GCCA | Graduate Careers Council of Australia

Graduate Careers Australia

Graduate Grapevine - Number 9, Summer 2007

Postgraduate Statistics Show Higher Earnings, More Jobs

Salaries and employment rates for new postgraduates made further advances in 2006, staying well ahead of equivalent outcomes for bachelor degree graduates.

This year’s Postgraduate Destinations report from Graduate Careers Australia (GCA), covering postgraduate responses to the 2006 Australian Graduate Survey (AGS), showed the typical (median) annual salary for a new postgraduate climbed to $60,000 in 2006, up by $1900 from 2005.

This was $18,000 more than the median salary of bachelor degree graduates in 2006 ($42,000), although it should be noted that as a group, postgraduates are older and tend to have more work experience. Overall, postgraduate respondents to the AGS were 11 years older than bachelor graduates, at a median age of 34 years compared to 23. Postgraduates were also more likely than bachelor degree graduates to have been studying part-time during their qualification (61.1 per cent as opposed to 16.7 per cent) and to have been working during their final year of study (87.1 per cent as compared to 81.4 per cent).

The 2006 Postgraduate Destinations report, released in September 2007, is based on over 28,500 responses from postgraduates, including those with graduate and postgraduate certificates and diplomas, coursework masters degrees, research masters degrees, professional doctorates and PhDs. The AGS is an annual, nationwide survey of higher education graduates four to six months after course completion.

In addition to a salary increase, the AGS also found a higher proportion of postgraduates were in full-time employment in 2006 than in 2005. Of those available for full-time employment, 89.9 per cent of postgraduate respondents were working full-time at the time of the survey (this is up by 1.1 percentage points on the 2005 figure). Postgraduates were also more likely to have been in full-time employment than bachelor degree graduates (82.4 per cent).

Employment figures for various levels of postgraduate award can differ markedly however, with coursework degrees such as certificates, diplomas and masters degrees often being favoured by those already in employment or those active in the labour market. Research degrees such as PhDs and research masters qualifications are often favoured by those furthering a research interest developed in their undergraduate years.

Of those with research-based qualifications (PhDs and research masters) available for full-time employment, 87.6 per cent were in a full-time job. For coursework masters graduates, the figure was 89.4 per cent and for those with graduate and postgraduate certificates and diplomas it was 90.9 per cent.

It wasn’t only employment figures which varied according to the level of qualification; salaries also diverged on this basis. The median salary for graduates with graduate diploma/certificate awards was $55,000 (up from $54,000 in 2005) while for graduates with coursework masters awards, this figure was $65,000 (up from $63,000 in 2005). For graduates from research masters/PhD awards this figure was $60,700 (up from $59,000 in 2005). The relatively lower salary earned by research masters/PhD graduates compared with coursework masters graduates is indicative of the different career stages the two groups are at, with the latter being more likely to have worked while studying on a part-time basis and have more employment experience.

When taking the broad sector of employment into account, further differences emerged, with coursework masters graduates working full-time in the government and private sectors reporting median salaries of $70,000 and $68,000 respectively. While research masters/PhD graduates reported a median salary of $68,400 for the health sector, the remaining equivalent salaries were generally around $60,000. Postgraduate diploma/certificate graduates reported the lowest median salary figure of this type, with $47,600 for the education sector.

Across all levels of postgraduate qualification, male graduates are paid between $3000 and $10,000 more than female graduates. Disparities in salaries between males and females at this level of aggregation can reflect differences in terms of field of education and level of award, type of work, occupation and amount of work experience.

(For the most up to date figures on salaries for postgraduate research and coursework students/graduates go to www.gradsonline.com.au .)

Work experience was another factor associated with varying employment outcomes. Research masters and PhD graduates in their first full-time employment earned, on average, eight per cent less than all research masters and PhD graduates in full-time employment. The corresponding statistics for coursework masters graduates and those with a graduate or postgraduate diploma or certificate are 23.1 per cent and 14.5 per cent less respectively.

In contrast to bachelor degree graduates, of whom around one in five (20.3 per cent) continued in further full-time study, a much smaller proportion (6.5 per cent) of postgraduates continued in further full-time study. This is unsurprising given that postgraduates have refined their career options, and most have (for now) a reduced need for further formal education.

In addition to Postgraduate Destinations, GCA has also released the 2006 Postgraduate Research Experience report which collates data concerning the higher education experiences of postgraduates as they worked towards their awards. Specifically, the report examines in detail the appraisals of postgraduates from research-based qualifications (research masters and PhDs) on key aspects of their experience, such as supervision, intellectual climate and university infrastructure.