Careers service engagement with social science graduates: barriers and recommendations

How can careers services engage more effectively with social science graduates? Charlotte Mungovan and Bobby Sabbar set out the results of a research project at Birmingham City University

At Birmingham City University (BCU) we conducted a small-scale research project to explore the causes of disengagement with careers and employability services with our 2022 social science graduates (Criminology, Psychology, Sociology, Professional Policing and Black Studies, including joint honours degrees).

The study aimed to understand how social science graduates may be better engaged with and supported into highly skilled employment, further study, or work experience.

Our literature review found that while undergraduate disengagement with university careers services is amply studied, research on graduate disengagement is lacking. Key themes from the literature review as drivers of undergraduate disengagement included a lack of awareness regarding the service, time management difficulties, communication issues and emotional factors.

To explore the influence of these barriers among this group, an initial survey was organised and returned a 10.8% response rate from the total target population. This was followed by 12 semi-structured interviews to deliver detailed qualitative data and allow unconsidered themes to emerge. These were the key findings:

1. Engagement

While 50% of the survey sample stated to have engaged with the careers service as students, only 23% stated to have engaged since graduating. This presents a sharp decrease in careers service engagement among social science students on graduation. Of those who had engaged as graduates (23%), a significant 77% had already engaged with the service as students, suggesting that encouraging student engagement could potentially improve graduate engagement. Encouragingly, interview participants who had engaged directly with careers professionals gave positive feedback of the support they received.

2. Awareness

Much of the survey sample stated to be aware of BCU's careers offer, which allows graduates access for three years (64%). Of the provisions available, respondents were most aware of careers events (66.1%), CV reviews (62.5%) and the Graduate Jobs Bulletin (51.8%). Awareness of free Practice Psychometric Tests (10.7%) was the lowest.

3. Communication

Of the communication methods used to engage graduates, contact via personal email was heavily preferred by 78.6% of the survey sample, followed by university email (53.6%). As a positive result, only 1.8% of the sample preferred no communication from careers professionals. While the survey suggested that email is most efficient, this contrasted with our experience of emails returning low engagement. Rather, the survey suggests that graduates are open to emails, and interviews provided insight on inefficiencies of emails as a barrier. Participants were resistant to check emails and selective of those they engaged with. Notably, interviews suggested that graduates engage more with emails from individuals they recognise.

4. Time management

Interviews suggested that scheduling difficulties between underemployment/other commitments made it challenging for graduates to engage with available support. Interviews also suggested that whilst studying, careers engagement is more difficult during levels 4 and 6 due to adjusting to new university lifestyles and later assessment periods (dissertations). While not directly relevant to graduates, if encouraging student engagement may improve graduate engagement, this finding has implications on optimum periods for implementation.

5. Mental health and emotional factors

Mental health emerged as a barrier to engagement throughout both free-text survey responses and interviews regarding an inaccessibility of careers fairs due to anxiety, with specific references to large crowds. Separate emotional factors also involved confidence issues and a reluctance of some graduates to ask for help. Interestingly, interviews strongly suggested that after students submit final assignments, a break is taken from university activities for varied amounts of time dependent on the individual - suggesting that this period may not be optimum to engage graduates.

6. Personal circumstances

Interviews lastly found that graduates with financial or parental commitments may face increased barriers to engaging, such as inaccessible voluntary work opportunities due to financial needs. Furthermore, financially self-reliant graduates may experience increased pressure to enter or continue underemployment to ensure continued income upon graduation, which also exacerbates time management barriers.

Recommendations

• Early intervention and engagement periods - early intervention can be recommended where findings suggest that encouraging student engagement may improve later graduate engagement. The findings further highlighted specific periods of the student-graduate experience where time management and emotional factors may be less barring and early intervention more effective. This includes level 5, non-examination periods and after a graduation break-period from university activities.
• Email communication - as the method participants were most open to, some recommendations can be made to improve email communications. Ensuring email titles/contents are clear and concise may combat the large volume of emails they receive and improve time consumption suiting the narrow opportunity to convey information. Emails may also be improved by using graduates' personal rather than university addresses and taking advantage of rapport built with careers staff they already know.
• Rapport ­- involving establishing rapport and utilising existing rapport through university networks to increase engagement, participants firstly suggested establishing rapport through visits by careers professionals to lectures/seminars. Benefits include raising awareness and initiating first contact for less confident students, thus encouraging student engagement which supports early intervention. The findings also suggested graduates engage better with emails from familiar individuals, so establishing rapport could improve email communication. Utilising existing rapport through networks can be recommended through collaboration with wider university staff who have existing rapport with students/graduates e.g., lecturers/tutors. Interestingly, interviews implied that utilising peer-peer rapport could be beneficial, as some participants engaged due to friends or student role models (e.g., collaboration with societies, clubs, student representatives and alumni).
• Participant suggestions -during the survey and interviews, participants were asked what could be implemented to support their student-graduate transition. Students/graduates valued check-ins by careers professionals they know and trust, with participants giving positive feedback regarding check-ins they have previously received. The creation of a Careers Leavers Pack regarding the graduate provision available was additionally suggested.

For additional information regarding this research project or careers provision at BCU, please contact: careers@bcu.ac.uk