Supporting postgraduate careers through self-guided tools

Discover how a self-guided careers tool is helping postgraduate researchers plan their futures with tailored and embedded support

This report, funded by the Jisc careers research grant, explores the effectiveness of a new and innovative postgraduate careers tool in a cohort of postgraduate researchers at the University of Huddersfield.

Key findings

• Survey results showed that confidence in finding and accessing careers guidance varied by the year postgraduates started their studies, with significant differences between postgraduates who had started their studies in the COVID-19 lockdowns of 2021, and those who had started in the recent 2024 intake. 
• Slight differences in ability and confidence in accessing career development materials existed between schools and across age groups, identifying that experiencing siloed support may affect how postgraduates' access and engage with career development materials. 
• PGRs who used the PG Career Pathways tool as part of their formal progression showed slight improvements in cognitive and supervisory support scores. 
• Time pressures, caring responsibilities, and a lack of clarity about available services were key barriers to accessing careers support. 
• PGRs valued tailored, relevant resources and expressed willingness to engage with tools that recognised their individual needs and career aspirations. 
• While supervisors are seen as supportive, some postgraduates believed supervisors may not be able to support them in their career aspirations outside of academia. 
• Factors contributing to successful outcomes for PGR students are discussed in the developed PGR Success Pyramid model and include communication, engagement, community, accessibility, flexibility, specialisation and feedback.  
• The Engaged Ecosystem Model developed through this project highlights the value of collaboration between stakeholders including careers services, supervisors, subject experts, professional services, academics and PGRs in delivering effective, scalable support. 
• The PG Career Pathways tool offers a low-resource, scalable model for embedding employability into the PGR lifecycle, with potential for lifecycle data tracking and improved employability metrics with the ability for flexible adaptation to suit institutional policies and unique postgraduate cohorts. 

About the report

This collaborative research project, conducted at the University of Huddersfield, took place over 2024/2025 and examines the effectiveness of an innovative career development tool aimed at postgraduate researchers, PG Career Pathways.

In addition, the project explores the requirements and experiences of postgraduates in relation to their future careers thinking and development opportunities.

This research was funded by the Jisc careers research grant. If you're a careers professional planning to undertake research, you may be eligible for funding of up to £5,000.