Postgraduate Study

1
Postgraduate Study

• Why do it?

2
Reasons to do Postgraduate Study

• Delay work by a year (or more)!
• Around 45 of cohort now go to University
• "The government''s drive to increase the number
  of 18-30 year-olds participating in higher
  education has resulted in first degrees becoming
  increasingly commonplace. One possible
  explanation behind increased employer interest in
  postgraduate qualifications is that they are now
  regarded as key indicators highlighting the best
  candidates, prospects.ac.uk
• Employers looking for differentiating factors
  and added maturity

3
Upskilling

• Careers as diverse as law, architecture,
  accountancy, teaching and social work all require
  more than a degree before you can advance to the
  next level. However, graduates joining
  professions that do not require further study to
  progress up the career ladder are signing up for
  postgraduate qualifications in increasing
  numbers. "Upskilling" is back in vogue
• Saturday October 13, 2007, The Guardian

4
Motives

• Employability
• "Considering Higher Education Statistics Agency
  (HESA) figures point to a 2.4 per cent
  postgraduate unemployment rate, compared to 5.5
  per cent for first degree graduates, and recent
  AGR figures which show that 31 per cent of
  employers targeted postgraduates and a further
  eight per cent intended to, it is clear that
  postgraduate qualifications are becoming more
  desirable, prospects.ac.uk

5
Motives

• Getting a job
• Dissertation or project related to the employment
  sector in which you are interested
• Project management experience
• Relevant subject knowledge or technical skills
• Other achievements you have amassed, outside your
  postgraduate qualification

6
Motives

• Increased salary In the 2004 survey of
  Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education,
  average salaries were
• First degree - 17,029 
• Masters - 22,452
• Doctorates - 24,851
• "Although the financial rewards of work may seem
  tempting initially, it does not reflect the added
  value of further study. A recent Skills Task
  Force study on the effect of postgraduate
  qualifications on earnings showed that male
  postgraduates could expect to earn up to twenty
  per cent more than first-degree male graduates,
  whereas for women the figure was 34 per cent,
  prospects.ac.uk

7
Motives

• Respect from colleagues being taken seriously
• Career development
• Personal Satisfaction

8
Personal Development

• Feel like your undergraduate degree just didnt
  stretch you enough?
• Want to do your own research project/ really get
  to know a particular area
• Want to spend another year at University?
• Want to move in non-standard careers (e.g.
  international development museum curatorship
  film and TV international relations)

9
Whats it like?

• Hard
• Much greater intensity of work than UG level (A
  MRes requires you to research an area and write a
  30 000 word dissertation in nine months)
• Typically wider mix of students
• More intensive discussion
• More specialised but also linking to more areas
• Rewarding

10
What are the Opportunities?

• MRes
• Taught MA
• (examples include Colonial and Postcolonial
  Studies World Cinema Medieval Studies Race and
  Resistance Latin American Studies Gender
  Studies)
• Ph.D

11
What should I do next?

• Look at the Postgraduate Prospectus
• Look at the Department
• Contact the Postgraduate Secretary
• Start thinking about Funding (AHRC ESRC
  scholarships)