Report about Australian Job Market For IT graduates

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Writing

Description

Length: 3,000 (not include executive summary and references)

Use at least 15 references in APA 6th style.

Combine with the information from the article in the pdf file which is included below to work out this asm.


The Report Should follow this format (or you can see the sample report):

1. Executive Summary

2. Introduction

2.1 Background

2.2 Aims

2.3 Organization

3. Examine the job market

4. Examine a paid occupation

5. Examine an unpaid occupation

6. Examine recruitment

7. Conclusion

REFERENCES


Task

This assignment is designed to further students understanding of the job market, volunteering and the current and future trends in recruitment and the tools available to find employment.

Part 1: Examine the job market (Australian job market)

This section examines the current job market


Step 1: Identify at least ten predicted career trends for the next five years (100 words for each career -> 500 words for this step)
Step 2: In general which careers are increasing? Decreasing? (100 words)
Step 3: Discuss the expected trends in this area and comment on what is driving those trends. (100 words)


Part 2: Examine a paid occupation (Australian job market)

Using your chosen career (Information Technology) and additional research answer these questions:

• Give a brief description of the types of jobs you could do within this career. (Give the references)
• What kind of activities and tasks are you likely to undertake?
• What training/education is required to apply for a career in this industry?
• What is the likely income for a graduate? How is this income likely rise with experience?
• How could the skills from this job lead you to other jobs or other careers? Please specify which jobs or careers you think these skills would be useful in.
• In your opinion, what does this industry bring to society? Support this view with evidence (references from articles).

• In your opinion, what does this industry bring to the economy? Support this view with evidence (references from articles)..

Part 3 – Examine an unpaid occupation (Australian job market)

This section examines volunteering work that might interest you in the current job market


Step 1: Choose a volunteer organisation and answer these questions:

• Give a brief description of the volunteer organisation and the job you would expect to do.
• What kind of activities and tasks are you likely to undertake in this job?
• Explain what in particular attracted you to this area of volunteering? (give the references)
• What training/education is required to volunteer in this occupation? (give the references)
• Is there potential to have a paid position in this area? Describe what that paid job might be. (give the references)
• How could the skills from this volunteering job lead you to other paid jobs or other paid careers? Please specify which jobs or careers you think these skills would be useful in. (give the references)

• In your opinion, what does your chosen volunteer organisation bring to society? Support this view with evidence (references).
• In your opinion, what does your chosen volunteer organisation bring to the economy? Support this view with evidence (references).

Part 4: Examine recruitment (Australian job market)

This section examines the current recruitment market.

Step 1: Identify the major recruitment competitors such as SEEK.COM, Adecco etc. Your answer must identify and profile AT LEAST ten competitors and cannot use LinkedIn
Step 2: Discuss the predicted trends for companies seeking to recruit new employees over the next five years
Step 3: Offer a strategy for gaining employment in the career identified in Part 2. You must include:


• Which companies would you target for employment? How would you chose these companies and what research should you do on the company before applying for a job?
• Give at least six ways you could seek employment with your chosen companies.
• What would be the best of these recruitment options for you and why?


Unformatted Attachment Preview

GRADUATE SALARIES 2014 A report on the earnings of new Australian graduates in their first full-time employment Graduate Salaries 2014 a report on the earnings of new australian graduates in their first full-time employment www.graduatecareers.com.au/research l acknowledgements Edwina Lindsay (Research Associate, Graduate Careers Australia) was the principal author of this report. Dr Noel Edge (Executive Director, Graduate Careers Australia) is the project director of the Australian Graduate Survey. The author and project director wish to sincerely thank the graduates who took part in the research and to acknowledge the role of the participating higher education institutions and, in particular, the institutional Survey Managers who provided valuable support to the project. This project has been supported by the Australian Government Department of Education and Training. The views expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect the views of that Department. Graduate Careers Australia cannot accept responsibility for any inferences or conclusions derived from these data by third parties. © 2015 Graduate Careers Australia Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be copied or reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or otherwise without the prior written permission of the publishers. Published by: Graduate Careers Australia Ltd. (trading as Graduate Careers Australia) P.O. Box 13222 Law Courts, Melbourne, VIC, 8010 Level 9, 552 Lonsdale St, Melbourne, VIC, 3000 t: 03 9605 3700 f: 03 9670 5752 e: research@graduatecareers.edu.au www.graduatecareers.com.au ISSN 1030-7311 ii | graduate salaries 2014 www.graduatecareers.com.au/research contents Introduction iv 1.0 Graduate starting salaries 1 2.0 Salaries for males and females 5 3.0 Graduate Starting Salaries and Average Weekly Earnings GSS and Average Weekly Earnings by sex 9 10 4.0 Impact of age and employment experience on graduate starting salaries Employment experience and salaries of older graduates Age and starting salaries 12 12 14 5.0 Salaries by location 15 6.0 Salary rankings 19 7.0 Salary growth 22 8.0 Salaries paid to postgraduates 24 References 27 tables & figures Table 1: Median starting salaries of bachelor degree graduates in first full-time employment and aged less than 25, by field of education and sector of employment, 2014 ($, ‘000, n) Table 2: Median starting salaries for female graduates as a percentage of median starting salaries for male graduates based on bachelor degree graduates aged less than 25 and in first full-time employment, by field of education, 1977–2014 2 5 Table 3: Percentage of males and females by field of education, for bachelor degree graduates aged less than 25 and in first full-time 7 employment, by median starting salary rankings, 2014 Table 4: Annual rate of male average weekly earnings (MAWE) and median starting salaries for all bachelor degree graduates aged less than 25 and in first full-time employment (GSS), 10 1977–2014 ($, ‘000) Table 5: Summary of median salaries for bachelor degree graduates aged less than 25, and 25 and over, in first full-time employment and with previous full-time employment experience, 12 2005–2014 ($, ‘000) Table 6: Median starting salaries for bachelor degree graduates aged less than 25 and in first full-time employment by State or Territory of employment, and comparison of all graduates to the average weekly earnings (AWE) for that State or Territory, 2014 ($, ‘000) 16 Table 7: Median starting salaries of bachelor degree graduates in first full-time employment and aged less than 25, by capital city / regional area, 2001–2014 ($, ‘000) 18 Table 8: Fields of education ranked according to median starting salary for bachelor degree graduates aged less than 25 in first full-time employment, 2014 19 Table 9: Fields of education ranked according to calculated hourly rate for bachelor degree graduates aged less than 25 and in first full-time employment, 2014 21 Table 10: Growth in male average weekly earnings (MAWE) relative to 1977 MAWE, growth in median starting salaries for bachelor degree graduates aged less than 25 and in first full-time 22 employment (GSS) relative to 1977 GSS, 1977–2014 (%) Table 11: Median salaries for postgraduates in full-time employment by level of award and field of education, 2014 ($, ‘000) 25 Figure 1: Median starting salary for bachelor degree graduates aged less than 25 and in first full-time employment (GSS) as a percentage of average weekly earnings (AWE) by sex, 2005–2014 11 2014 Supplementary tables A–S, figures A–F and Graduate Salaries 2014 Explanatory Notes: Available online www.graduatecareers.com.au/Research/ResearchReports/ GraduateSalaries. graduate salaries 2014 | iii www.graduatecareers.com.au/research introduction It should also be noted that first-year starting salaries are not necessarily indicative of graduates’ earning potential in later years of their careers… Welcome to Graduate Salaries 2014, the 29th edition of the annual report of the salaries of recent Australian higher education graduates. This report presents baseline information regarding the median starting salaries of bachelor degree graduates aged less than 25 and in their first full-time employment in Australia, along with comparative salary figures from other cohorts. The Graduate Destination Survey (GDS), conducted annually by Graduate Careers Australia (GCA) as a part of the Australian Graduate Survey (AGS), is a study of the activities of new higher education graduates. In the 2014 GDS, new graduates who completed the requirements for their qualifications in the calendar year 2013 were surveyed (about four months after course completion) regarding their major activities, including participation in further study, full- or part-time employment, whether they were seeking employment, or were unavailable for work or study. This report contains an overview of the most relevant of information available on salaries for new graduates. Further information can be found in more detailed tables and figures available for download in Microsoft Excel format from the Graduate Careers Australia website at www.graduatecareers.com.au/ Research/ResearchReports/GraduateSalaries or by contacting GCA directly. iv | graduate salaries 2014 A number of tables and figures are discussed but not presented in this report. These supplementary tables and figures have been labelled accordingly within this report, and contain hyperlinks to the corresponding web page containing this extra information. When interpreting the figures contained within this report it is important to keep in mind that graduate salaries may potentially be influenced by domestic labour market forces as well as national and global economic trends, and are therefore not necessarily reflective of the quality of graduates in terms of their academic results or employability skills. It should also be noted that first-year starting salaries are not necessarily indicative of graduates’ earning potential in later years of their careers, as longer-term salary growth in different sectors of employment may be influenced by labour market and other economic factors, career choices or opportunities, geographical factors and, for graduates in certain fields, professional accreditation or registration requirements. A longer-term investigation of graduate salary growth is presented in Beyond Graduation 2014, a detailed investigation conducted by GCA, into the activities and outcomes of graduates from Australian higher education institutions approximately three and five years after the completion of their studies (GCA 2015a). www.graduatecareers.com.au/research This report does not attempt to provide a cost-benefit analysis of obtaining a higher education qualification1. A purely financial assessment of undertaking higher education would need to account for a wide range of costs, such as course fees, textbooks, living expenses, transport and childcare, as well as the opportunity costs resulting from the income forgone whilst studying. Moreover, such an analysis would fail to account for the personal growth and fulfilment stemming from a higher education that may be, to some individuals, a more powerful motivator to study than any potential for financial benefit or labour market advantage. Throughout this report, we refer often to “Explanatory Notes”. These notes both act as a guide to some of the discussion contained within this report and as a glossary to some of the terms and concepts, including the use of Male Average Weekly Earnings (MAWE), interpretation of the statistical significance tests, fields of education and the methodology of the Australian Graduate Survey (AGS). These “Explanatory Notes” can be found at: www.graduatecareers.com.au/Research/ ResearchReports/GraduateSalaries. References to Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) publications are included throughout this report to provide comparative population benchmarks of salary growth; they should not be interpreted as prescriptive explanations of graduate salary levels. As in previous editions of this report, MAWE is used as the primary long-term benchmark of salary levels in the wider Australian population. (Average weekly earnings figures for females have only been collected by the ABS since 1981.) When appropriate, annualised average weekly earnings figures for males, females and all persons are included separately to permit more detailed comparisons between graduate salaries and earnings in the wider Australian population. While the AGS is conducted as a census, whereby every graduate from an Australian higher education institution is approached for the purposes of data collection, the extent of non-response to the survey2 means that it is reasonable, and indeed prudent, to use statistical methods to analyse the resulting sample of responses. Statistical significance tests are included in tables which examine whether key salary indicators, such as median salaries, working hours and hourly pay rates differ significantly between groups of interest. 1 Recent studies have estimated that the average private rate of return of a university education in Australia is anywhere from 9.4 per cent (Chapman & Salvage 1997) to 14.5 per cent (Borland 2002), although this can vary considerably based on both the level and field of education of the qualification obtained. 2 Overall, 40.7 per cent of the Australian resident graduates surveyed did not respond to the Graduate Destination Survey (GDS) component of the 2014 AGS (GCA 2015b). graduate salaries 2014 | v www.graduatecareers.com.au/research 1.0 graduate starting salaries In 2014, the median starting salary for bachelor degree graduates … was $52,500 … In 2014, the median starting salary for bachelor degree graduates aged less than 25 and in their first full-time employment was $52,500 (essentially unchanged from $52,450 in 2013, and $52,000 in 2012). The median starting salary for male and female graduates was $55,000 and $52,000 respectively (males remained unchanged from their 2013 figure whereas females increased by $900 – see Table 1). Dentistry remained the highest-paid field of education at $75,000, followed by: • optometry ($70,000) • engineering ($62,000) • earth sciences ($60,000) • mathematics ($60,000), and • medicine ($60,000). The largest growth in median starting salary between 2013 and 2014 was observed in the fields of: • mathematics ($5,000), and • social work ($5,000). Comparatively, dentistry exhibited the largest decline in median starting salary between 2013 and 2014, decreasing by $5,000. However, given the small number of cases observed within this field, this difference should be interpreted with caution. When examining differences in median graduate starting salary (GSS) by sex, statistically significant differences3 were observed in nine of the 23 fields of education under examination, seven of which showed a male pay advantage (although in the case of medicine and education graduates this pay advantage was negligible at $300 and $700, respectively). Social sciences graduates exhibited the largest (statistically significant) male pay advantage, with male social science graduates earning a median starting salary $8,000 greater than their female counterparts. This was followed by: • architecture and building graduates ($5,500) • economics, business graduates ($4,000), and • paramedical studies ($2,000). The two statistically significant differences which showed a female pay advantage were observed in the fields of: • engineering ($5,000), and • social work ($3,500). 3 A statistically significant result is unlikely to have occurred by chance. As such, a statistically significant difference observed in the AGS sample can be reliably inferred to exist in the overall graduate population. For more information, please see explanatory notes at http://www.graduatecareers.com.au/Research/ResearchReports/GraduateSalaries 1 | graduate salaries 2014 www.graduatecareers.com.au/research Table 1: Median starting salaries of bachelor degree graduates in first full-time employment and aged less than 25, by field of education and sector of employment, 2014 ($, ‘000, n)¤† Males Females † † 50.0 50.0 50.0 † † † 730 381 349 † † † 55.0 † 50.0 † † † 51.0 54.5 48.0 † † † 13 † 75 † † † † † † 60.0 41.5 50.0 † † Architecture & Building † † † † 23 95 209 † † † Art & Design † † † † † 40.0 50.0 † 50.0 † † † † † 211 28 † 36 Biological Sciences † 53.0 57.0 55.0 48.5 45.0 53.0 53.0 53.0 † Computer Science 13 21 45 36 240 38 23 61 408 136 272 58.0 † † 58.0 56.0 53.0 † 59.0 56.0 55.0 55.0 53.5 Dentistry Earth Sciences Economics, Business Education Engineering * ** ** ** § TOTAL † 275 Significance 50.0 414 Total Education 50.0 26 Tertiary Education Industry/ Commerce 55.5 † Schools Professional Practice † † ‡ Total Government Agricultural Science Public Health † 10 State Government 58.0 Australian Government Accounting 95 38 57 48.8 50.0 44.5 334 208 126 40.0 40.0 40.0 279 82 197 48.0 48.5 48.0 19 † † 29 19 292 † 11 18 370 309 61 † † 75.0 75.0 75.0 † † † † 75.0 75.0 75.0 † † 49 51 35 † † † † 91 31 60 † † † † † 60.0 † † † 60.0 60.0 61.0 † † † † † 56 † † † 60.5 53.0 † 57.0 50.0 48.0 45.0 54.8 48.0 42 34 † 118 240 1,394 30 27 57 † 59.8 † 59.8 † 45.0 59.0 † 59.0 † 15 † 23 † 46 939 † 943 65.0 61.5 † 63.0 59.3 63.0 † † 58.0 76 250 692 † † 10 55.0 50.0 42.0 55.0 55.0 55.0 ** ** ** 71 52 19 50.0 50.0 46.0 1,923 849 1,074 59.0 59.7 59.0 1,062 179 883 62.0 60.0 65.0 38 16 † Humanities 55.0 58.0 † 47 16 † 111 104 536 59 26 85 929 248 681 Law 60.0 53.0 † 57.0 50.5 52.8 † † † 53.0 52.5 54.0 16 15 † 51 161 63 † † † 291 109 182 † † † † † 58.7 61.0 † 61.0 60.0 60.0 60.0 † † † † † 41 13 † 15 † † 61.0 61.0 54.0 44.0 † † † † † 431 435 10 12 † † † † † † 70.0 † † † † † † 17 † † 60.7 55.0 55.0 55.0 55.0 50.0 12 11 1,010 1,042 255 † † 44.3 44.3 † † † 58 58 † † † † † † † † † † † 52 † † † † † † 54.5 46.5 44.0 58.0 56.5 57.5 † † † 24 16 118 24 18 42 † † † 56.8 50.5 42.0 55.5 † 55.0 † † † 33 10 37 12 † 15 † † 58.4 59.0 † 45.0 † † † † † 12 29 † 13 † † † † † † † 46.3 † † † † † † † 64 † † † 60.0 55.0 57.0 57.0 52.0 50.0 59.0 55.0 58.0 223 169 1,607 2,219 1,747 4,957 1,215 152 1,367 Mathematics Medicine Optometry Paramedical Studies Pharmacy Physical Sciences Psychology Social Sciences Social Work Veterinary Science TOTAL ** 1,048 834 214 46.0 48.3 45.0 70 47 23 60.0 60.3 60.0 † 474 202 272 † † 70.0 † 70.0 † † 29 † 20 55.5 58.4 56.0 55.0 56.0 54.0 390 32 12 44 1,857 323 1,534 39.0 † † † 40.0 40.0 40.0 190 † † † 251 82 169 50.5 † † † 55.0 55.0 57.0 ** ** ** 76 52 24 ** 49.9 48.0 50.0 255 34 221 * 49.0 56.0 48.0 108 27 81 55.0 52.0 55.5 112 11 101 † 46.3 † 45.0 † 70 † 61 52.5 55.0 52.0 10,933 4,252 6,681 ** Significance Sex Sector of employment ** ** * ** * ** * * * See ‘Appendix A’: Explanatory notes (Sections 1, 2, 5 and 7). † Blank cells contain no, or fewer than 10 respondents. ‡ ‘Total Gov’t includes local government, which is not listed separately. § TOTAL includes the category ‘other employers not elsewhere indicated’ (including non-profit employers), which is not listed separately. * = difference statistically significant at 5 per cent level; ** = difference statistically significant at 1 per cent level ¤ graduate salaries 2014 | 2 www.graduatecareers.com.au/research When examining differences in median GSS by sector of employment, statistically significant differences were observed in 14 of the 23 fields of education under examination. Within these fields there was evidence of some very wide salary ranges, with 10 of these fields exhibiting median salary ranges of at least $10,000 between the lowest and highest ranked sector of employment. The widest median salary range was observed for medicine graduates ($17,000), with medicine graduates employed in the public health sector earning the highest median starting salary ($61,000) and medicine graduates employed in the industry and commerce sector earning the lowest ($44,000). This large salary range must be interpreted with caution however as there were only three sectors with a valid number of cases in this field. This was followed by humanities graduates with a variance of $16,000 (a median salary of $58,000 in state government compared with a median salary of $42,000 in industry and commerce). Considerable differences were also observed when examining median GSS for graduates in particular sectors of employment within different fields of education (although this is hardly surprising considering that, in many cases, different fields of education lead to substantially different occupational pathways). In the Australian government sector, engineering graduates earned the highest median starting salary at $65,000, and humanities graduates earned the lowest median starting salary ($55,000). Again, engineering graduates earned the highest median starting salary in the state government sector ($61,500), followed by education at $59,800, while law, economics/ business, and biological sciences graduates earned the lowest median starting salary (all at $53,000). The figures for law and biological sciences should however be treated with some caution as they are based on small samples (n = 15 and n=13 respectively). In the Australian government sector, engineering graduates earned the highest median starting salary at $65,000, and humanities graduates earned the lowest median starting salary ($55,000). 3 | graduate salaries 2014 www.graduatecareers.com.au/research Dentistry graduates had, by a sizeable margin, the highest median starting salary in the public health sector ($75,000), whereas pharmacy graduates earned the lowest median starting salary in this sector ($44,300). Dentistry graduates also earned the highest median starting salary in the professional practice sector ($75,000), while architecture and building graduates earned the lowest median starting salary in this sector ($41,500). In the industry and commerce sector, engineering graduates earned the highest median starting salary at $63,000. Art and design graduates earned the lowest median starting salary ($40,000), which was the lowest median starting salary for any field of education within any sector of employment. In the tertiary education sector, computer science graduates earned the highest median starting salary ($59,000), (although this figure was based on 11 cases), while biological sciences graduates earned the lowest median starting salary ($53,000) in this sector. Looking at the sectors themselves, overall, graduates employed in the Australian government sector again earned the highest median starting salary ($60,000) in 2014, followed by the schools ($59,000), and public health ($57,000) sectors. The schools and Australian government sectors have been the highest paid sectors since 2008. The schools and Australian government sectors have been the highest paid sectors since 2008. As was the case in recent years, graduates employed in the industry and commerce sector earned the lowest median starting salary ($50,000). Mathematics graduates had the highest median starting salaries in the schools sector ($61,000) while economics, business graduates earned the lowest median starting salary ($45,000). The mathematics figure was based on a small number of responses (n= 13) and should be treated with caution. graduate salaries 2014 | 4 www.graduatecareers.com.au/research 2.0 salaries for males and females The median starting salary for female graduates ($52,000) was equivalent to 94.5 per cent of the median starting salary earned by their male counterparts ($55,000) in 2014. This figure is 0.6 percentage points higher than the corresponding figure in 2013 (93.9 per cent) but 3.0 percentage points lower than the series high point of 97.5 per cent in 2005. The current figure is also less than the average of the last 10 years (94.7 per cent) albeit by a very small margin. Median starting salaries for female graduates aged less than 25 and in their first full-time employment as a percentage of the corresponding median starting salary for male graduates are presented in Table 2. Some caution should be exercised when examining fields of education which typically contain a small number of responses (e.g. optometry). The median starting salary for female graduates… was equivalent to 94.5 per cent of the median starting salary earned by their male counterparts… Table 2: Median starting salaries for female graduates as a percentage of median starting salaries for male graduates based on bachelor degree graduates aged less than 25 and in first full-time employment, by field of education, 1977–2014¤‡† Accounting Agricultural Science 1977 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 97.7 96.0 99.1 98.3 99.3 98.0 98.7 98.2 98.4 99.5 94.0 100.0 100.0 99.6 98.0 96.0 98.8 100.0 96.0 87.5 95.2 92.6 93.5 93.8 94.8 100.0 92.3 97.6 103.2 98.7 97.6 96.0 100.0 100.8 100.0 94.8 103.4 100.0 95.8 86.7 97.1 92.8 89.0 96.6 96.6 89.7 100.5 89.5 90.4 85.1 100.0 97.8 100.0 92.0 † † † † † † † † † † † † 90.0 99.0 93.2 95.7 91.7 95.8 Biological Sciences 100.0 101.0 98.2 94.5 91.7 99.3 93.9 99.4 99.5 98.0 98.6 97.8 97.9 96.8 97.7 100.4 96.5 98.9 Computer Science 101.0 99.1 100.0 99.3 98.1 97.1 100.0 101.0 99.5 97.4 97.6 98.5 99.3 99.3 100.0 93.6 100.0 96.7 Architecture & Building Art & Design Dentistry 94.2 90.3 86.3 80.7 91.7 83.3 82.2 87.7 90.3 95.0 93.9 88.6 83.4 92.8 95.0 105.2 96.9 86.8 † 93.8 102.5 92.4 95.0 104.6 105.2 101.6 96.7 95.7 96.6 108.0 96.8 106.3 112.4 100.0 100.0 105.6 Economics, Business 96.8 93.4 97.4 96.1 98.6 98.7 100.6 99.4 100.0 100.0 98.2 97.9 98.8 99.6 98.0 98.4 98.4 96.3 Education 95.1 99.1 101.7 93.7 94.2 96.0 100.0 97.9 101.0 99.5 99.1 100.0 97.6 95.9 93.3 92.6 94.5 96.4 Engineering 95.1 108.6 98.4 103.4 98.8 97.2 99.5 100.0 100.0 98.2 100.0 98.8 97.1 100.7 100.3 101.7 98.7 100.0 Humanities Earth Sciences 100.0 96.0 93.8 98.3 91.5 92.7 99.4 98.8 99.4 101.0 98.6 95.9 97.3 99.1 100.0 94.6 96.0 94.2 Law 98.2 100.0 100.0 102.4 102.0 94.4 99.1 116.5 107.6 110.1 97.7 95.8 94.1 92.5 95.7 97.9 91.7 96.0 Mathematics 97.9 100.0 98.3 97.8 98.1 98.7 97.1 97.3 95.1 99.1 95.9 100.0 96.9 94.4 97.8 93.8 92.5 92.9 Medicine 90.7 96.0 97.4 97.1 98.5 97.7 92.9 95.7 98.0 98.4 98.6 96.4 95.4 85.7 92.1 100.0 95.0 100.0 Optometry † † † † † † † † † † 97.0 96.6 106.7 101.7 88.2 91.4 91.4 96.3 Paramedical Studies † † † † † † † † † † 97.5 92.0 96.3 96.9 96.2 92.6 99.2 96.3 Pharmacy 91.9 101.2 104.8 99.0 100.0 97.5 95.4 100.7 98.6 101.3 100.6 93.8 109.3 94.4 100.0 105.8 95.5 100.0 Physical Sciences 98.9 101.8 99.2 98.5 96.0 100.6 101.8 98.4 93.1 94.8 97.4 99.6 100.0 94.8 94.5 98.2 102.6 96.4 Psychology Social Sciences Social Work Veterinary Science Total 96.9 98.0 96.4 97.6 98.6 96.7 96.3 95.1 100.0 97.1 95.6 96.1 98.3 99.2 94.6 100.8 104.2 96.3 100.0 103.2 101.9 95.2 93.6 93.9 101.3 98.8 99.5 103.1 94.6 97.3 91.7 90.6 100.0 95.5 100.0 89.3 96.2 99.1 103.3 100.7 104.2 103.0 100.0 97.0 99.0 99.1 95.3 98.3 † † † † 93.9 96.4 † 98.2 94.3 96.2 100.0 100.7 98.1 94.3 99.5 98.6 99.1 92.4 96.2 98.9 100.7 96.4 100.0 100.0 95.9 95.5 94.2 92.6 93.5 95.1 93.2 95.7 93.1 95.8 93.3 91.6 93.4 94.3 92.6 92.6 94.8 93.6 See ‘Appendix A’: Explanatory notes (Sections 2, 9, 10 and 12). ‡ Data from 1978 are incompatible with those from other years and have been excluded from the series. † Insufficient males or females in sample to allow comparison. ¤ 5 | graduate salaries 2014 www.graduatecareers.com.au/research Architecture and building was the field of education with the lowest median female GSS relative to median male GSS, on average for the last 10 years (87.3 per cent), followed by economics and business (92.5 per cent) and art and design (94.8 per cent – see Table 2). While median starting salaries for female graduates have experienced notable fluctuations relative to median starting salaries for male graduates over the years, pharmacy reported the highest female median graduate starting salary (GSS) relative to the median male GSS in the last 10 years (101.4 per cent) followed by engineering (101.2 per cent), social work (100.8 per cent) and earth sciences (100.1 per cent). 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 98.5 96.4 98.9 97.4 102.2 98.6 100.0 99.0 102.4 97.2 100.0 100.0 91.9 96.2 93.6 96.4 89.7 100.0 100.0 96.2 92.6 94.2 93.3 98.6 100.0 96.6 100.0 99.7 99.7 97.0 100.0 100.0 92.0 90.7 97.7 101.7 96.4 95.9 2002 2003 2004 94.3 97.1 100.0 100.3 88.2 100.0 103.3 100.0 87.5 104.2 100.0 112.1 93.3 97.4 …pharmacy reported the highest female median graduate starting salary (GSS) relative to the median male GSS… 2011 2012 2013 2014 10 year Avg 100.0 95.8 96.0 98.0 100.0 98.1 102.3 102.2 99.0 98.0 88.1 98.9 85.6 88.9 86.0 82.7 87.0 89.0 87.3 87.5 97.4 95.2 94.1 95.2 100.0 94.8 96.4 98.9 101.1 98.3 101.0 96.0 99.0 99.3 95.7 100.5 100.0 97.1 105.8 104.8 97.3 99.9 100.7 92.0 100.0 104.9 93.8 84.3 97.0 100.0 96.9 95.3 91.3 122.4 96.4 91.1 85.7 109.5 108.8 101.7 100.1 95.0 95.2 91.1 93.9 90.0 90.0 94.0 94.0 92.0 92.5 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 100.0 97.2 94.3 103.3 96.1 97.6 100.0 100.0 99.0 102.5 97.7 96.6 97.1 91.7 85.0 91.5 88.4 88.9 96.7 88.5 96.7 96.9 99.1 94.4 87.8 95.0 98.9 100.0 95.5 97.2 97.3 100.0 102.6 100.0 97.4 100.0 97.5 95.2 104.7 90.0 89.7 86.5 106.2 95.4 100.7 105.8 93.8 92.1 97.0 100.0 105.0 98.5 94.1 94.3 97.5 94.6 90.0 95.3 98.4 97.2 99.1 100.0 97.6 98.9 98.8 97.6 100.0 96.6 100.0 97.9 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 98.3 98.8 99.2 101.5 99.1 100.0 102.9 102.7 101.3 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 101.9 96.6 101.8 100.0 101.6 102.4 108.3 101.2 96.2 98.1 100.4 93.3 100.0 97.0 97.0 94.3 91.9 97.2 96.1 94.7 95.2 96.5 93.3 97.7 100.0 90.0 93.2 95.4 95.2 100.0 100.0 96.8 97.0 92.1 100.0 97.4 92.7 97.6 96.2 97.8 97.9 91.7 94.8 96.2 92.2 99.1 102.9 96.6 90.3 93.4 93.8 93.0 93.0 94.7 96.2 100.8 100.0 92.1 97.6 100.3 97.0 93.5 100.0 100.0 96.4 95.8 100.0 97.3 100.0 100.0 95.2 93.3 100.0 90.0 100.0 90.0 96.0 97.6 89.1 94.3 94.3 91.8 99.1 96.7 100.0 100.0 99.5 96.2 100.0 98.7 99.2 92.9 91.7 109.8 91.3 99.0 89.4 89.7 109.6 † 88.2 108.3 100.0 97.2 91.5 87.5 95.9 96.4 94.4 96.6 99.0 93.8 95.2 94.3 97.2 94.7 95.0 100.0 97.6 95.6 95.7 97.9 99.0 96.2 98.1 98.2 96.4 97.5 102.4 102.3 92.1 103.3 83.3 100.0 104.0 100.7 98.0 99.7 104.9 96.5 97.7 100.0 102.9 101.1 110.3 100.9 100.0 101.4 96.7 96.7 99.3 94.1 93.3 98.0 94.1 96.7 102.7 90.0 101.3 93.2 98.1 99.0 105.0 106.0 101.8 98.2 103.6 99.6 101.9 108.9 96.6 97.9 93.6 101.5 94.3 97.5 95.6 95.0 95.2 97.0 95.8 100.0 105.5 94.0 99.0 100.0 104.2 98.6 93.3 103.2 91.7 95.9 90.9 95.8 91.5 97.1 100.0 98.3 89.5 90.5 96.5 91.1 99.3 104.8 104.4 89.1 85.7 94.9 96.6 99.7 97.5 96.3 † † 94.6 102.2 99.7 100.0 102.4 97.8 105.6 100.0 † 102.0 98.2 94.3 106.7 100.8 100.0 100.0 103.2 97.9 95.6 94.3 98.9 100.0 99.2 93.6 97.4 100.0 96.9 94.7 † 104.7 97.8 98.3 90.0 97.0 91.7 95.0 96.8 92.3 92.8 94.4 94.6 95.5 97.4 97.5 95.2 93.3 95.7 94.0 96.0 96.2 90.9 93.9 94.5 94.7 graduate salaries 2014 | 6 www.graduatecareers.com.au/research Differences in median GSS for males and females appear to be related, at least in part, to differing gender enrolment profiles. Male graduates tend to be overrepresented in the fields of education with higher median starting salaries, while female graduates tend to be overrepresented in the fields of education with lower median starting salaries – see Table 3. Table 3: Percentage of males and females by field of education, for bachelor degree graduates aged less than 25 and in first full-time employment, by median starting salary rankings, 2014¤† Salary rank in 2014 Males as % of total males Females as % of total females Field of education as % of total Females as % for field of education (1) higher ranked fields Male graduates within the top five fields of education by median starting salary constitute a relatively large proportion of all male graduates (22.9 per cent), compared with only 5.0 per cent of all female graduates. Most of this difference appears to be due to a considerable overrepresentation of male graduates in the field of engineering (19.6 per cent of all male graduates compared with only 3.2 per cent of all female graduates). Dentistry 1 0.7 0.9 0.8 65.9 Optometry 2 0.2 0.3 0.3 69.0 Engineering 3 19.6 3.2 9.6 20.4 Earth Sciences 4 1.2 0.3 0.6 26.8 Mathematics 4 32.9 Sub-total (1)† 1.1 0.3 0.6 22.9 5.0 12.0 Medicine 4 4.8 4.1 4.3 57.4 Education 7 4.2 13.2 9.7 83.1 Computer Science 8 7.3 0.9 3.4 16.5 Paramedical Studies 8 7.6 23.0 17.0 82.6 Physical Sciences 8 1.2 0.4 0.7 31.6 Social Work 8 90.2 0.3 1.5 1.0 Sub-total (2)† 25.3 43.0 36.1 Higher ranked fields sub-total 48.2 48.1 48.1 (2) lower ranked fields Law 12 2.6 2.7 2.7 62.5 Agricultural Science 13 0.9 0.9 0.9 60.0 Accounting 14 9.0 5.2 6.7 47.8 Economics, Business 14 20.0 16.1 17.6 55.9 Psychology 16 0.8 3.3 2.3 86.7 Social Sciences 17 0.6 1.2 1.0 75.0 Architecture & Building 18 37.7 Sub-total (3)† 3.1 34.2 Biological Sciences 19 3.2 4.1 3.7 66.7 20 0.2 0.9 0.6 87.1 Humanities 21 5.8 10.2 8.5 73.3 Art & Design 22 1.9 2.9 2.6 70.6 Pharmacy 22 67.3 1.9 2.5 2.3 Sub-total (4)† 13.1 20.7 17.7 Lower ranked fields sub-total 51.8 51.9 51.9 100 100 100 TOTAL 7 | graduate salaries 2014 1.9 31.3 Veterinary Science See ‘Appendix A’: Explanatory notes (Sections 2 and 12). † Sub-totals may not add to 100.0 due to rounding. ¤ 4.9 38.7 www.graduatecareers.com.au/research The next six fields of education account for 25.3 per cent of all male graduates and 43.0 per cent of all female graduates, with education and paramedical studies (which includes nursing) both accounting for relatively high proportions of all female graduates (13.2 per cent and 23.0 per cent respectively). Computer science was the only one of these fields which saw a notably higher representation of males than females (7.3 per cent of all male graduates compared with 0.9 per cent of all female graduates). Overall, these higher ranked fields of education account for 48.2 per cent of all male graduates and 48.1 per cent of all female graduates. The first seven of the lower-ranked fields of education account for 38.7 per cent of all male graduates and 31.3 per cent of all female graduates. This slight gender imbalance is largely due to an overrepresentation of male graduates within the fields of accounting (9.0 per cent of all male graduates compared with 5.2 per cent of all female graduates) and economics and business (20.0 per cent of all male graduates compared with 16.1 per cent of all female graduates). The lowest ranked fields of education account for 13.1 per cent of all male graduates and 20.7 per cent of all female graduates. This gender imbalance favouring females is largely due to an overrepresentation of female graduates within the field of humanities (10.2 per cent of all female graduates compared with 5.8 per cent of all male graduates). Overall, these lower-ranked fields of education account for 51.8 per cent of all male graduates and 51.9 per cent of all female graduates. The information presented above suggests that choice of degree (or field of education) may be a contributing factor to the difference in median starting salaries for male and female graduates. This in itself may be dependent on numerous factors, including perceived gender roles in relation to career and non-career commitments. Another factor which may contribute to the difference in median starting salaries for male and female graduates is the average number of hours graduates spent working in a given week (see supplementary Table M in Graduate Salaries 2014 Tables and Figures). Of the 23 fields of education examined in this report, statistically significant differences in average working hours between males and females were observed in eight, with males working longer hours. The largest significant difference in mean hours worked was observed for agricultural science graduates, where males worked an average of 4.1 hours more per week than their female counterparts, followed by: • physical sciences (males worked an average of 3.2 hours more than females) • architecture and building, and humanities (males worked an average of 2.8 hours more than females), and • medicine (males worked an average of 2.4 hours more than females). Examining graduates’ hourly rate of pay, four fields of education reported statistically significant differences between males’ and females’ hourly rates (see supplementary Table M in Graduate Salaries 2014 Tables and Figures). The largest difference in hourly rate between males and females was observed in social sciences (males earned $3.00 per hour more than females), followed by: • social work (females earned $1.90 more per hour), and • engineering (females earned $1.50 more). An analysis undertaken by GCA in 20144 suggests that much of the earnings gap between new male and female graduates was determined largely by field of education choices often made prior to university enrolment. The analysis suggested that when the field of education, personal, enrolment and occupational characteristics of male and female graduates were taken into account, overall males’ starting salaries were 4.4 per cent higher than those for females. It highlighted the overall wage gap favouring males as being due, in part, to an over-representation of males in fields of education that typically had higher starting salaries, such as engineering. Alternatively, females outnumbered males when it came to humanities, which was ranked at the lower end of the salary distribution. The analysis suggests that the while some of the 4.4 per cent gender wage gap might potentially be explained by inequalities in some workplaces, it could also likely be explained if additional information not captured within the GDS was available. 4 See Lindsay, E., An analysis of the gender wage gap in the Australian graduate labour market, 2013, which can be downloaded from www.graduatecareers.com.au/Research/ResearchReports/ORAP graduate salaries 2014 | 8 www.graduatecareers.com.au/research 3.0 graduate starting salaries and average weekly earnings As the salaries of higher education graduates grow over time, average weekly earnings for the population will increase accordingly. The annual rate of Male Average Weekly Earnings (MAWE) is used throughout this report as a population benchmark against which to compare movements in median graduate starting salaries (GSS)5. In 2014, Australian bachelor degree graduates aged less than 25 and in their first full-time employment in Australia earned a median starting salary of $52,500. This was 74.0 per cent of MAWE reported in 2014 ($71,000 – ABS2014a – see Table 4) and the lowest figure observed since this series began6. This indicates that in 2014, GSS increased at a lower rate than MAWE. From the mid-1970s through to the mid‑1990s, median GSS declined steadily relative to MAWE. From the mid-1990s through to 2001, median GSS (relative to MAWE) experienced growth, peaking at 85.8 per cent in 2001 before declining to 79.7 per cent in 2006. From 2007, median GSS began to grow steadily, again relative to MAWE; a trend which persisted through to the 2009 figure of 83.0 per cent. In 2010, this figure declined to 79.8 per cent; declining further to 77.8 per cent in 2012, 74.6 in 2013 and 74.0 per cent in 2014. 5 See Explanatory Notes for a detailed discussion of the calculation and interpretation of MAWE figures 6 In 1977, GSS was identical to MAWE ($9,600). 9 | graduate salaries 2014 In dollar terms, the 2014 median GSS of $52,500 represents a 0.1 per cent increase relative to the 2013 median GSS of $52,450. Over the same period, MAWE grew by 0.9 per cent ($700), more than the increase in median GSS in both nominal and percentage terms. When these figures are examined over time, the average annual increase in MAWE since 1977 has been 5.8 per cent, compared with an average annual increase in median GSS of 4.9 per cent. This indicates that, over the long term, the growth in median GSS has been lower than the growth in MAWE. This being said, it is important to note that average weekly earnings (for males and females) have been positively affected over time as the proportion of higher education graduates in the workforce increases. As the salaries of higher education graduates grow over time, average weekly earnings for the population will increase accordingly. It is also important to note that MAWE only represent approximately half of the working population. As the gender composition in higher education or in the workforce varies over time, fluctuation in the time series is to be expected. www.graduatecareers.com.au/research Table 4: Annual rate of male average weekly earnings (MAWE) and median starting salaries for all bachelor degree graduates aged less than 25 and in first full-time employment (GSS), 1977–2014 ($, ‘000)¤† Annual rate of MAWE Median GSS GSS (All) as % (All) of MAWE 1977 9.6 9.6 100.0 1979 11.3 10.9 96.5 1980 12.5 11.8 94.4 1981 14.1 13.2 93.6 1982 16.5 14.9 90.3 1983 17.8 15.9 89.3 1984 19.6 17.2 87.8 1985 20.5 18.2 88.8 1986 22.1 19.8 89.6 1987 23.3 20.9 89.7 1988 24.9 23.0 92.4 1989 26.8 24.0 89.6 1990 28.7 24.9 86.8 1991 30.0 25.3 84.3 1992 31.1 25.7 82.6 1993 31.8 25.5 80.2 1994 32.5 26.0 80.0 1995 33.9 27.0 79.6 1996 34.8 28.0 80.5 1997 35.7 29.0 81.2 1998 37.2 30.0 80.6 1999 38.0 31.0 81.6 2000 39.2 33.0 84.2 2001 40.8 35.0 85.8 2002 42.9 35.5 82.7 2003 45.1 37.0 82.0 2004 46.6 38.0 81.6 2005 48.9 40.0 81.8 2006 51.2 40.8 79.7 2007 53.7 43.0 80.1 2008 55.6 45.0 80.9 2009 57.8 48.0 83.0 2010 61.4 49.0 79.8 2011 64.0 50.0 78.1 2012 66.8 52.0 77.8 2013 70.3 52.5 74.6 2014 71.0 52.5 74.0 GSS and Average Weekly Earnings by sex Examining median starting salaries for males and females as a percentage of MAWE illustrates that the 2014 figure for females (73.3 per cent of the MAWE) represents a 0.1 percentage point decrease from 2013 (73.4 per cent) and the 2014 figure for males (77.5 per cent of MAWE) represents a 0.7 percentage point decrease from 2013 (78.2 per cent) (see supplementary Table B in Graduate Salaries 2014 Tables and Figures). The median starting salary for females as a percentage of Female Average Weekly Earnings (FAWE) was equal to 113.5 per cent (see Figure 1). This ratio has witnessed a decline since 2008 suggesting that the gap between the average salary earned by the female population and the starting salaries earned by female graduates is decreasing. Examining the actual GSS against sex specific AWE over the past decade (see supplementary Figure C in Graduate Salaries 2014 Tables and Figures) reveals a consistent trend that while the median GSS for male graduates aged less than 25 and in their first full-time employment are considerably lower than the average earnings of employed males in the wider Australian population, the situation is reversed for female graduates with the median GSS for those aged less than 25 and in their first full-time employment, considerably higher than the average earnings of employed females in the wider Australian population. The median starting salary for males as a percentage of Male Average Weekly Earnings (MAWE) was equal to 77.5 per cent. See ‘Appendix A’: Explanatory notes (Sections 3 and 9). † Data from 1978 are incompatible with those from other years and have been excluded from the series. ¤ graduate salaries 2014 | 10 www.graduatecareers.com.au/research  All  Females  Males 97.6 2005 81.8 2006 82.0 2007 78.2 2014 120.6 94.8 82.3 2013 120.7 94.9 81.3 2012 116.7 90.9 115.3 89.9 113.5 77.5 0 15 30 45 60 75 124.2 96.6 81.4 2011 124.2 100.4 86.5 2010 119.0 97.7 84.6 2009 118.7 95.8 83.8 2008 120.7 95.1 90 105 GSS as % of AWE Figure 1: Median starting salary for bachelor degree graduates aged less than 25 and in first full-time employment (GSS) as a percentage of average weekly earnings (AWE) by sex, 2005–2014 11 | graduate salaries 2014 120 135 www.graduatecareers.com.au/research 4.0 impact of age and employment experience on graduate starting salaries Older graduates (i.e. aged 25 and over) can be seen to be a different, much less homogenous cohort than those graduates aged less than 25 who went directly from secondary school to higher education with little or no previous full-time employment experience. Older graduates may be returning to study in order to gain qualifications that will allow them to advance within their current employment, or they may be returning to study with the intention of changing to a different job or a different career path altogether. Additionally, graduates aged 25 years and over and in their first full-time employment are likely to have been previously engaged in part-time or casual employment. Employment experience and salaries of older graduates …graduates aged 25 years and over and in their first full-time employment are likely to have been previously engaged in part-time or casual employment. Median salaries for graduates aged 25 and over with previous full-time employment experience are typically higher than those for graduates aged less than 25 and in their first full-time employment (see Table 5). However, a direct comparison of salary levels between older graduates with previous fulltime employment experience and younger graduates in their first full-time employment is confounded by the fact that it is unclear whether age or previous full-time employment experience is responsible for higher salary levels. Table 5 subsequently includes a third group – those graduates aged 25 and over and in their first full time employment. Table 5: Summary of median salaries for bachelor degree graduates aged less than 25, and 25 and over, in first full-time employment and with previous full-time employment experience, 2005–2014 ($, ‘000)¤ Aged 25 and over with previous full-time employment 2005 Aged 25 and over in first full-time employment Aged less than 25 and in first full-time employment Male Female All Male Female All Male Female All 45.5 42.0 43.0 43.0 40.1 42.0 40.0 39.0 40.0 2006 47.6 43.0 45.0 45.0 43.0 43.5 42.0 40.0 40.8 2007 50.0 45.0 46.4 46.0 43.0 45.0 45.0 42.0 43.0 2008 51.0 47.5 50.0 50.0 46.0 48.0 47.0 45.0 45.0 2009 55.0 50.0 52.0 52.0 48.8 50.0 50.0 47.0 48.0 2010 58.0 52.0 54.0 53.0 50.0 52.0 50.0 48.0 49.0 2011 60.0 54.0 56.0 55.0 52.0 53.0 52.0 50.0 50.0 2012 60.0 55.0 57.0 57.0 53.0 55.0 55.0 50.0 52.0 2013 60.0 56.0 58.0 60.0 55.0 57.0 55.0 51.6 52.5 2014 62.0 58.0 60.0 60.0 55.0 57.0 55.0 51.6 52.5 ¤ See ‘Appendix A’: Explanatory notes (Section 2). graduate salaries 2014 | 12 www.graduatecareers.com.au/research Among older graduates, those with previous work experience reported a marginally higher median salary than those without any previous full-time work experience ($60,000 compared with $57,000). As shown in Table 5: • The median salary of older graduates (25 and over) with previous full-time work experience was $3,000 (or 5.3 per cent) more than graduates in the same age range in their first full-time employment. • In 2014, male graduates aged 25 and over with previous full-time work experience earned $2,000 more than male graduates in the same age range in their first full-time employment. • Female graduates aged 25 and over with prior full-time work experience earned $3,000 (or 5.5 per cent) more than their equivalent cohort with no prior work experience. The majority of bachelor degree graduates aged 25 and over who were in full-time employment at the time of the GDS had some previous full-time employment experience behind them at the time of the survey (see supplementary Table D in Graduate Salaries 2014 Tables and Figures). 13 | graduate salaries 2014 In 2014: • 72.2 per cent of full-time employed graduates aged 25 and over were not in their first full-time employment. • Female graduates aged 25 and over were more likely than their male counterparts to have previous full-time employment experience (73.7 per cent and 70.2 per cent respectively – see supplementary Table E in Graduate Salaries 2014 Tables and Figures). When comparing median salaries of graduates aged 25 years and over by field of education, statistical significant differences based on their level of full-time work experience were observed in 12 of the 23 fields of education, the majority of which revealed a pay advantage for graduates who had some previous full-time employment (see supplementary Table D in Graduate Salaries 2014 Tables and Figures). The largest statistically significant difference was observed among economics and business graduates where those who had a previous full-time position earned a median starting salary $9,000 higher than those without previous experience, followed by: • psychology ($8,700) • accounting, engineering, humanities and law ($7,000), and • computer science ($6,000). While these salary figures alone are not sufficient to confirm a definite salary advantage for graduates with full-time employment, they do suggest that previous full-time employment is associated with higher median salaries for graduates from certain fields of education. It should also be noted that graduate salaries are likely to be influenced by a range of factors additional to previous employment (including, for example, the graduate’s skills and abilities, the level of responsibility inherent in the role and fixed pay grades for particular roles within certain organisations) and that previous full-time experience in a field not directly relevant to their current employment may not provide graduates with a pay advantage relative to those graduates with no full-time employment experience. When examining the median salaries of graduates aged 25 and over and with previous full-time employment by sex and field of education (see supplementary Table E in Graduate Salaries 2014 Tables and Figures), statistically significant sex differences were observed in nine out of the total 23 field of education, all of which revealed a male pay advantage. Among older graduates overall (see supplementary Table E in Graduate Salaries 2014 Tables and Figures), males with previous full-time work experience reported a $4,000 pay advantage over females with previous full-time work experience and males without any work experience reported a $5,000 pay advantage over females without any previous full-time work experience. www.graduatecareers.com.au/research Age and starting salaries By comparing the median starting salaries of bachelor degree graduates aged less than 25 and in their first full-time employment with those bachelor degree graduates aged 25 and over and also in their first full-time employment, any potential labour market advantage gained from prior full‑time work experience is largely negated. This permits any differences in median GSS to be investigated in relation to the age group of the graduate. It should be noted that the cohort of graduates aged 25 and over and with no previous full-time experience is relatively small (n = 2,864) when compared to graduates under 25 in first full time job (n = 10,933), which limits the number of field of education comparisons that can be made. On average, it appears that older graduates do tend to earn higher median starting salaries than their younger counterparts, with graduates aged 25 and over and in their first full-time employment earning a median starting salary $4,500 higher than their younger counterparts (see supplementary Table E in Graduate Salaries 2014 Tables and Figures). This suggests that having no previous full‑time employment but simply being older can have a positive impact on median starting salaries for graduates. Graduates aged less than 25 who commenced their higher education immediately after completing secondary school may not have had the life experience, both professionally and personally, that older graduates possess. Moreover, graduates who returned to study at an older age may be more outcomes-focused than their younger counterparts. Factors such as these are not easily quantifiable; however they may contribute to some older graduates securing higher median starting salaries. Similar findings were observed in a longitudinal study of higher education graduates in the United Kingdom (Purcell, Wilton & Elias 2003), with graduates aged less than 25 typically earning less in their first full-time job after graduation than their older counterparts. When these same graduates were re-surveyed seven years later the situation was reversed: the cohort of ‘younger’ graduates was earning more than their older counterparts. This suggests that, while older graduates tend to earn a higher median starting salary, it does not necessarily guarantee that they will maintain this salary advantage throughout their careers. Later earnings would likely be affected by their job performance, professional development, long-term career choices and a range of other factors outside the scope of the GDS. On average, it appears that older graduates do tend to earn higher median starting salaries than their younger counterparts… graduate salaries 2014 | 14 www.graduatecareers.com.au/research 5.0 salaries by location Graduates employed in the Northern Territory earned the highest median starting salary in 2014 ($59,000). In 2014, median starting salaries for bachelor degree graduates aged less than 25 and in their first full-time employment varied by up to $9,000 depending on the Australian State or Territory in which their employment was based (see Table 6). Graduates employed in the Northern Territory earned the highest median starting salary in 2014 ($59,000). This was followed by Western Australia ($58,000) and the Australian Capital Territory ($56,000). Graduates employed in these three states were also the top earning in 2013, albeit in a slightly different order (WA was ranked number one in 2013). Graduates employed in Victoria earned the lowest median starting salary ($50,000) in 2014. Differences in median GSS between States and Territories may be attributable to a range of factors, including economic forces. For example, the Victorian graduate workforce is composed of a relatively higher proportion of economics and business graduates (ranked 18th in terms of starting salary – see Table 3). 15 | graduate salaries 2014 The availability and demand of courses in particular geographic locations can also impact on starting salaries. For instance, the typically higher-paying fields of medicine and dentistry are not offered by higher education institutions in every State and Territory. This is further exacerbated by the notable difference in the movement of graduates from the location of their study to the location of their employment (see supplementary Table F in Graduate Salaries 2014 Tables and Figures). For bachelor degree graduates aged less than 25 and in their first full-time employment, the percentage in full-time employment in their State or Territory of study in 2014 was lowest for the Northern Territory (57.9 per cent). The percentage of these graduates in full-time employment in their State or Territory of study was highest for Victoria (89.4 per cent) followed by Western Australia (86.3 per cent), Queensland (84.6 per cent) and New South Wales (81.9 per cent). www.graduatecareers.com.au/research Table 6: Median starting salaries for bachelor degree graduates aged less than 25 and in first full-time employment by State or Territory of employment, and comparison of all graduates to the average weekly earnings (AWE) for that State or Territory, 2014 ($, ‘000)¤ Male GSS Median Salary NSW Female AWE (State) GSS as % of AWE GSS Median Salary 55.0 69.2 79.4 Vic. 52.0 66.2 Qld 54.0 SA All AWE (State) GSS as % of AWE GSS Median Salary AWE (State) GSS as % of AWE 51.0 47.1 108.3 52.0 58.2 89.4 ** 78.6 50.0 43.8 114.1 50.0 55.0 91.0 ** 71.5 75.6 50.6 43.9 115.1 52.0 57.2 90.9 ** 54.0 68.3 79.1 54.0 44.5 121.4 54.0 56.6 95.4 * WA 60.0 85.4 70.2 56.0 48.5 115.4 58.0 68.3 84.9 ** Tas. 55.0 57.6 95.5 52.0 39.5 131.8 52.9 48.3 109.5 NT 62.6 73.4 85.3 57.2 52.0 109.9 59.0 62.3 94.7 ACT TOTAL ¤ * 57.3 78.3 73.1 56.0 59.6 94.0 56.0 68.4 81.8 55.0 71.0 77.5 52.0 45.8 113.5 52.5 58.4 89.9 Sig. [sex] * See ‘Appendix A’: Explanatory notes. = difference statistically significant at 5 per cent level; ** = difference statistically significant at 1 per cent level Statistically significant differences in starting salaries between males and females were observed in six States and Territories (the exceptions were Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory), all revealing a male pay advantage except for South Australia (see Table 6). The largest significant difference was observed between male and female graduates employed in the Northern Territory, where males earned a median starting salary $5,400 greater than females followed by Western Australia and New South Wales (both $4,000) and Queensland ($3,400). The salary discrepancy between males and females was lowest in the South Australia, with male and female graduates earning an equivalent wage of $54,000. Differences in median GSS between States and Territories do not necessarily reflect differences in average earnings within the wider population for each State and Territory. A clearer picture of GSS in the economic and demographic context of each State and Territory can be obtained by examining median GSS as a percentage of AWE. Table 6 also compares median GSS to the annual rate of average weekly earnings (AWE) for males and females individually. These figures should be interpreted with a degree of caution because the composition of the labour force may make some median GSS figures seem overly positive in comparison (see Graduate Salaries 2014 Explanatory notes). In 2014, male graduates earned median starting salaries between 70.2 per cent (in Western Australia) and 95.5 per cent (in Tasmania) of MAWE. Median starting salaries for female graduates, on the other hand, exceeded FAWE in every State and Territory with the exception of the Australian Capital Territory. Female graduates in Tasmania earned the highest median starting salary relative to FAWE (131.8 per cent) followed by South Australia (121.4 per cent) while female graduates in the Australian Capital Territory earned the lowest starting salary relative to FAWE (94.0 per cent), as has also been the case in recent years. graduate salaries 2014 | 16 www.graduatecareers.com.au/research When starting salaries for all bachelor degree graduates aged less than 25 and in their first full‑time employment are compared to AWE for all persons in their State or Territory of employment, relative graduate earnings range from 81.8 per cent of AWE in the Australian Capital Territory to 109.5 per cent of AWE in Tasmania. Median starting salaries of graduates employed in regional areas (those outside capital cities) in 2014 were again higher than those for their counterparts employed in capital cities ($55,000 compared with $52,000 – see supplementary Table G in Graduate Salaries 2014 Tables and Figures). Female graduates employed in regional areas earned a median starting salary $3,000 more than female graduates employed in capital cities ($54,000 compared with $51,000), while male graduates employed in regional areas earned the same as their capital city counterparts ($55,000). When examined by field of education, statistically significant differences in salary based on whether graduates were employed in capital cities or regional areas were observed in eight of the 23 fields of education under examination, with four favouring capital cities, and four favouring regional areas. The largest absolute difference of $10,000 was reported among earth science graduates in favour of graduates employed in regional cities. This was followed by law graduates with a difference of $8,300 in favour of graduates employed in capital cities. 17 | graduate salaries 2014 When examined over time (see Table 7), it can be seen that the greatest difference in median starting salaries between capital cities and regional areas in the past decade has been observed in 2014, as the median capital city GSS has fallen to 94.5 per cent of median regional area GSS. The second lowest value in this series was observed in 2006 (95.2 per cent), followed by 96.2 per cent in 2011 and 96.3 per cent in 2013. The value of a median capital city GSS only exceeded the value of a median regional area GSS once in this 14-year period (in 2001, with a value of 100.9 per cent). The situation is different, however, when examined by sex. For the past 14 years, the median starting salary for female graduates employed in regional areas has consistently exceeded the median starting salary for female graduates employed in capital cities with relative values of a median capital city GSS ranging from 94.4 per cent of a median regional area GSS in 2014 to 97.8 per cent in 2008. In 2014, both the capital and regional graduate starting salaries for female graduates increased by $1,000 from 2013. The median starting salary for male graduates employed in regional areas has only exceeded the median starting salary for male graduates employed in capital cities for five years out of the last 14 (in 2004, 2005, 2011, 2012 and again in 2013). In 2014, the capital city GSS for male graduates was equal to the regional GSS. www.graduatecareers.com.au/research When comparing GSS between capital cities and regional areas, it is worth noting that a number of factors can affect the overall figures. For example, the majority of corporate and government department head offices are located in capital cities (particularly Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra), and this can act to boost capital city earnings. On the other hand, graduates from certain fields may be paid a salary loading to work in more remote areas, and this might contribute to the relatively high median starting salaries earned by graduates employed in Western Australia and the Northern Territory and for the higher overall median starting salary earned by graduates employed in regional areas. …the greatest difference in median starting salaries between capital cities and regional areas in the past decade has been observed in 2014… Table 7: Median starting salaries of bachelor degree graduates in first full-time employment and aged less than 25, by capital city / regional area, 2001–2014 ($, ‘000)¤ Males Females Capital as % of regional Capital City All Capital as % of regional Capital City Capital City Regional Total Regional Total Total Capital as % of regional 2001 36.0 35.0 36.0 102.9 33.6 34.5 34.0 97.4 35.0 34.7 35.0 100.9 2002 37.0 37.0 37.0 100.1 35.0 36.0 35.0 97.2 35.4 36.0 35.5 98.2 2003 38.0 38.0 38.0 100.0 36.0 37.0 36.3 97.3 36.5 37.6 37.0 97.2 Regional 2004 39.0 39.5 39.0 98.7 37.0 38.9 38.0 95.2 38.0 39.0 38.0 97.4 2005 40.0 40.1 40.0 99.6 38.5 40.0 39.0 96.3 39.5 40.0 40.0 98.8 2006 42.0 42.0 42.0 100.0 40.0 42.0 40.0 95.2 40.0 42.0 40.8 95.2 2007 45.0 45.0 45.0 100.0 42.0 43.0 42.0 97.7 43.0 43.5 43.0 98.9 2008 47.1 47.0 47.0 100.3 45.0 46.0 45.0 97.8 45.0 46.0 45.0 97.8 2009 50.0 50.0 50.0 100.0 46.0 48.0 47.0 95.8 47.5 48.0 48.0 99.0 2010 50.0 50.0 50.0 100.0 48.0 50.0 48.0 96.0 48.8 50.0 49.0 97.7 2011 52.0 54.0 52.0 96.3 49.3 51.0 50.0 96.7 50.0 52.0 50.0 96.2 2012 54.0 57.0 55.0 94.7 50.0 52.0 50.0 96.2 52.0 53.0 52.0 98.1 2013 55.0 56.0 55.0 98.2 50.0 53.0 51.6 94.3 52.0 54.0 52.5 96.3 2014 55.0 55.0 55.0 100.0 51.0 54.0 52.0 94.4 52.0 55.0 52.5 94.5 ¤ See ‘Appendix A’: Explanatory notes (Section 2). graduate salaries 2014 | 18 www.graduatecareers.com.au/research 6.0 salary rankings The top-ranked fields of dentistry, optometry, engineering and medicine have consistently been ranked highly since 1977… Ranking fields of education by median graduate starting salary (GSS) provides a useful basis for comparing salary data, both in the current year and over the long term. Table 8 ranks fields of education from highest to lowest (1 to 23) according to its median GSS (see supplementary Table H in Graduate Salaries 2014 Tables and Figures for similar rankings for the period 1977–2014). The majority of the fields of education under examination have shown a high level of stability in rankings over the past three decades. The top-ranked fields of dentistry, optometry, engineering and medicine have consistently been ranked highly since 1977, while the lower-ranked fields of art and design, and pharmacy have also maintained consistent rankings over the years (see supplementary Table H in Graduate Salaries 2014 Tables and Figures). Table 8: Fields of education ranked according to median starting salary for bachelor degree graduates aged less than 25 in first full-time employment, 2014¤ 2014 Rank Field of Education Median salary in 2014 ($, ‘000) No. of graduates in 2014 1 Rank in 2013 Dentistry 75.0 91 1 2 Optometry 70.0 29 2 3 Engineering 62.0 1,048 3 4 Earth Sciences 60.0 71 4 4 Mathematics 60.0 70 7 4 Medicine 60.0 474 4 7 Education 59.0 1,062 6 8 Computer Science 55.0 370 11 8 Paramedical Studies 55.0 1,857 10 8 Physical Sciences 55.0 76 7 8 Social Work 55.0 112 12 12 Law 53.0 291 7 13 Agricultural Science 51.0 95 12 14 Accounting 50.0 730 12 14 Economics, Business 50.0 1,923 18 16 Psychology 49.9 255 12 17 Social Sciences 49.0 108 12 18 Architecture & Building 48.8 334 17 19 Biological Sciences 48.0 408 19 20 Veterinary Science 46.3 70 20 21 Humanities 46.0 929 21 22 Art & Design 40.0 279 22 22 Pharmacy 40.0 251 23 ¤ 19 | graduate salaries 2014 See ‘Appendix A’: Explanatory notes (Sections 2 and 12). www.graduatecareers.com.au/research Examining the rankings for 2014, the fields of economics and business, and social work saw the biggest positive change, with economics and business moving from 18th in 2013 to 14th in 2014 and social work moving from 12th in 2013 to 8th in 2014. This was followed by mathematics and computer science, with mathematics moving from 7th in 2013 to 4th in 2014 and computer science moving from 11th in 2013 to 8th in 2014. Law and social sciences showed the largest negative shifts, with law moving from 7th in 2013 to 12th in 2014 and social sciences moving from 12th in 2013 to 17th in 2014. The difference in median GSS between the highest-ranked field for 2014 (dentistry at $75,000) and the lowest-ranked fields (both art and design and pharmacy at $40,000) was $35,000, lower than the difference observed in 2013 ($41,000), but considerably higher than the difference observed in 2000 ($25,000). This is considerably larger than the difference in median GSS for the remaining lower-ranked fields ($13,000) between law (ranked 12th at $53,000) and equal bottom-ranked art and design, and pharmacy ($40,000). It should be noted that median salary rankings, while useful, can also be somewhat misleading. Graduate salary data collected via the GDS can potentially include both overtime and above-award payments. This means that while median salary levels as reported do accurately reflect real graduate earnings at the time of the survey, they do not necessarily reflect award wage levels (where these may be in place). When fields of education are ranked according to median hourly rate (calculated by dividing reported earnings by reported working hours), we see that the top three ranked fields in terms of GSS also had had the highest average hourly rate (see Table 9). The difference in median GSS in the upper half of the fields was $20,000, between top-ranked dentistry ($75,000) and equal eighth ranked computer science, paramedical studies, physical sciences and social work ($55,000 – see Table 8). graduate salaries 2014 | 20 www.graduatecareers.com.au/research Table 9: Fields of education ranked according to calculated hourly rate for bachelor degree graduates aged less than 25 and in first full-time employment, 2014¤ 2014 rank by hourly rate (2013 rank) Mean hours Hourly rate ($) Median GSS ($, ‘000) Rank by median GSS 1(1) Dentistry 38 38.0 75.0 1 2(2) Optometry 38 35.4 70.0 2 3(3) Engineering 42 28.8 62.0 3 3(4) Earth Sciences 40 28.8 60.0 4 5(5) Education 39 28.4 59.0 7 6(6) Medicine 37 27.8 60.0 4 6(7) Mathematics 45 27.8 60.0 4 8(7) Paramedical Studies 40 26.7 55.0 8 8(7) Computer Science 39 26.7 55.0 8 10(10) Law 39 26.5 53.0 12 11(11) Social Work 42 25.4 55.0 8 16 12(12) Psychology 45 25.0 49.9 13(13) Physical Sciences 39 24.0 55.0 8 13(14) Biological Sciences 39 24.0 48.0 19 13(14) Accounting 39 24.0 50.0 14 16(16) Social Sciences 40 23.6 49.0 17 17(17) Economics, Business 43 23.4 50.0 14 18(18) Agricultural Science 39 23.1 51.0 13 19(19) Architecture & Building 40 22.8 48.8 18 20(20) Humanities 41 22.2 46.0 21 21(21) Veterinary Science 43 21.6 46.3 20 22(22) Art & Design 38 20.2 40.0 22 40.0 22 23(23) ¤ Pharmacy 39 19.7 MALE 41 25.6 FEMALE 39 25.3 Total 40 25.3 See ‘Appendix A’: Explanatory notes (Sections 2 and 12). 21 | graduate salaries 2014 Examining Table 9 further, some notable differences between the respective rankings by median GSS and hourly rate are evident. • While biological sciences ranked 19th in terms of GSS ($48,000, in Table 8), they ranked 13th in terms of hourly rate ($24.00 an hour, in Table 9) – six positions higher. • Similar results were seen for psychology graduates (four positions higher). • Physical sciences and agricultural science graduates each ranked five positions lower by hourly rate than by GSS, moving from 8th to 13th and 13th to 18th respectively. Mathematics and psychology graduates represented the highest average number of hours worked for any field of education in 2014; working at an average of 45 hours per week. The average reported number of hours worked by graduates has remained stable over the past 20 years, with average working hours per week fluctuating between 40 and 41 since 1991 (GCA 2004–05; GCA 2006–12; GCCA 1989–93; GCCA 1994–2003). www.graduatecareers.com.au/research 7.0 salary growth By showing the median GSS in 2014 as a percentage of the median GSS in 1977 and MAWE in 2014 as a percentage of MAWE in 1977, the growth in median GSS can be measured over time against a common benchmark7. (It is important to note that this analysis does not address the impact of consumer price inflation on salary levels and is based solely on nominal growth in median GSS and MAWE over time). In 2014, the median GSS was equivalent to 546.9 per cent of the median GSS in 1977, while MAWE in 2014 was equivalent to 739.2 per cent of MAWE in 1977 (see Table 10). Table 10: Growth in male average weekly earnings (MAWE) relative to 1977 MAWE, growth in median starting salaries for bachelor degree graduates aged less than 25 and in first full-time employment (GSS) relative to 1977 GSS, 1977–2014 (%)¤† MAWE as % of 1977 MAWE GSS as % of 1977 GSS Difference (percentage points) 1977 100.0 100.0 0.0 1979 117.7 113.5 4.2 1980 130.2 122.9 7.3 1981 146.9 137.5 9.4 1982 171.9 155.2 16.7 1983 185.4 165.6 19.8 1984 204.2 179.2 25.0 1985 213.5 189.6 23.9 1986 230.2 206.3 23.9 1987 242.7 217.7 25.0 1988 259.4 239.6 19.8 1989 279.2 250.0 29.2 1990 299.0 259.4 39.6 1991 312.5 263.5 49.0 1992 324.0 267.7 56.3 1993 331.3 265.6 65.7 1994 338.5 270.8 67.7 1995 353.1 281.3 71.8 1996 362.5 291.7 70.8 1997 372.9 302.1 70.8 1998 387.5 312.5 75.0 1999 395.8 322.9 72.9 2000 408.3 343.8 64.5 2001 425.0 364.6 60.4 2002 446.0 369.8 76.2 2003 469.8 385.4 84.4 2004 485.4 395.8 89.6 2005 509.4 416.7 92.7 2006 533.3 425.0 108.3 2007 559.4 447.9 111.5 2008 579.2 468.8 110.4 2009 601.9 500.0 101.9 2010 639.7 510.4 129.3 2011 666.4 520.8 145.6 2012 696.0 541.7 154.3 2013 732.5 546.4 186.1 2014 739.2 546.9 192.3 See ‘Appendix A’: Explanatory notes (Sections 2, 3 and 9). † Data from 1978 are incompatible with those from other years and have been excluded from the series. ¤ 7 Median GSS and MAWE for 1977 are represented as 100.0 per cent in each respective growth index. graduate salaries 2014 | 22 www.graduatecareers.com.au/research Since 1977, MAWE has grown at a greater rate than the median GSS, with the difference between the two increasing over time. In 2014, there was a difference of 192.3 percentage points between the GSS and MAWE growth indices; the highest gap recorded since the beginning of this series. The fields of paramedical studies, optometry and art and design were disaggregated for reporting purposes for the first time in 1988. GSS growth indices covering the period 1988–2014 for these fields of education are presented in supplementary Table K in Graduate Salaries 2014 Tables and Figures. Examining field of education differences (see supplementary Table J in Graduate Salaries 2014 Tables and Figures), we see: Examining the median starting salary growth indices covered by the period 1988–2014, we see: • the median starting salary for law graduates in 2014 was equivalent 929.8 per cent of the median starting salary for law graduates in 1977, compared with an average of 546.9 per cent across all fields of education, and • the law median GSS continued to exhibit growth that exceeded that of MAWE – as has been the case for the thirty-seven year period of this table. Looking at the average GSS growth since 1977, fields of education that exhibit above average growth in 2014 were: • mathematics (631.6 per cent) • earth sciences (618.6 per cent) • engineering (613.9 per cent) • education (590.0 per cent) • physical sciences (585.1 per cent), and • accounting (574.7 per cent). Overall, medicine graduates have experienced the lowest growth in their median starting salary between 1977 and 2014, with a median GSS in 2014 equivalent to 451.1 per cent of that in 1977. • optometry (266.2 per cent) and paramedical studies (237.1 per cent) were the two fields of education where the growth exceeded the average growth (228.3 per cent) since 1988, and • the growth for art and design graduates (187.8 per cent) has not exceeded the average growth since 1988 (228.3 per cent). Briefly looking at employment sectors, the highest growth in 2014 median GSS relative to 1977 median GSS (see supplementary Table J in Graduate Salaries 2014 Tables and Figures) was for: 23 | graduate salaries 2014 • law graduates in the professional private practice sector (935.2 per cent), followed by, and • humanities graduates (704.2 per cent) also in the professional private practice sector. Relative to 1977, graduates employed in the professional private practice sector have experienced the highest level of growth in their median starting salary (634.1 per cent – supplementary Table J in Graduate Salaries 2014 Tables and Figures). Conversely, graduates employed in the industry/ commerce sector have experienced the least growth (531.9 per cent). www.graduatecareers.com.au/research 8.0 salaries paid to postgraduates An examination of salaries paid to postgraduates is not as straightforward as an examination of salaries paid to younger bachelor degree graduates in their first fulltime jobs. Postgraduates may have returned to study at any stage of their careers, so their salaries cannot be analysed in a simple ‘first full-time employment’ manner8. As shown in Table 11, of postgraduates who were in full-time employment at the time of the 2014 AGS: • postgraduate diploma/ certificate graduates earned a median salary of $75,000 • masters by coursework graduates earned a median salary of $80,000 • graduates that completed a masters degree by research earned a median salary of $80,000, and • PhD graduates also earned a median salary of $80,000. Statistically significant salary differences based on postgraduate level of award were observed in 15 of the 23 fields of education under examination which contained a sufficient number of responses to allow comparisons to be made. • The largest statistically significant difference was observed for veterinary science graduates, with $36,500 separating the median salaries of masters by coursework graduates ($53,500) and PhD graduates ($90,000). • Large differences between postgraduate levels were also observed for: ॰॰ pharmacy ($35,000) ॰॰ architecture and building ($34,000) ॰॰ law ($33,000) ॰॰ accounting and education ($29,000). The smallest statistically significant difference was observed for humanities graduates with $5,000 separating the median salaries of masters by coursework and masters by research graduates ($75,000) and postgraduate diploma/ certificate and PhD graduates ($80,000). …we see the highest growth for postgraduate diploma/certificate graduates with a growth of 108.3 per cent… Examining growth in median starting salaries since 1994 by level of postgraduate award, we see the highest growth for postgraduate diploma/certificate graduates with a growth of 108.3 per cent (see supplementary Table N in Graduate Salaries 2014 Tables and Figures). 8 A more detailed examination of postgraduate salaries is presented in the report Postgraduate Destinations 2014 (GCA 2015c) graduate salaries 2014 | 24 www.graduatecareers.com.au/research Table 11: Median salaries for postgraduates in full-time employment by level of award and field of education, 2014 ($, ‘000)¤†§ ‡ Field of Study Postgraduate Diploma/ Certificate Masters Coursework Masters Research PhD $ N $ N $ N $ N Sig. Accounting 70.0 151 63.5 373 † † 92.5 15 ** Agricultural Science 77.3 74 75.0 112 † † 78.5 41 Architecture & Building 80.0 69 52.0 428 † † 86.0 19 ** Art & Design 63.0 71 60.3 127 60.0 22 86.0 49 ** Biological Sciences 78.0 196 70.0 262 77.0 22 74.3 235 * Computer Science 80.0 161 85.0 374 80.0 10 85.0 59 100.0 54 † † † † 125.0 15 † Dentistry Earth Sciences 82.0 54 74.5 42 † 82.0 16 Economics, Business 92.0 1,556 98.0 3,220 † † 93.0 103 ** Education 61.0 1,840 73.0 1,342 85.0 22 90.0 98 ** Engineering 102.0 369 95.0 606 82.0 29 80.0 184 ** Humanities 80.0 895 75.0 1,234 75.0 31 80.0 214 * Law 65.0 490 80.0 671 † † 98.0 24 ** Mathematics 94.0 79 80.0 58 † † 80.0 23 Medicine 75.0 120 80.0 122 100.0 18 85.0 101 ** Optometry 100.0 26 82.0 31 † † † † ** Paramedical Studies 76.0 1,975 75.0 2,059 80.0 20 86.0 213 ** Pharmacy 70.0 77 40.0 127 † † 75.0 16 ** Physical Sciences 70.0 45 77.5 24 86.0 10 74.0 100 Psychology 72.5 243 72.0 267 † † 78.0 160 Social Sciences 80.0 139 68.5 123 † † 80.0 23 Social Work 77.0 134 61.9 282 † † † † ** † † 53.5 34 † † 90.0 11 * Male 85.0 3,522 88.0 5,459 88.5 115 81.0 850 Female 70.0 5,297 72.0 6,465 79.1 109 80.0 880 Total 75.0 8,823 80.0 11,925 80.0 224 80.0 1,730 Veterinary Science See ‘Appendix A’: Explanatory notes (Sections 2, 5 and 12). Blank cells contain no, or fewer than 10 respondents. § Some figures in this table are based on small response numbers and consequently are subject to notable fluctuation. ‡ The heading ‘Postgraduate Diploma/Certificate’ includes graduate certificates and graduate/postgraduate diplomas. * = difference statistically significant at 5 per cent level; ** = difference statistically significant at 1 per cent level ¤ † 25 | graduate salaries 2014 www.graduatecareers.com.au/research Highlighting the different stages or places that postgraduates can be in their careers, Table 11 illustrates that postgraduate diploma/ certificate graduates from some fields of education earned a higher median starting salary than masters by coursework graduates from the same field. This was particularly noticeable for graduates from the fields of: • pharmacy ($30,000 difference) • architecture and building ($28,000) • optometry ($18,000), and • social work ($15,100). These salary differences may be attributable, at least in part, to the nature of the particular courses offered at each level of award within particular higher education institutions, as well as differences between the individual graduates themselves (e.g. previous employment and educational history, career goals and ambitions). Moreover, while postgraduate diploma/ certificate graduates from these fields of education earned higher median salaries than their masters by coursework counterparts in 2014, these salary figures tend to fluctuate over the years and are by no means typical for each of these fields of education. As observed in previous years, male postgraduates earned a higher median salary than female postgraduates at all levels of award (see Table 11). Further: • The female median salary was lowest relative to the male median salary at the masters coursework award level, where female graduates earned a median salary equivalent to 81.8 per cent of the median salary earned by male graduates (or $16,000 lower in nominal terms), followed by postgraduate diploma/ certificate award graduates at 82.4 per cent (or $15,000). • Conversely, the greatest parity between sexes is evident at the PhD award level, with a median female salary equivalent to 98.8 per cent that of male graduates (or $1,000 lower in nominal terms). In relative terms, PhD graduates have experienced the greatest sex parity in median salaries earned by postgraduates since 2007. While it may be expected that PhD graduates would be earning more than masters coursework graduates, in fact the opposite is true. The differing study, career and employment profiles of postgraduates at different award levels may help to explain this apparent anomaly. Compared with masters coursework graduates, PhD graduates were much more likely to be in their first full-time employment in 2014 (27.7 per cent compared with 25.0 per cent). They were also much less likely to have been in full-time employment with their current employer in their final year of study (46.3 per cent of masters coursework graduates compared with 31.7 per cent of PhD graduates) and were much more likely to have studied on a full-time basis (37.0 per cent of masters coursework graduates compared with 64.8 per cent of PhD graduates) (see supplementary Table O in Graduate Salaries 2014 Tables and Figures). graduate salaries 2014 | 26 www.graduatecareers.com.au/research references ABS, 2011. Employee Earnings, Benefits and Trade Union Membership. Australia: Australian Bureau of Statistics (Aug. 6310.0). GCA, 2006–2012. Graduate Salaries 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011,2012. Melbourne: Graduate Careers Australia. ABS, 2014a. Average Weekly Earnings. Australia: Australian Bureau of Statistics (May. 6302.0). GCA, 2015a. Beyond Graduation 2014. Melbourne: Graduate Careers Australia. Borland, J., 2002. New Estimates of the Private Rate of Return to University Education in Australia, Melbourne Institute Working Paper No. 14/02. Melbourne: Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne. GCA, 2015b. Graduate Destinations 2014. Melbourne: Graduate Careers Australia. Chapman, A., 2004. Equal pay in Australia: recent trends and evidence, Keeping Good Companies, October, pp. 544–549. Chapman, B., & Salvage, T., 1997. The Consequences of Recent Changes in Financing for Australian Higher Education. Australia: Centre for Economic Policy Research, The Australian National University. Elias, P., & Purcell, K., 2004. Researching Graduate Careers Seven Years On. UK: Warwick Institute for Employment Research, University of West of England. GCA, 2004–2005. Graduate Starting Salaries 2003, 2004. Melbourne: Graduate Careers Australia. 27 | graduate salaries 2014 GCA, 2015c. Postgraduate Destinations 2014. Melbourne: Graduate Careers Australia. GCCA, 1989–1993. Graduate Starting Salaries 1988–92. Australia: Careers and Appointments Service, The University of Sydney (Sydney) and the Graduate Careers Council of Australia (Melbourne). GCCA, 1994–2003. Graduate Starting Salaries 1993–2002. Melbourne: Graduate Careers Council of Australia. Lindsay, E., 2014. An analysis of the gender wage gap in the Australian graduate labour market, 2013 Melbourne: Graduate Careers Australia. Purcell, K., Wilton, N., & Elias, P., 2003. Older and Wiser? Age and Experience in the Graduate Labour Market. UK: Warwick Institute for Employment Research, University of West of England. Graduate Careers Australia Ltd. (trading as Graduate Careers Australia) PO Box 13222, Law Courts Melbourne, VIC 8010 Level 9, 552 Lonsdale Street Melbourne, VIC 3000 t: (03) 9605 3700 f: (03) 9670 5752 e: research@graduatecareers.edu.au www.graduatecareers.edu.au LEARNING AND SUBJECT EXPECTATIONS Assignment 1 Executive Summary The aim of the report is to evaluate various learning styles and specifically to test my learning style using the multiple intelligence tests. This involved conducting a test and using various research articles and journals. The findings from the multiple intelligence test showed that I am good at connecting with nature and dealing with numerical unlike linguistics. I also identified the skills that needed strengthening in the report as well as what is expected from an employee and the employer in an Australian working environment. Table of Contents 1. 2. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................................................................................................... 4 1.1. Background .................................................................................................................................. 4 1.2. Aims ............................................................................................................................................. 4 1.3. Organization ................................................................................................................................ 4 LEARNING STYLES................................................................................................................................................................................................... 5 2.1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 5 2.2. Overview and main purpose/theory of Multiple Intelligences ................................................... 5 2.3 Learning categories ............................................................................................................................. 6 2.4 Results of learning tests with discussion ............................................................................................ 6 3. 2.4.1 Outcome (my personal learning styles) ................................................................................................................................................... 6 2.4.2 Characteristics of my personal learning styles ......................................................................................................................................... 7 SKILLS AUDIT .......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 9 3.1. 4. Skills audit table ........................................................................................................................... 9 THE AUSTRALIAN WORKPLACE ............................................................................................................................................................................ 14 4.1 Employers legal obligations towards employees in the workplace ............................................. 14 4.2 Employers moral obligations towards employees in the workplace ........................................ 14 4.3 Employees legal obligations towards employers in the workplace .......................................... 14 4.4 Employees moral obligations towards employers in the workplace ........................................ 15 4.5 Government and Industry groups to support employees ......................................................... 15 5. CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................................................................................................................ 16 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 16 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1. Background There have been a lot of developments on the human resource field that has made it so important to study learning styles and skills necessary for daily management of organizations. The multiple intelligence theory by Gardner has become so instrumental in assessing the level of intelligence as well as the skills necessary to improve one’s employability (Moran & Gardner, 2006). 1.2. Aims This report aims at first discussing the learning styles and testing intelligence, identifying various specific skills and skills which should be strengthened and lastly the Australian working environment and its expectations. 1.3. Organization The report will study individual learning style and attach it to multiple intelligence theory followed by evaluation of specific skills and lastly the Australian working environment. The report will end with a conclusion regarding the learning styles studied. 2. LEARNING STYLES 2.1. Introduction Multiple intelligence theory is a theory which tries to look at intelligence as a conglomeration of various specific learning skills rather than general skill or capability (Coffield, et al. 2004). Gardner came up with this theory in the year 1983 when he wrote his book ‘Frames of Mind, Gardner suggested that intelligence should meet certain criteria which included the availability of core operations, presence of place in the history of evolution, possibility of expression by way of symbols and the existence of psychometric support of findings among others (Gardner, 2000). 2.2. Overview and main purpose/theory of Multiple Intelligences The theory of multiple intelligence suggested that the conventional notion of measuring intelligence based on the intelligence quotient was too limited. Dr. Gardner came up with eight different accounts of assessing intelligence on a broader and a more specific way in both adults and children (Mezirow, 2000). The traditional techniques of teaching and assessing intelligence such as chalk and talk had failed previously and had led to a massive student drop out from schools in the US; the number of drop out went up to as high as 50% of the total student population, this finding led to the development of multiple intelligence theory. The theory has helped a lot in designing new techniques of teaching as well as assessing the level of intelligence (Gardner,1993). 2.3 Learning categories Gardner proposed eight types of intelligence in the theory of multiple intelligence, these intelligences included logical and mathematical intelligence, linguistic intelligence, musical intelligence, intrapersonal and interpersonal intelligence, naturalistic intelligence, spatial intelligence, and kinesthetic and bodily intelligence (Creighton, & Stewart, 2005). All these categories of intelligences play very important roles when assessing peoples’ intelligence, various personalities have been endowed with various level of intelligences, for instance, there are people who score poorly in linguistic intelligence but score well when it comes to logical and mathematical intelligence (Gardner, 2008). 2.4 Results of learning tests with discussion 2.4.1 Outcome (my personal learning styles) After undergoing the learning tests, I found that one of my biggest strength is understanding and manipulating numbers, my score in the logical and mathematical intelligence was 88% followed by naturalistic intelligence at 83% which shows that I am able to categorize and appreciate, connect and explain various things and issues connected to nature encountered in our daily lives. Interpersonal intelligence came next at 75% meaning I can easily relate and mingle with others. Spatial and kinesthetic intelligence followed at 67%, therefore I can easily understand and interpret figures as well as modify them to come up with an improved appearance or interpretation, I can also use my entire body to pass feelings, opinions as well as ideas in transforming the surrounding environment and the society at large. I also understand and know myself well; I have a very positive self-concept and sense of direction within me and can easily modify my belief to be in line with my life goals. My greatest weakness is in understanding, manipulating and using the spoken or written words effectively, I am also very poor in composing, classifying and performing various forms of music. 2.4.2 Characteristics of my personal learning styles The current world is faced with a lot of problems which need various solutions connected to nature, I am good at appreciating nature as well as classifying it and connecting things that affect nature and this will help me develop very useful software and applications which help in solving various problems in the current world. My strength in logical and mathematical intelligence help in dealing with mathematical problems in the current world as well as effective reasoning, this comes in handy when developing software and applications which help in dealing with problems which relate to numbers as well as effective decision making. For instance, my strength in mathematical intelligence will help me when developing a very sophisticated accounting software which will assist organizations in coming up with optimum decisions regarding organizational operations. 3. SKILLS AUDIT 3.1. Skills audit table Area for development What does this mean? Category 1 Skill Listening and I am not good at Communication understanding listening to other people. Give a short personal Your strategy to improve How can you measure example in this area your progress? My colleague and a Practice attentive - After 2 months, I team member asked for listening and join should be able to permission to attend to conversations with my listen and an urgent issue but I colleagues. understand the prejudged him only to people I meet, at find out that his wife least 70% was seriously sick. 2 Teamwork Identifying I am a poor team leader Last month I was given I will allocate various Within a period of four strengths of who believes in doing a task to accomplish duties to my team months I should be able to team things on my own. within a week with my members in order to identify the strengths of team members but identify. all my team members. members worked on them on my own in order to meet deadlines. 3 Solving I like working on Recently we were I will come up with Before the next financial Problem problems in problems on my own. asked to come up with teams within the year all the teams will be solving teams an appropriate budget department which will assessed based on the for our department and deal with various solutions they have come I decided to work on it problems. up with within the alone. 4 Selfmanagement department. Taking I am good at giving I was left with my Next time I will help my In the next four months, I responsibility excuses. siblings at home with siblings with their duties should be able to take duties to accomplish and assignments as well charge of at least 705% of and was in charge as as my subordinates. the responsibilities even the eldest but my those assigned to my siblings did not do juniors. their assignments but I did not care since I was through with mine. 5 Managing I am good at meeting Recently I was given I will try to work on In the next one month, I Planning and time and deadlines but I am a an assignment which assignments as from the should be able to work on organizing priorities victim of last minute was urgent but found time I am assigned at least 50% of the pressure most of the myself working on it a depending on their assignments just after times. few hours to the priority. being assigned. deadline. Technology 6 Using IT to I like capturing and At the end of the I will begin doing all the After one financial year I organize data organizing data previous financial year reports on my computer. should be able to do all mentally. I was tasked with my reports and organize giving a report with data using my computer. regards to our department’s spending and I did not use my computer to give the report. Learning Managing I am not good at I have severally come I will try to commit one After two months, I own learning creating a schedule up with a schedule hour very day for own should be able to work which entails personal which included time learning according to my schedule. learning. for personal learning 7 but I always find myself doing other things during that time 8 Initiative and Translating Am not good at working In the last one year, I I will sub-divide my goals After three months, I will enterprise ideas into on ideas especially new have been planning to into smaller goals spread have invested 25% of the action. ideas. invest in technology over a short period in planned amount of industry but up to date order make them easier to investment. I have never acted on work on. it. 4. THE AUSTRALIAN WORKPLACE 4.1 Employers legal obligations towards employees in the workplace The employer’s legal responsibilities and obligations include ensuring that the employees are paid the appropriate wages, serving the employees with pay slips, ensuring that they are working in a safe environment as well as acting in a way which does not damage the confidence and trust necessary for a good and harmonious employee relationship. The employer is also tasked with submitting the PAYG tax to the Australian taxation office (Creighton, & Stewart, 2005). 4.2 Employers moral obligations towards employees in the workplace The employers are morally responsible for provision of good living and housing conditions for their employees, ensuring that the employees are compensated well in accordance with their performance. They are also to provide safe working conditions free from health hazards. 4.3 Employees legal obligations towards employers in the workplace Employees also have various legal obligations stipulated by law through contracts, these duties include the avoiding the disclosure of employer’s confidential information, taking good care of employer’s property, giving any invention or innovation to the employer in case it was development during employment to th...
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Running head: THE AUSTRALIAN JOB MARKET FOR IT GRADUATES

The Australian Job Market for IT Graduates
Name:
Institution:
Instructor:
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Date:

1

THE AUSTRALIAN JOB MARKET FOR IT GRADUATES

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Executive Summary
The aim of this report is to evaluate the current conditions in the Australian job market for IT
graduates. The report examines the paid and unpaid occupations, the recruitment process, and the
starting salaries of the IT graduate. It also covers the major trends that are impacting the market
conditions. According to the findings, the top IT jobs advertised are computer Networks and
Systems Engineer, Developer Programmer, and Software and Applications Programmer. The top
IT roles filled are Test Analysts, IT Project Manager, and IT Business Analysts. Also, IT job
advertisements have increased by 5.9% in the previous years with permanent job vacancies
increasing by 9.4% while contracting jobs have increased by 2.4%.

THE AUSTRALIAN JOB MARKET FOR IT GRADUATES

3

Table of Contents
Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 5
Background ..................................................................................................................................... 5
Aims ............................................................................................................................................ 5
Organization ................................................................................................................................ 5
Examine the Job Market ................................................................................................................. 6
Increase in IT Jobs ...................................................................................................................... 6
The Cyber Security Talent Crisis ................................................................................................ 6
Top IT Roles ............................................................................................................................... 6
Shift in the demand for cloud roles ............................................................................................. 7
Al Skills are Short in Supply ...................................................................................................... 7
Examine A Paid Occupation ........................................................................................................... 8
IT Consultant .............................................................................................................................. 9
Health IT Specialist..................................................................................................................... 9
Mobile Application Developer ................................................................................................. 10
Software Engineer ..................................................................................................................... 10
Impact of IT sector on Society .................................................................................................. 11
Impact of the IT sector on Australian Economy ....................................................................... 11
Examine an Unpaid Occupation ................................................................................................... 12
Examine Recruitment.................................................................................................................... 13

THE AUSTRALIAN JOB MARKET FOR IT GRADUATES

4

Human Resource Companies .................................................................................................... 13
Predicted Trends ....................................................................................................................... 13
Conclusion .................................................................................................................................... 15
References ................................................................................................................................. 15

THE AUSTRALIAN JOB MARKET FOR IT GRADUATES

5

1. Introduction
1.2.Background
In Australia, the IT sector is one of the rapid growing sectors in the country. This provides
graduates opportunities to advance their careers because the way jobs and technology develops is
linked to the IT industry. As far as market trends and job predictions are concerned, a recent
research indicates that despite the Australian chaotic market situations, employment opportunities
in the IT sector have shown positive development. Role-wise job advertisements have risen by
20.4%, indicating the focus on the protection of data and other technology infrastructure. The
engineering software occupation has increased by 64% while the hardware declined by -12.6%
("Australian IT Job Market - Trends and Job Predictions - Paxus Blog", 2017). These trends are
important to IT graduates because they inform them on roles to major in and positions that they
can fill either as permanent roles or contract...


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