Tag Archives: employability

Can you help with my dissertation research?

A little over a month ago, I wrote a post introducing my master’s dissertation topic – Are Computer Scientists Unemployable? Over the past month I have been progressing my research and trying to work out how I can try to understand this problem a little more.

I’ve chosen to focus on factors which cannot be identified from the Destination of HE Leavers survey data alone, but instead aim to understand computer science graduates’ attitude and behaviour towards career development and employability. I want to identify whether computer science graduates are different to other STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) graduates and how this may influence their employment outcomes.

I’ve developed a survey aimed at computer science and other STEM subject graduates asking questions about their employability and career decisions at the time of graduation. I am targeting people who studied at the three central Manchester-based universities (University of Manchester, Manchester Metropolitan University & University of Salford) who graduated within the last five years from a STEM undergraduate degree.

If you fit this criteria and have a few minutes, please help me out by completing the online survey here: www.survey.bris.ac.uk/salford/manc-stem-employ. I really appreciate every response – thank you!

I am also keen to interview computer science graduates who were unemployed 6 months after graduating to ask them more in depth questions about their job search and career development. I am happy to conduct interviews in person, via telephone or on Google Hangouts/Skype. Potential participants can indicate their interest when completing the above survey or contact me directly.

Finally I hope to run a focus group with computer science graduates, IT professionals and other interested folk to see if they can identify any particular behavioural or attitudinal factors which may affect computer science graduate employment outcomes. I am yet to work out the best format for this (e.g. online or in person), but if you are interested in participating, please let me know by commenting, tweeting me or emailing my university account (l.campbell3 [AT] edu.salford.ac.uk).

If you don’t fit any of the above criteria, but know someone who might be interested in this research, please do pass on the survey link or ask them to get in touch.

Update – For more information about my research visit the overview page: MSc Research – Computer Science Graduate Unemployment

Are Computer Scientists Unemployable?

So a few weeks ago I was searching for a focus for my dissertation and after a conversation with Margaret Sambell, head of strategy at e-skills UK, I’ve identified a subject which really intrigues me:

Why do Computer Science graduates consistently have the highest rates of unemployment by subject (as reported in the HESA Destinations of Leavers (DLHE) survey), despite widespread skills shortages within the IT Industry?

Every year the HESA DLHE stats are released and the press reports the facts – Computer Scientists have the highest unemployment rates. However alongside this headline figure, there’s usually a lot of speculation about the reasons for this figure, very little of which is based upon fact. Some years the students are blamed – they have poor soft skills and can’t operate within the real world (e.g. headlines focusing on “geek speak”). Other times it is the universities that are to blame – the courses don’t teach the skills wanted by employers. In the media coverage, rarely has there been an attempt to truly understand the problem and the main factors behind the headline figure. Continue Reading…

Finding a Focus

Ever since I started my master’s back in November, I’ve been thinking about the impending dissertation and the topics I might like to research. Whereas I dreaded my undergrad dissertation, this time around I have been looking forward to the research element most of all. There is so much about the world of work and talent that I want to understand better and the opportunity to spend three months looking at some of these issues in depth is exciting. I have worked on research projects over the past few years, but rarely have I had time to really dive deep into an issue and try to truly understand it. The ‘real world’ moves quicker than academia and often demands answers and insight in a few days, rather than a few months.

Now the taught part of my course is behind me, it is time to make a decision on my research focus. The only problem is I can’t decide. Continue Reading…