Graduate Business Start-ups Project Report - The Institute for ...

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! The labour market status of all groups of graduates had stabilised, and there was little variation according to gender, age or subject of study. At the time of the survey: ! the majority of graduates were in employment, about threequarters as employees; and ! two out of every five graduates were self-employed. The evidence from the analysis of career patterns showed rising levels of self-employment over time. The level of self-employment for the sample increased at each successive sampling point, and was considerably higher in comparison with the graduate population as a whole. This suggests that self-employment was increasingly becoming an important career destination for those graduates. Our findings also showed that the decision to enter self-employment was taken at an earlier stage in the careers of graduates. The aspiration for self-employment and business start-up was also high, and was underlined by the fact that a significantly high proportion of graduates had a business idea they would have liked to pursue. But the evidence also pointed to the fact that aspiration did not necessarily translate into deed. The issue for policy is to harness, stimulate and nurture the ideas and translate them into businesses. Chapter 5 looked at the graduates’ experience in the labour market, in terms of their jobs and utilisation of their higher education qualifications in those jobs. ! Job changes were, on the whole, less frequent. ! The majority of graduates worked full time, but the incidence was highest among graduates with no interest in selfemployment; by contrast, graduates with experience of selfemployment were more likely to work part time in their first job. ! The self-employed graduates were the most transient employees, and spent the least time working in that capacity. ! Utilisation of degrees varied, although on the whole, the majority of graduates thought a degree was helpful in getting their first job. ! The majority of graduates worked in the ‘other services’ sector. What emerged from the analysis of their employment experiences was that graduates with no interest in self-employment were more likely to follow a traditional employment route, with a fulltime job in a large organisation. By contrast, those with selfemployment experience opted for smaller organisations. Importantly, the findings here lend support to our earlier finding about how graduates make decisions about their careers very early on and stick to those decisions. Graduate Business Start-ups: Project Report 13
Chapter 6 presented the data on the sub-sample of graduates who were self-employed either at the time of the survey, or had been at any time after graduating with their first degrees. Analysis of the combination of career profiles of the whole sample showed the most common career routes of graduates. ! One-fifth of graduates entered self-employment, and this was their main activity. ! Between four and five per cent of each of the cohorts were in continuous self-employment. ! More graduates entered self-employment after a spell as employees than from unemployment. ! There was only little movement out of self-employment. The graduates in the sub-sample chose self-employment for a number of factors: ! Independence/autonomy and flexibility were the principal motivation. ! Financial rewards were not very high on their list of motivating factors, nor was security of employment. Extrinsic factors which influenced the choice of self-employment included: ! Family background, in particular parental influence. ! Work experience, in particular placement in small organisations. The graduates were engaged in a combination of activities rather than only one type of self-employment: ! The most popular form of self-employment was providing services to customers. ! Production activity was the next most popular, with graduates producing things to sell. ! Very few worked within a family business. ! There were more women freelancers than men. ! Three in five self-employed graduates worked on their own (ie with no employees). ! The graduates were significant employers, and had altogether just under 2,000 employees. ! The majority worked an average of 40 hours a week, but a small proportion worked in excess of 60 hours. ! Earning levels were skewed; the median annual salary was £8,000, and three-quarters earned £18,000. ! Variations in earning levels reflected the length of time in the labour market. 14 Graduate Business Start-ups: Project Report
Page 1 and 2: the Institute for Employment Studie
Page 4 and 5: the Institute for Employment Studie
Page 6: Contents 1. Graduate Business Start
Page 9 and 10: However, the conventional view is t
Page 11 and 12: levels increase over time. At a mor
Page 13 and 14: particular, the Steering Group disc
Page 15 and 16: As there was still a risk of shortf
Page 17 and 18: The Results of the Project Main fin
Page 19: This means, as well, that when thes
Page 23 and 24: ! they were looking to the future w
Page 25 and 26: One way of dealing in future with s
Page 27 and 28: HEQED) of researchers working on a
Page 29 and 30: Annexe 1: A Good Practice Guide for
Page 31 and 32: graduation, while others return to
Page 33 and 34: Background to Good Practice farmer)
Page 35 and 36: 3. Graduates’ Views: in Retrospec
Page 37 and 38: 4. Developments Under Way: Some Ini
Page 39 and 40: Studying a business plan is part of
Page 41 and 42: Attitudes of Students ! Some studen
Page 43 and 44: Examples of Good Practice Possible
Page 45 and 46: in which local Business Links opera
Page 47 and 48: Organisations Offering Training in
Page 49 and 50: 7. Resources There is a wide range
Page 51 and 52: Many of the organisations offering
Page 53: access entrepreneurs from their own

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