Devaney, S and Roberts, D (2012) Who gets the jobs? Factors influencing the employability of property and construction graduates in the UK. Construction Management and Economics, 30(3), pp. 233-246. ISSN 1466433X
Abstract
Against a background of a strongly performing property market, the last decade saw a significant rise in numbers of entrants to undergraduate and postgraduate built environment programmes in the UK. The growth in postgraduate numbers reflected the emergence of conversion programmes with the result that, across a range of built environment pathways, employers can choose between different types of graduate: those straight from an undergraduate degree, those who have completed an additional postgraduate course or those who have taken, following a first degree in another discipline, a conversion programme in property or construction at postgraduate level. A bivariate probit modelling approach is used to explore whether having a postgraduate taught (PGT) qualification systematically improves the probability of finding graduate level employment. Different built environment programmes are considered, while controlling for other factors that may influence employment outcomes, including university type, mode of study, gender, ethnicity and age. The results suggest that a postgraduate degree in land and property management significantly increases the probability of gaining graduate level employment, but this is not so for construction, quantity surveying or building surveying. The findings are discussed in the wider context of changes in UK higher education.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | bivariate probit; graduates; higher education; labour markets; postgraduate degrees |
| Index terms: | conversion, qualification, employability, employment, higher education, undergraduate, labour market, built environment, property management, land, modelling, surveying, property market, programme, building surveying, postgraduate, emergence |
| Subjects: | real estate economics, curriculum development, analytical methods, health monitoring assessment and metrics, manufacturing engineering, management, educational resources, economics, professional development, project controls, educational institutions, human resources and leadership, infrastructure and transport systems, higher education, systems engineering |
| Topics: | Health and Safety, Information Management, Engineering Principles, Urban Studies, Human Resources, Supply Chain Management, Time Control, Education |
| Descriptive scope: | 2 PC |
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