Career Survey Report - Class of 2006

Survey and Responses

The Career Services Office conducts an annual survey of the previous year’s graduating class to determine the career and employment status of the new graduates.  The 2006 survey was mailed out in late November to 1318 alumni representing bachelor degree graduates from January, May, and August 2006.  A second mailing was sent out in January and follow-up phone calls were conducted from February through April.  We also utilized an on-line survey located on our web site that allowed graduates to send their results to us over the Internet.

 Through these combined efforts we yielded a total of 624 replies, a response rate of approximately 47 percent.  Appendix A provides a comprehensive listing of the majors included in each field of study and the number of respondents from each major.  The chart below offers a short summary of the respondents. 

Fields of Study # of Respondents
Social Sciences 172
Education 139
Business 103
Humanities 159
Sciences 51
Total 624

 In this report, information is provided about graduates' employment status, the fields and location of employment, the techniques used to secure employment, and respondents' opinions about how well Bridgewater prepared them for their current position.  Results are reported for the entire group, and, when appropriate, for individual fields of study.

Employment Status

Six months to a year after graduating, 88 percent of the Class of 2006 respondents were employed. Of those 89 percent were employed on a full-time basis and 11 percent were employed part-time. 

Seventy-eight respondents indicated that they were not currently employed. These respondents fell into one of the following categories: they were in graduate school (36), they could not find employment in their field or location (22), or they were not looking for employment at this time (20).

  Graduates Reason for Not Employed
Numbers are represented as frequency, not percentages

 

 The unemployment rate for the Class of 2006 was 3.5 percent.  The overall job market for new college graduates continues to be encouraging. The unemployment rate of BSC graduates for the Class of 2006 respondents was also lower than the Massachusetts average annual unemployment rate of 4.8 percent from June 2005 – May 2006 as reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The graph below illustrates the BSC unemployment rate over the past five years and includes only
 those graduate who indicated they could not find a job in their field or location.

Location of Employment

Bridgewater graduates continue to work in the Commonwealth and contribute to the vitality of the Massachusetts economy.  Approximately 90 percent of this year’s respondents are employed in the state.  Only five percent of the Class of 2006 graduates indicated that they were employed in other New England states, and another five percent were employed outside the region.

 

 

Fields of Employment

The Class of 2006 graduates are employed in a variety of fields.  Forty-four percent indicated that they were employed in Business, either manufacturing or non-manufacturing. Thirty percent reported employment in Education (including Elementary, Early Childhood, Physical Education and Special Education), eleven percent in Human Services and Non-Profits and eight percent in Health-related fields.  The percentages have stayed consistent over the past few years. The survey data closely reflects the academic programs students have chosen to pursue while at BSC. Traditionally graduates seek employment in the fields of business, education, health and human services. The number of graduates in government positions was reported as five percent.

Two percent of the Class of 2006 indicated that they were self-employed.  Less than one percent of graduates indicated that they were in the Military and/or had entered full-time volunteer service i.e., Peace Corp and VISTA.

Relation of Position to Academic Major

Graduates were asked to identify the degree to which their position was related to their academic major.   Seventy-four percent felt that their current position was either directly or somewhat related to their major with almost half indicating a direct relationship. The majority of the graduates in the Class of 2006 were able to secure positions closely related to their major.

 

 

 

BSC Preparation

Graduates were also asked how well they thought BSC had prepared them for their position by responding to the statement, "The academic program at BSC prepared me for my current position". Graduates used a scale from strongly agree to strongly disagree. Overall 84 percent agreed or strongly agreed with the statement. The response to this question has stayed consistent over time with responses ranging from 81 to 88 percent over the past ten years.

 "The academic program at BSC prepared me for my current position"


 

Salary Data

BRIDGEWATER STATE COLLEGE
Class of 2006 Salary Data - Employed Full-time
Data is represented in percentages.

 For comparison purposes a list of regional salaries and national salaries is included on page 9.

Less than 12,000 to 20,999

On the lowest end of the scale from less than $12,000 - 20,999 Humanities majors represent 14 percent, Social Sciences 14 percent, Education 13 percent, Science graduates represented 8 percent and Business 6 percent in this category.

$ 21,000 - 32,999

In this range the Social Science majors led with approximately 56 percent followed closely by Humanities at 52 percent, Education majors at 36 percent, Business majors at 23 percent, and Science at 20 percent.

$33,000 - 44,999

In this range Science represented 53 percent of the graduates.  In this same range Education majors represented 40 percent followed by Business majors at 39 percent, Humanities at 26 percent and Social Science at 23 percent.

$45,000 - 54,000 and over

On the upper end of the salary range Business majors represented the majority at 25 percent in this range. Closely behind were Science majors at 15 percent and then it trailed off with Social Sciences at 4 percent, Education at 2 percent and Humanities students representing 1 percent in this salary range

Methods of Obtaining Current Position

Graduates were asked to reveal what they considered to be the primary source used to obtain their current position.  The top three ways graduates landed their first job are highlighted below:

 Job Search Strategies:

  • Networking with others - 39%

  • Internet job postings - 21%

  • Hired from internship or part-time employment - 18%

Gaining relevant work experience while in college and developing a network of professional contacts can enhance student marketability significantly. Again this year, The National Association of Colleges and Employer Job Outlook Report highlighted the top ways in which employers seek new hires is through on-campus recruiting, internships programs, and employee referral programs; all three hiring methods are forms of networking.

Other methods in which students obtained employment included BSC recruiting programs such as on-campus interviews, resume referrals, and job fairs. 

Graduate School


Ninety students were enrolled in graduate school at the time of the survey, which represents about 14 percent of respondents. Of the ninety students 53 were enrolled full-time and 37 were enrolled part-time.  Historically 15 to 18 percent of our graduates go directly on to graduate school.

 Of those enrolled in graduate school 73 are in masters programs, 9 in post baccalaureate programs, 2 in professional degrees and 6 in a doctoral program.  Of the 90 graduates who were enrolled in graduate study 44 are enrolled at BSC. A list of all the colleges and universities where the Class of 2006 graduates are enrolled can be found in Appendix B.
 


 

Internships & Undergraduate Research

Graduates were asked about their involvement with internships. The vast majority of respondents (85%) received academic credit for the experience, and most agreed the internship (90%) was related to their field of study. Although there has been a growing trend by some industries and organizations to pay interns, most students (70%) did not get paid. 

 The chart to the right answers the question “Did you complete an internship?” This does not include student teaching. For comparisons purposes we have included the responses for the last three years.

The 34% of students that completed an internship were asked to respond to the following questions.

 

 

             

 

We include a few questions on undergraduate research. The questions asked if the student was involved in undergraduate research and if the experience helped them with the current responsibilities or assisted them in getting their job. The responses are illustrated in the charts below.

   

Notes/Acknowledgements:

  •       Appendix C is a Summary Sheet of the responses to survey items for all employed respondents. For any major with more than 10 responses we can provide a break out report. Please contact Career Services at (508) 531-1328 for details.

  •      Special thanks to Alice Parsons & Denise Diliddo who assisted in the data collection and reports.

Salary Survey
Average Starting Salary Offers for Entry Level Graduates 2006 

 Reprinted from the NACE Salary Survey and Northeast Regional Salary Survey, Summer 2006 with permission of the National Association of Colleges and Employers, copyright holder.  + No offers reported

 

Last Modified: August 1, 2007