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Age and first destination employment from UK universities: are mature students disadvantaged?

journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-08, 06:42 authored by Ruth Woodfield
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.

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Published version

Journal

Studies in Higher Education

ISSN

0307-5079

Publisher

Taylor & Francis

Issue

4

Volume

36

Page range

409-425

Pages

35.0

Department affiliated with

  • Sociology and Criminology Publications

Full text available

  • No

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2012-02-06

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2013-09-30

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