Graduate Salaries Trend Upward
23 July 2005
This week was the time of year when research outcomes on
'Graduate Starting Salaries 2004' were released. In a period when
there has been less strong demand for a university education
nationally, although not on the Sunshine Coast, it is helpful to
know how graduates are faring in the job stakes.
It is a particularly interesting report this year because the
relaxed demand seems to have been triggered most by the improved
employment opportunities, scary discussions about the cost of
university education, and the greater emphasis on addressing skill
shortages. Whether these were influential a year or so ago will
likely provide some indication of what might be expected for
2005.
The research produced by Graduate Careers Council of Australia
focuses directly on salaries, and does not really take into account
all the other factors that might explain salary levels, but they
are at least indicative of what explanations might be sought.
As the report points out the salaries do not take into account
the quality of graduates, their universities, their regional
opportunities, their likely eventual salary prospects, their cost
outlays for a degree, the stress, and many other factors.
Nevertheless, a sample of over 100,000 graduates provided some
interesting insights into the initial prospects of graduates in the
national labour market.
Bachelor students, under 25, entering the labour market for the
first time earned a median annual salary of $38,000 which was 81.6
per cent of the annual rate of average weekly earnings for
males.
That 2004 starting salary figure is a rise of 2.7 per cent on
the previous year's figure, but the annual rate of average weekly
earnings across the Nation as a whole rose by 3.3 per cent. The
increase in graduate starting salaries is, therefore, not matching
increases in the rate of average weekly earnings. Salaries for
female graduates, however, compare more favourably with their
female counterparts in the general population. The gap between male
and female graduate salaries is narrowing, but in the wider
population increasing. Graduate employment for women is becoming
more attractive.
Mature students show signs of higher achievement and higher
salaries.
There are of course so many differences between individuals,
taking different subjects in different employment contexts, that it
is impossible to predict exactly what real prospects are for all
graduates.
It is still fairly safe to predict from wider studies than these
salary analyses alone, that careers based on a degree gradually
progress well beyond the eventual levels reached by non-degree
holders.
In a region like the Sunshine Coast it is more of a temptation
than ever, particularly for young people, in a more buoyant
employment arena, to opt for jobs, many of which provide short-term
benefits but often have too few long-term career benefits.
With the broadening of study options, deferred payments for
courses, and the increasing job opportunities for highly educated
graduates internationally, university education still provides one
of the best passports to eventual career successes and life
choices.
Professor Paul Thomas is Vice-Chancellor of University of
the Sunshine Coast