislation after the next election, yet those at the frontline believe it is necessary, so again they have got off the hook. I start from the belief that politicians in all parties want the best for the country and it is our job in think-tank land to help them get there without too much buffeting.”
The summer edition of GMT can be downloaded for free at www.hecsu.ac.uk