Survey – college grads are less engaged at work than those with less education
Despite high unemployment among college graduates, a new survey has found that grads with jobs just aren’t into it. Additionally, people with less education report higher job satisfaction.
Allie Grasgreen of Inside Higher Ed reports.
Graduates, Disengaged
As politicians, pundits and the general public continue to question the “value” of a degree, defenders of academe have maintained a reliable counterpoint: college graduates are more likely to be employed.
Maybe so, but a new survey suggests that even if they’re employed, many aren’t particularly happy. College graduates whose highest educational attainment is a bachelor’s degree say they are less engaged at work than people who completed some or no college, according to a new Gallup survey.
The difference isn’t huge; 28.3 percent of graduates say they are engaged on the job, or “involved in and enthusiastic about their work,” compared to 29.6 percent of people who finished some college and 32.7 percent of people who didn’t go beyond high school. (Among those who completed some postgraduate study or a degree, 30.1 percent were engaged.) Nonetheless, the findings are “really stunning,” said Brandon Busteed, executive director of Gallup Education. (Note: Inside Higher Ed had no role in this survey, but Gallup and Inside Higher Ed are partners on a series of surveys of college officials.)
“Given that what we all expect out of college is something better, you would think that college graduates are way more engaged in careers than everybody else,” he said. “This is not a statement about liberal arts, it’s not a statement about community college, it’s literally about higher education in general – that there’s something about the process and the experience that is preventing graduates from getting to a place where they’re doing what they’re best at.”
The survey includes 150,000 adults of varying ages, so the findings can’t be entirely attributed to the bleak job market that students have been up against since the economic recession.
College grads less engaged in work than those with less education, survey finds (Inside Higher Ed | News)
Comments
Unrealistic expectations at play. A college degree doesn’t come with a guarantee of a job in that field. Nor does it protect a graduate from having to take a low paying job outside the major field until a job in that field is found. This is the hand that was dealt. Those who play that hand well will succeed. All those in less than desirable jobs need to realize that those employers give out references. A bad reference will have an impact on being hired for a better job. So work hard and stop whining.