While one in five Aggies who earned an undergraduate degree at UC Davis in the 2007-08 academic year were either unemployed or underemployed a year after graduation, the median salary for those working full time was up, according to survey conducted by UC Davis.
Most of the students who opted to pursue graduate studies were able to enroll at their first- or second-choice institution. And in each case, the majority of graduates who were working full time or continuing their studies felt they were very well or more than adequately prepared.
While the 2007-08 graduates entered a job market “shattered by the collapse of the housing bubble,” the report says, the percentage who found work in their chosen field and their rating of employment preparation remains high and comparable to the experiences of earlier cohorts.
Almost 1,600 graduates from the 2007-08 academic year, or 31 percent, responded to the Survey of Recent Baccalaureate Recipients, which is conducted every three years by Student Affairs Research and Information.
The most recent survey, conducted in the summer and fall of 2009, found that 22 percent of the 2007-08 graduates who responded were either unemployed or underemployed a year after graduation.
That represents the second highest proportion of unemployed or underemployed (working part-time but preferring full-time work) graduates since the university began the survey in 1977. The worst was in 1990.
A year out of university, 52 percent of graduates were employed full time — a decline from 64 percent in the previous survey, which looked at the graduating class of 2004-05.
According to a survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, an average of 63 percent of 2008-09 graduates from its 750 member-institutions were working full time one year after graduation.
The new UC Davis survey also shows that of these employed graduates, more than 50 percent had obtained their employment prior to or within two months of completing their degree, and 90 percent secured full-time positions within six months.
Most (93 percent) of the graduates working full time felt they were at least adequately prepared for their present position, and a majority (61 percent) felt they were very well or more than adequately prepared.
Where they found jobs
Among those who found full-time work, fewer were employed in the for-profit business sector (53 percent) than those students who graduated in 2004-05 (60 percent).
The 2007-08 students who were employed full-time were most likely to be working in biological/health scientist/technician careers (19 percent). The next highest percentages of full-time hires were working in administrative or operational support (11 percent), followed by those working as educator/teachers or engineer/architects (10 percent each).
The best employment news for UC Davis graduates during their first year had to do with compensation. For the 94 percent of respondents willing to share compensation, the median annual salary reported was $39,000 — $1,000 more than the median salary for 2004-05 graduates.
Postgraduate studies
About 37 percent of baccalaureate degree recipients went on to graduate school — the same percentage as three years earlier. Of these graduates continuing their education, 80 percent were able to enroll at their first- or second-choice institution; one in five chose their alma mater for advanced study.
Three in four postgraduate students felt they were very well or more than adequately prepared for their studies.
Gillian Butler, director of the research office that did the study, offers some insight for parents based on additional research she has compiled: Students who tackle an internship during their undergraduate years are more likely to be employed in a field related to their major or career of choice and less likely to still be looking for work six months after graduation. Her advice? “Don’t skip the internship.”
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