Enhancing the postgraduate research experience: skills, employability and careers

Chris Park

PRESPRES 2007 PRES 2008 PRES 2009

No. of HEIs 58 73 82

No. of respondents

10,544 16,524 18,644

Response rate 25.2% 28.9% 28.6%

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Experience vs expectationPRES 2009

% agree met /exceededOpportunities to develop a range of

research skills85.9%

Opportunities to develop a range of transferable skills

84.8%

Overall experience of my research degree programme

83.9%

Access to appropriate facilities 80.5%

Supervisory support and guidance 79.7%

Research environment 77.1%

Provision of guidance on institutional standards and expectations for my research degree programme

77.1%3

PRES Scales

PRES 2009Mean SD

Supervision 4.03 0.960

Skills development 3.97 0.798

Thesis examination 3.92 1.079

Goals and standards 3.81 0.961

Infrastructure 3.75 0.918

Intellectual climate 3.50 1.020

Professional development and career 3.14 1.115

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PRES scores on skills development

PRES 2009 % agree

2d. As a result of my experience so far I have improved my ability to learn independently

80.7%

2b. My experience so far has improved my analytical skills

78.2%

2a. As a result of my experience so far I feel confident about managing a research project

70.5%

2e. There are adequate opportunities available for me to further develop my research skills

69.9%

2c. My experience so far has helped me to develop a range of communication skills

69.2%

2f. There are adequate opportunities available for me to further develop my transferable skills

64.9% 5

Skills development – year of study

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Skills development - variations

“There were adequate opportunities to further develop research (2e) and transferable (2f) skills”

1.YEAR OF STUDY– Highest agreement = 1st year students

• 77% (research) and 70% (transferable) – Increase in % agree (2008-9) the same for all 4

year groups = 9% on average

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2. AGE– Highest agreement = students 25 years old or

younger• 76% (research) and 71% (transferable)

– The biggest increase in % of agree 2008-9• Research skills – the 41-55 age groups (11.6% on

average)• Transferable skills – the 36-40 and 46-55 age groups

( 10% on average)

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3. YEAR BEFORE THE PROGRAMME– Highest agreement = those who completed UG

programmes• 74% (research) and 70% (transferable)

– The biggest increase in % of agree 2008-9 = those who completed PG studies

• 10.1% (research) and 8.8% (transferable)

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4. OTHER DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS– Gender:

• No significant difference between male and female

– Domicile, ethnicity:• No significant correlations between the two items and

domicile nor ethnicity

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5. MODE OF STUDY– Highest agreement = full-time

• Research skills: full-time (70.8%) vs part-time (67.2%)• Transferable skills: full-time (66.4%) vs 60.6% (part-time)

– The increase in % of agree 2008-9:• Research skills: similar for both groups (9.5% for full-time and

8.9% for part-time)• Transferable skills: slightly higher for part-time (9.1%) than full-

time (6.5%)

6. MODE OF DELIVERY– Same pattern as mode of study

7. CAREER INTENTIONS• Highest agreement (73.5%)

– those who would like to pursue a research career in higher education

• Lowest agreement (63%)– Those who would like to pursue ‘any other professional

career

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PRES scores on professional development and career

PRES 2009% agree

7b. I am encouraged to reflect on my professional development needs

43.2%

7c. I am encouraged to reflect on my career development needs

39.8%

7a. I am encouraged to think about the range of career opportunities that are available to me.

37%

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Professional development and career – variations

1. OVERALL EXPERIENCE– The better the overall experience (met or

exceeded expectations) the higher the agreement with professional development items

2. AGE– Older student tends to agree less with these items– Higher agreement:

• 26-40 year olds• Also the most motivated by improving existing career

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3. DOMICILE– Non-UK students tend to agree considerably more

with all professional development items• on average 7% more in agreement than home students

– Non EU students agree particularly strong (49%) that they were encouraged to reflect on their professional development needs.

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4. MODE OF STUDY– Full-time students tend to agree slightly more

with items 7a (career opportunities) and 7c (career development needs) than part-time students.

– There is no difference between the two groups on item 7b (professional development needs)

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5. CURRENT ACTIVITY• Those who are making amendments to their thesis

following viva agree the least with all professional development items

• Students in the first stage of their research agree the most (44.5%) that they are encouraged to reflect on their professional development needs .

• Those awaiting their award agree the most (39.6%) that they were encouraged to think about the range of career opportunities available to them, but the difference to other groups is small

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6. DISCIPLINE• The national average for the 3 items = 40% agree• Highest agreement

• Medicine and dentistry (47% on average), agriculture (52% on average), engineering (44%) and business management (45%)

• Lowest agreement• Creative arts and design (34% on average) and law

(35%)

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QAA expectations

The QAA Code of practice (Section 1) expects institutions to :– provide research students with appropriate

opportunities for personal and professional development (precept 18).

– have in place procedures for development needs analysis and review (precept 19)

– provide opportunities for research students to maintain a record of personal progress, including skills (precept 20).

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One step beyond (March 2010)

“Making postgraduate provision more responsive to employer needs and encouraging more people to train to postgraduate level will ensure that the UK has the higher level skills needed to succeed in a global knowledge economy. This will be critical to securing the location of high-value business in the UK and to the creation of new employment opportunities in growth sectors.”

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Resources

Chris Park (2009) The research student experience: lessons from PRES. HE Academy www.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/York/documents/ourwork/pos

tgraduate/PRES2009.pdf Adrian Smith Postgraduate Review (2010) One step

beyond: making the most of postgraduate education. DBIS www.bis.gov.uk/postgraduate-review

PRES: www.heacademy.ac.uk/ourwork/research/surveys/pres

Email: surveys@heacademy.ac.uk21