Disabled graduates
Based on the Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services' survey 2006, published by the AGCAS Disabilities Task Group March 2008
The background
In 2006 there were 187,755 full-time first degree graduates from UK universities.
Every year the Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services (AGCAS) runs a survey among these first degree graduates, six months after they have left university, to see what they are doing – their 'first destination'.
The latest AGCAS report to be published is based on the 2006 survey, dated March 2008 and titled 'What Happens Next? A Report on the First Destinations of 2006 Disabled Graduates'
Among 2006 graduates, 7.9% of the students in the survey identified themselves as having a disability.
The majority of these disabled graduates – 8490 – disclosed their disability as dyslexia, 2560 had an 'Unseen Disability', 505 were deaf or had a hearing impairment and 305 were blind or partially sighted.
What happens to disabled graduates, compared to non-disabled graduates when they leave higher education?
The 'What Happens Next?' survey from 2006 shows that disabled graduates are increasingly able to compete successfully with non-disabled graduates.
Notably, the gap between the percentage of disabled and non-disabled graduates entering full-time paid work on leaving higher education is getting smaller. According to the 2006 survey, 50.3% of disabled graduates entered full-time paid work within six months of leaving higher education.
Although this figure compares unfavourably with the 54.7% of non-disabled students who entered full-time paid work, this is a marked improvement on the results of the 2005 and 2004 surveys. These surveys showed that 49.6% and 48.9% respectively of disabled graduates were in full-time paid work six months after graduating.
Similarly, the numbers of disabled graduates assumed to be unemployed according to the survey continues to compare favourably to previous years.
The numbers of disabled graduates assumed to be unemployed in 2006 remained the same as 2005 and was 8.9%. This compares to 2004, when the number was 9% and 2003, when it was 16.6%.
The type of work that disabled graduates enter into on leaving higher education, as shown in the 'What Happens Next?' survey, also indicates that disabled graduates are able to compete with non-disabled graduates. In some occupations, disabled graduates are better represented than non-disabled graduates.
For example associate professional and technical occupations (such as business and finance associate professionals, sales and related associate professionals or science and engineering technicians) sees 32.7% of disabled graduates entering as a first occupation after leaving higher education. This is compared to 29.9% of their non-disabled peers – an improvement for both groups on the 2005 survey.
There were also higher percentages of disabled graduates entering personal and protective service occupations. 6.4% of disabled graduates entered these professions, compared to 5.0% of non-disabled graduates.
The business case for employing disabled graduates
Every year there is a talent pool of disabled graduates who are available to employers.
There is evidence to suggest that employers who take proactive steps to employ disabled graduates will improve the disability confidence of their whole organisation.
At the same time, research from think-tank Demos has shown that the common experience of disabled people in dealing with a world that is only sporadically accessible, means that many disabled people have become 'serial innovators'.
And as the figures from the 'What Happens Next?' survey show, because a graduate is disabled, this does not mean they are unable to compete in the job market with their non-disabled peers.
Financial services firm Lehman Brothers are one of EFD's members who have benefited from a disabled graduate recruitment programme, Leadership Recruitment, undertaken with the charity SCOPE.
Other EFD members taking part include BT, CapitalOne, HSBC, PricewaterhouseCoopers, UBS and the Welsh Assembly.
Engaging with potential employees who have a disability
Despite encouraging figures regarding disabled graduates and employment, many employers find attracting talented disabled candidates problematic.
Some tips to encourage disabled people to apply for positions within your organisation may include:
- Using project based recruitment, which tends to attract more disabled candidates than single-post advertising.
- Offering work experience and internship opportunities to disabled people.
- Using a sector based initiative, which can help to change people's views of working in a particular industry.
For more information also see the EFD publications 'Managing Recruitment briefing paper' and 'Recruitment that Works.'
Useful Links
- Remploy's Interwork Recruitment programme provides support to employers and disabled people looking for work.
- Prospects is the National Autistic Society employment and training service for people with autism and Asperger syndrome who wish to work.
- Mencap's WorkRight initiative supports people with a leaning disability into work opportunities with national UK employers.
- Scope's Leadership Recruitment programme is a work-based development programme for disabled people of graduate calibre.
Excerpts from the report 'What happens next' have been included with the permission of AGCAS. For the latest version of this publication, see www.agcas.org.uk . For permission to reproduce, contact copyright@agcas.org.uk.
This Category is currently empty