Further study an option for graduates

Growth in demand for workers with postgraduate qualifications is expected to double that of workers in general fields in the next decade.

A federal government report last year found there will be ”strong growth in demand” for postgraduate qualifications.

Minimum expectations are for the demand for workers with doctorate by research qualifications to increase by 3.2 per cent a year, and for masters by research qualifications to rise by 3.7 per cent a year, until 2020, according to the report.

In comparison, total jobs growth is expected to increase by 1.5 per cent a year over the same period.

In South Australia, the University of Adelaide has the largest number of postgraduate students, with 1982 enrolled in postgraduate studies this year.

Graduate studies dean Professor Rick Russell says latest figures show 39 per cent of undergraduates from the university went on to further full-time study in 2009, well above the national average of 18 per cent.

He says the decision to pursue additional qualifications has clear benefits, with more than 82 per cent of the university’s postgraduate students in employment last year, after finishing their studies in 2009.

”Research training via a PhD is becoming essential for entry and career advancement across a range of senior professional occupations, driven by higher employer expectations and the demand for creative solutions to problems,” he says.

”For Australia to remain competitive on the world stage, it is critical to produce higher-skilled graduates, particularly in areas relating to earth sciences, mining engineering, accounting, banking and finance.”

He says more than two-thirds of PhD graduates in Australia are employed outside universities.

He says there is also a need for more people with postgraduate qualifications to fill academic positions in the tertiary arena, given the ”imminent retirement of thousands of Baby Boomers in coming years”.

This was is despite an article posted on the Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations website suggesting an oversupply of postgraduates within the university sector.

”The oversupply of PhD graduates has made competition so fierce for tenured positions that casual contracts have replaced ongoing junior positions,” it says.

”Our best graduates, fresh from the biggest challenge higher education can throw at them, face their most energetic years vying for the privilege of this state of insecurity.”

Graduate Careers Australia acting executive director Bruce Guthrie denies there is an oversupply of postgraduates within any industry.

”(An oversupply) was potentially true 20 years ago, before the advent of HECS, but these days people are paying for a postgraduate degree so they are doing their homework and choosing (study programs) wisely,” Mr Guthrie says. ”(Studying at a postgraduate level) is a serious job . . . and postgraduate (qualifications) are becoming more and more important.”

Peter Burdon, 27, is expecting to complete his PhD in legal and environmental philosophy by May but, pending his qualification, has already been employed as a law lecturer at the University of Adelaide.

”When I started (studying law at an undergraduate level), I couldn’t understand why people would do a law degree and not become a lawyer,” Mr Burdon says.

”But I think as I went on with my degree and worked out where my skills are . . . I realised my personality, and what I’m interested in, suits lecturing and research.

”There is no question that without postgraduate (study) . . . I would not have been able to gain my current position of employment.”

Similarly, scientist Danijela Menicanin, 26, completed her postgraduate qualifications last year and says they were vital to being employed at the Institute of Medical and Veterinary Sciences, where she researches stem cells and teeth and the regeneration of oral tissue.

”I definitely couldn’t be working at this level unless I had not done postgraduate studies,” Ms Menicanin says. ”To get your name out there and to get the funding bodies to recognise you as a scientist (and support scientific research), you definitely need the postgraduate qualifications behind you.”

FURTHER LEARNING

* Postgraduate qualifications may be obtained by studying a course after completing a bachelor degree or undertaking research and writing a thesis.

* They can include a professional doctorate (PhD), masters, graduate diploma or graduate certificate.

* The overall median annual salary for all postgraduates is $68,600.

* The median annual salary for bachelor degree graduates is $50,000.

* The median annual salary for postgraduate diploma/certificate graduates is $64,500, masters graduates $72,000 and research masters/PhD graduates $69,000.

* Demand for workers with postgraduate qualifications is expected to rise by 3.2 per cent a year and with a masters, by 3.7 per cent a year until 2020.

* Total jobs growth is expected to increase by 1.5 per cent a year in the same period.