Science

Editorial

• An Overview
• Destinations and Trends
• Graduate Salaries
• References
• Further Reading
• Useful Web Sites

“Britain must encourage more young people to study Science and Engineering or face a future skills shortfall”, so suggests The Roberts Report, commissioned by the Department of Trade and Industry and published in April 2002.

According to the study, there are emerging shortages in the supply of high level physics and chemistry skills. This is for a variety of reasons, including an increasing demand by employers for these skills, and fewer students choosing to take these subjects at A-level and also later at university.

Despite the introduction in 1999 of ‘golden hellos’ to attract more graduates into teaching science, recruitment to teacher training in physics and chemistry continues to be below target. According to the article ‘Science teaching: the demographic squeeze’ in the October 2001 edition of Labour Market Trends, ‘Biologists dominate the intake of scientists to teacher training Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) courses, up from 29% to 38% between 1983 and 1999, while the proportions of physicists and chemists fell (from 32% to 12%, and from 30% to 18% respectively).’ Another problem facing the science teaching profession is that there is an unusually high number of male science teachers currently aged between 45-54 concentrated in secondary schools who will shortly retire.

Table 1 shows the destinations of science graduates in 1998 and 2001 six months after graduation. The number of science graduates has held relatively stable for these two years, with only environmental science showing a slight drop in numbers. Biology, chemistry and physics in contrast show a small increase in people graduating. Physics is still a male dominated subject with over 1,500 men graduating in 2001 compared with 385 women. On the other hand, biology has nearly double the number of women than men graduating in the same year. Both chemistry and environmental science show a more equal gender balance.

Overall, the percentages of science graduates entering employment or further study/training six months after graduation are about the same for 1998 and 2001, at around 55% for employment and 31% for further study/training. The unemployment rate has increased from 6.3% in 1998 to 6.9% in 2001. In 2001, 30% of chemists continued to study for a higher degree in the UK compared with only 12.9% of environmental scientists.

According to analysis of advertisements in the graduate vacancy bulletin Prospects Today, the average salary offered to graduates from any science degree in the year to March 2002 was £19,624, an increase of 3% from the same period a year previously, and significantly higher than the average graduate starting salary of £17,515. However, jobs specifically requiring life sciences and physical sciences graduates offered lower averages of £17,101 and £17,490 respectively. These figures are shown in Figure 1.

• The Roberts Report, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), April 2002.
• Labour Market Trends, Office for National Statistics (ONS), October 2002.
• Prospects Today, CSU, weekly.

Detailed information about types of work, written by AGCAS higher education careers advisers, can be found in explore types of jobs. Occupations especially relevant to science graduates can be found under:

• Scientific Services
• Physical Resources and the Environment

AGCAS publications are also available in your local higher education careers service, or from CSU, Tel: 0161 277 5271.

On this site for a wealth of careers related information by exploring types of jobs and options with your subject.

• Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)
• Institute of Physics (IOP)
• Society of Biology
• New Scientist
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• Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM)
• Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS)
• British Trust for Conservation Volunteers (BTCV)
• Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)