Annual survey of UK biochemistry graduate employment 1996

• Figures
• Tables
• Appendices

Key findings

First degree graduates

• The two largest groupings-further biochemical training (31.1%) and non-science-based employment (11.8%)-were almost identical to 1995. The overall proportion remaining in biochemistry (53.0%) decreased slightly. Within the latter grouping slightly smaller percentages entered all types of laboratory-based positions, whereas percentages entering science-based careers outside the laboratory increased. A decreased proportion entered teacher training (down from 5.7 to 3.6%).
• There was markedly less difference in the profiles of employment of graduates from pre- and post-1992 universities compared to 1995.
• The low unemployment rate (6.2%) compared well with national figures for biological sciences (8.7%) and for graduates of all disciplines (7.5%).

Higher graduates

• The proportion of MScs moving to further biochemical training increased from 24.0 to 27.0%, those entering hospital laboratories from 3.5 to 11.2%, and those entering science-based non-laboratory work from 1.8 to 6.4%. The proportions entering research in academia or industry decreased slightly. The overall proportion remaining in biochemistry increased from 47.9 to 60.9%.
• The proportion of overseas students (subsequently returned home) among MSc graduates remained high (17.6%), although down 5.8% from the previous year.
• The employment of PhDs was remarkably similar to that in 1995, with research in academia (40.4%) the largest grouping, followed by research in industry (13.6%). An increase in science-based non-laboratory work (from 2.3 to 5.7%) was found for PhDs as for other levels of graduates. The proportion of PhDs remaining in biochemistry has plateaued in recent years at just over 70%. The proportion in non-science-based employment (3.0%) was a little higher than in the previous year.
• The unemployment rate of MSc graduates decreased slightly (from 4.1 to 2.6%), and that of PhDs quite remarkably (from 5.8 to 0.9%).

General information

Questionnaires for the Biochemical Society's survey of employment of 1996 graduates were sent to one hundred and three Departments in the UK and the Republic of Ireland during March 1997. Departments missing the first deadline for returns were followed up with a second copy of the questionnaire, and those missing the second deadline were contacted by e-mail and urged to respond. The number of completed questionnaires from Departments in the UK (58) was the same as for the 1995 survey, and a further eight Departments, principally in post-1992 universities, commented that they ran no relevant courses. The number of graduates included in the survey increased slightly compared to the previous year (2414 compared to2238). The Professional and Education Committee thanks those Departments that contributed data (see Appendix 1). A separate report on graduates from Irish universities will be produced for institutions in the Republic of Ireland.

The format of the questionnaire was not changed from that of the previous year in order to enable year on year comparison. For the purposes of the survey 'biochemistry graduates' were defined as those students for whom biochemistry constituted at least 50% of the total degree course, irrespective of the name of the degree. A list of all first degree titles that were considered by the responding Departments to meet this criterion is given in Appendix 2. MSc, whether taught or by research, and MPhil degrees, were not differentiated, but are referred to as 'MSc'. Appendix 3 lists the courses from which the MSc data were drawn.

Total numbers of biochemistry graduates of all levels entering employment

The numbers of UK biochemistry graduates of all levels entering different categories of employment are listed in Table 1 and shown as a bar chart in Fig 1. The categories are defined and explained in Appendix 4. The percentages of total graduates entering particular types of occupation are shown in the form of a pie diagram in Fig 2. For simplicity, some of the categories listed in Table 1 are combined in this and in subsequent figures and tables. Thus, data on hospital, civil service or public authority laboratories were pooled to represent laboratory-based biochemical work other than research in academia or industry; teacher training and teaching in higher education were also combined, as were the two categories of unemployed graduates.

As in previous years, by far the largest group of biochemistry graduates continued with further biochemical study or training in the UK (642, 26.6% total), this obviously being skewed towards first degree and MSc graduates. The percentage figure continued an apparent small decline seen in the previous two years (29.9 and 27.4%). However, since the decline was observed for PhDs (down from11.0 to 4.2%), but not for first degree graduates (identical to 1995) or MScs (up from 23.4 to 27.0%), it is possible that some PhDs were wrongly classified in the previous years. Some Departments may have placed holders of non-tenured postdoctoral positions in this category. The next largest groups of graduates entered careers requiring graduate-level ability but no particular biochemical knowledge such as accounting, financial services and retail management (239, 9.9% total), followed by research in academia (203, 8.4% total) and research in industry (180, 7.5% total). In comparison to 1995 these percentage figures represented a small increase (0.3%) in non-biochemical employment, and small decreases in research based careers in academia (down 0.6%) or industry (down 0.8%). Other notable changes within biochemistry-based employment were the increase (from 3.0 to 5.3%) in non-laboratory positions such as management, sales or marketing in scientific industry, information science or editorial work; and the unfortunate decrease (from 4.7 to 3.1%) in teacher training, presumably reflecting the generally improved economic climate and the current low esteem of the teaching profession. In line with the increased proportion entering non-biochemical careers, there was an increase in numbers entering non-biochemical further training (from 3.3 to 5.2%).

The proportion of British graduates working abroad (1.0%) continued the slight downward trend seen in the two previous years (2.1 and 1.4%). On the other hand the number and proportion of foreign students who had been trained in the UK and had now returned to the country of origin increased again (6.4% compared to 4.4 and 5.5% in the two previous years).

Graduates remaining in biochemistry

Data in Table 1 are dissected further in Table 2 to indicate percentages of first degree graduates of different classes, and MSc and PhD graduates, in the various types of occupation. This table allows easy comparison across degrees. The largest proportion of first degree graduates (31.1%) moved on to further biochemical study, overwhelmingly in the UK. This figure is almost identical to that in 1995, but represents a decrease from the 34-38% seen earlier in the 1990s.

For those Departments that were able to supply the appropriate information (49 out of 58) an analysis was made of the number and proportion of graduates with class 1 and class 2 degrees registering for a higher degree by research (Table 3). Whilst the number commencing a research degree was similar to 1995 (470 from 39 Departments compared to 447 from 37 Departments), this represents a fall as a percentage of total students with classes 1 and 2 degrees (from 74.0 to 65.3% for class 1, 42.8 to 35.9% for class 2.1, and 8.7 to 8.2% for class 2.2). Of the total number of new research students 30.9% had class 1, 58.9% class 2.1 and 10.2% class 2.2 degrees (compared to 25.5, 64.2 and 10.3%, respectively, in 1995). Within these 49 Departments 14.1% of total (class 1/ class 2) students had class 1 degrees, 49.0% had class 2.1, and 36.9% had class 2.2. The proportion of class 1 degrees was a little higher, and that of class 2.2 a little lower, than in 1995 (11.4 and 39.0%, respectively).

There was a fairly even spread of graduates with classes 1 and 2 first degrees between the various biochemistry-based careers (Table 2). It was noticeable that proportions entering all types of laboratory-based jobs were a little lower than in 1995 (research in industry 6.7 compared to 8.0%; research in academia 3.1 compared to 3.6%; work in hospital, public health, public analyst or forensic, laboratories 3.7 compared to 5.2%). The decrease in numbers entering teacher training (from 6.1 to 3.4%) was also pronounced in this group. On the other hand the proportion entering science-based careers outside the laboratory increased notably (from 2.7 to 4.8%). Data on this particular category have only been collected for three years so it is too early to draw conclusions on a trend. The proportion of class 3/ pass degree graduates undertaking further biochemical training was higher than in 1995 (7.7%), but similar to that in 1994. Whilst the next largest group entered science-based non-laboratory work (7.2%) this actually represents a small decrease on 1995 (8.2%). Compared to 1995 the proportion entering research-based careers tended to be a little lower, whereas that entering teacher training increased (from 2.6 to 5.9%)

The largest single group of MSc graduates continued biochemical training (27.0% compared to 24.0% in 1995). In comparison to the previous year the proportions entering research in academia or industry were lower (by 0.7 and 2.3%, respectively), but there was a large increase in hospital and other public sector laboratory work (from 3.5 to 11.2%). The increase was chiefly in hospitals, and may reflect graduates from specialised MSc courses being recruited as part of the drive to improve quality, speed of throughput, and competitiveness of biochemical pathology laboratories. The proportion entering science-based non-laboratory work also increased notably (from 1.8 to 6.4%). The proportions of PhDs entering the various categories of biochemical employment were remarkably similar to those in 1995 and 1994, with those researching in academia (40.4%) remaining the largest grouping, despite the well-known difficulty in securing a tenured position. This represented a small decrease from 1995 (by 1.4%), but there was a small increase in industrial research (by 1.0%). The largest change was again in those entering science-based non-laboratory work (increased from 2.3 to 5.7%), but this is still a small grouping. It is likely that a large proportion of the 3.3% (down 1.9% over 1995 and 3.7% over 1994) of PhDs working abroad were researching in academia but this was not revealed by the survey.

The percentages of the three levels of graduates remaining in biochemistry are shown in Fig 3. Graduates entering teacher training are included in the 'biochemical employment' category since it is anticipated that they will become science teachers. The percentage of first degree graduates remaining in biochemistry (53.0%) decreased slightly for the third year in succession (56.9 and 55.7% in 1994 and 1995); that of MScs increased (60.9% compared to 54.8 and 47.9% in 1994 and 1995); and that of PhDs remained at just over 70% (70.5% compared to 69.9 and 74.4% in 1994 and 1995).

Graduates pursuing careers not involving biochemistry

This grouping covers those graduates who entered training for, or commenced, employment requiring degree-level ability but no specific biochemical knowledge, and also intercalating students returned to their medical studies. The proportion of total graduates choosing a career outside biochemistry appears to be creeping up (17.1% compared to 15.8% in 1994 and 16.2% in 1995; note also that intercalating students contributed only 2.0% in 1996 compared to 3.3% in the previous year). Not surprisingly, a larger proportion of first degree (and in particular class 3/ pass degree graduates-see Table 2) than of the more specialised MSc or PhD graduates was included in this grouping (21.0% overall compared to 5.6% and 3.9%, respectively). These figures represented small increases for first degree and PhDs, and a decrease for MScs.

The interpretation of the survey is limited to some extent by the lack of knowledge concerning the employment of British graduates working abroad and of overseas students returned home, and by the percentage of graduates whose employment position was not known, which was above 7.5% for all levels and particularly high (22.4%) for class 3/ pass degree graduates (Table 2). The proportion of overseas students completing MSc courses remained high (17.6%), albeit reduced from the previous year (23.4%), whilst the increase in PhDs from overseas (from 7.1% to 12.7%) represented a reversal of the downwards trend seen in the previous four years.

Comparison of destinations of first degree graduates from pre- and post-1992 universities

As for last year, this analysis is limited to first degree graduates since as yet there are insufficient MScs and PhDs from post-1992 universities to enable a meaningful comparison. The over-riding picture is that the profiles of employment for graduates from the two groups of universities were much closer together than in 1995. The proportion of class 1 and class 2 degrees was similar for the two groups (92.2% for pre-1992; 89.9% for post-1992-increases of 3.4 and 0.7%, respectively). The large difference in proportions of these graduates from pre-and post-1992 universities undertaking further biochemical study or training seen in 1995 (25.1%) was greatly reduced in 1996 (9.9%) (Table 4). Likewise, there was much less difference in proportions of graduates of different first degree classes from the two university groups registering for research degrees (Table 3). Whereas in 1995 much larger proportions of graduates from post-1992 universities entered research in industry, or non-science-based employment, in 1996 there was little difference between university groups. More classes 1 and 2 graduates from post- than from pre-1992 universities did, however, enter science based non-laboratory work (7.4 compared to 4.3%).

Graduates who were unemployed at the time of the survey

The survey distinguished two groups of 'unemployed' graduates:- those who were genuinely unemployed and actively looking for a job, and those taking time out to travel, or start a family, or in temporary jobs whilst evaluating longer-term careers. The proportion of total biochemistry graduates who were genuinely unemployed (5.1%) (Table 1) was almost identical to the figures for 1994 and 1995 (5.2 and 5.4%, respectively). At the different degree levels the most noticeable effect was the great reduction in PhDs known to be unemployed (down from 5.8% to 0.9%). This cannot be explained by increased numbers entering research careers, but there were increases in some of the other employment categories. It is also possible that some unemployment was hidden within the 'unknown destination' category, which was much larger than usual for PhDs in the current survey. Unemployment of MSc graduates was also lower than in 1995 (2.6 compared to 4.1%), that of first degree classes 1 and 2 a little higher (5.8 compared to 4.7%) and that of class 3/ pass (10.5%) essentially unchanged.

The unemployment rate for biochemistry first degree graduates (6.2% overall) compared favourably with those for other disciplines. According to First destinations of students leaving higher education institutions, 1995/96 (Higher Education Statistics Agency), 7.5% of first degree graduates of all disciplines were estimated to be unemployed at six months after graduating, and 8.7% of biological sciences graduates (a grouping containing biologists, molecular biologists, biophysicists, botanists, zoologists, geneticists, microbiologists and psychologists as well as biochemists). Unemployment rates of biochemistry MScs and PhDs were also lower than the published figures for higher graduates (5.0% for all disciplines and 4.4% for biological sciences).

The chairman of the Association of Graduate Recruiters commented recently that 'prospects for science graduates look good-but outside the laboratory'. A spokesperson for the Careers Service at Imperial College confirmed what the Society has always said about biochemistry graduates-that employers in the accounting, financial services and information technology sectors greatly appreciate the computer literacy, analytical skills and high level of numeracy of science graduates (Times Higher Education Supplement, 22.8.97). After the cohort of first degree graduates who continued biochemical training, the next largest group did, indeed, enter non-science-based employment. Nevertheless, the survey showed that prospects also look good within science. Of the large group who always continue biochemical study after the first degree, 61% of MScs and more than 70% of PhDs who graduated in 1996 found positions within biochemistry. The current survey is a snapshot in time at about 8 months after graduating. It would be very interesting to know the profiles of employment after, say, 5 or 10 years.

Report compiled by Mike Withnall, Professional and Education Section, October 1997