Claire Toogood, research and strategic projects manager at the Graduate Futures Institute, highlights the importance of understanding different employment outcomes within the disabled graduate population
New analysis of Graduate Outcomes data from Graduate Futures Institute shows that disabled graduates continue to experience a gap in employment 15 months after leaving higher education. The latest What Happens Next? report suggests that while the overall pattern is familiar, the differences within the disabled graduate population are increasingly important to understand.
Looking more closely at outcomes by disability type, ethnicity and gender identity highlights a more complex picture. This demonstrates that thinking about disabled graduates as a single group may overlook some of the variation in how transitions into work are experienced.
Disability disclosure continues to rise
Over time, more graduates have chosen to share a disability with their higher education provider. In 2022/23, 21.2% of Graduate Outcomes survey respondents had disclosed a disability during their studies. This proportion has increased steadily since 2017/18.
Disability sharing is highest at first-degree level at 22.4%, compared with 18.7% at postgraduate Masters level and 13.1% at Doctoral level. The types of disability being disclosed are consistent with previous years. Learning differences, including dyslexia, account for the largest proportion of disclosures, followed by mental health conditions.
Autistic graduates report lower total employment at 72 and lower levels of full-time employment than most other disability groups.
Outcomes differ across the graduate population
At an overall level, disabled graduates are slightly less likely to be in employment 15 months after graduation than their peers. Total employment is reported at 79% for disabled graduates, compared with 83% for graduates with no known disability. Unemployment is 7% compared with 5%.
Looking more closely, outcomes vary notably across different groups.
- Autistic graduates report lower total employment at 72%, alongside higher unemployment at 12% and lower levels of full-time employment than most other disability groups.
- Differences are also visible when outcomes are grouped by ethnicity. Disabled white graduates report total employment of 80% and unemployment of 6%, while disabled graduates from other ethnic backgrounds report lower total employment at 67% and higher unemployment at 13%.
- Variations can also be seen by gender identity. Disabled graduates whose gender identity was not the same as at birth report lower levels of full-time employment at 39%, alongside higher part-time employment at 20% and unemployment at 10%.
Taken together, these findings suggest that transitions into work are shaped by a combination of factors, and that experiences of disadvantage may overlap.
Understanding how graduates feel about their work
This year's analysis also takes a more detailed look at graduate voice” measures, which reflect how graduates feel about their current activity. These include whether their activity 15 months after leaving their course feels meaningful, makes use of what they learned, and fits with their future plans.
Across all three measures, disabled graduates are slightly less likely than graduates with no known disability to report positive responses. There are also differences within the disabled graduate population. Autistic graduates tend to report lower levels of agreement across the graduate voice questions, and disabled graduates whose gender identity differs from that assigned at birth also report less positive responses overall.
These perspectives add another dimension to the data, offering insight into how graduates experience their transitions into work, as well as what they are doing.
Employment quality and alignment
Alongside employment status, the report also looks at aspects of employment quality. Disabled graduates are slightly less likely to be in highly skilled roles, with 74% reporting highly skilled employment compared with 78% of graduates with no known disability.
When asked about their reasons for taking their job, 41% of disabled graduates say it fits their career plan or is exactly the type of work they wanted, compared with 45% of graduates with no known disability. Graduates with no known disability are also a little more likely to report being on permanent or open-ended contracts. These differences are generally small, but consistent.
Supporting the transition into work
The findings in this year's What Happens Next? report suggest that attention may usefully focus on the transition from higher education into employment, and how that transition is experienced by different groups of graduates.
Four areas for action emerge from the report:
- Target support where gaps are widest - focusing additional transition and employability support on groups with lower employment rates may help to address some of the differences observed in the data.
- Take an intersectional approach - considering how disability interacts with ethnicity, gender and other characteristics can help shape more tailored and inclusive support.
- Strengthen data and evaluation - improving the consistency of disability data and support records may help institutions better understand outcomes and assess which approaches are most effective.
- Embed graduate voice - using graduate feedback alongside outcomes data can offer further insight into how support is experienced and where it may be adapted.
The latest data shows that while the employment gap remains relatively small at a headline level, differences between groups point to a more complex set of patterns in how graduates move from study into work. Understanding these patterns in more detail may help shape more responsive approaches to supporting disabled students and graduates as they navigate that transition.
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