Career Survey Report - Class of 2008

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Survey and Responses

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.

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Employment Status

Six months to a year after graduating, 85 percent of the Class of 2008 respondents was employed. Of those, 80 percent were employed on a full-time basis and 20 percent were employed part-time. 

One hundred and four respondents indicated that they were not currently employed. These respondents fell into one of the following categories: they were in graduate school (54), they could not find employment in their field or location (41), or they were not looking for employment at this time (9).

 Graduates Reason for Not Employed

Numbers are represented as frequency, not percentages

Despite the slight economic downturn in late 2008 and early 2009, the job market for new college graduates remained steady. While unemployment rates nationally have increased to a four year high of 9.5% (June 2009) the average Massachusetts unemployment rate of 8.6 percent consistently stayed below the national average each month over the past year. The unemployment rate of BSC graduates for the Class of 2008 respondents was 6 percent.

(US Bureau of Labor Statistics and Commonwealth of Massachusetts Executive Office of Workforce Development)

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

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Location of Employment 

Bridgewater graduates continue to work in the Commonwealth and contribute to the vitality of the Massachusetts economy.  Approximately 91 percent of this year's respondents are employed in the state.  Only four percent of the Class of 2008 graduates indicated that they were employed in other New England states, and another five percent were employed outside the region.
 

 

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Fields of Employment

The Class of 2008 graduates are employed in a variety of fields.  Forty-one percent indicated that they were employed in Business, either manufacturing or non-manufacturing. Thirty-one percent reported employment in Education (including Elementary, Early Childhood, Physical Education and Special Education), ten percent in Human Services and Non-Profits and nine 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 six percent.

Two percent of the Class of 2008 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.

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Relation of Position to Academic Major

 

 

 

 

 

 

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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 86 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"

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Salary Data

BRIDGEWATER STATE COLLEGE
Class of 2008 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 8.

Less than 12,000 to 20,999

On the lowest end of the scale from less than $12,000-20,999 Humanities majors represent 20 percent, Education 18 percent, Social Sciences 15 percent, Science graduates represented 6 percent and Business 8 percent in this category.

$ 21,000 - 32,999

In this range the Social Science majors led with approximately 45 percent followed by Education at 36 percent, Humanities at 35 percent, Business at 33 percent and Science majors at 32 percent.

$33,000 - 44,999

In this range Science represented 40 percent of the graduates.  In this same range Education represented 38 percent and Humanities majors represented 33 percent followed by Business at 32 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 22 percent in this range. Closely behind were Science majors at 18 percent and Social Sciences at 13 percent Then it trails off with Humanities students representing 8 percent and Education majors representing 4 percent in this salary range.

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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 - 37%

• Internet job postings - 23%

• Hired from internship or part-time employment - 23%

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, internship 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. 

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Graduate School

One hundred and twenty-three students were enrolled in graduate school at the time of the survey, which represents about 18 percent of respondents. Of the 123 students 79 were enrolled full-time and 44 were enrolled part-time.  Historically 15 to 18 percent of our graduates go directly on to graduate school either full or part-time.

Of those enrolled in graduate school 98 are in masters programs, 8 in post baccalaureate programs, 6 in professional degrees and 9 in a doctoral program.  Of the 123 graduates who were enrolled in graduate study 48 are enrolled at Bridgewater State College. A list of all the colleges and universities where the Class of 2008 graduates are enrolled can be found in Appendix B.

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Internships & Undergraduate Research

Graduates were asked about their involvement with internships. The vast majority of respondents (74%) received academic credit for the experience, and most agreed the internship (89%) was related to their field of study. Although there has been a growing trend by some industries and organizations to pay interns, most students (68%) 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 five years.

 The 29% 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.

• A complete copy of this report and a listing of employers will be available on the Career Services web site in August 2009. http://www.bridgew.edu/careerservices/surv08.cfm

 

Salary Survey

Average Starting Salary Offers for Entry Level Graduates 2008

Major	Northeast Average  $	National Average  $
Accounting	51,626	48,085
Business Administration	51,951	45,915
Human Resources	52,459	48,148
MIS	54,726	51,350
Marketing	43,395	42,053
Economics	51,723	50,507
Advertising	37,460	34,476
Communications	39,381	36,585
Journalism	32,929	31,325
Public Relations/Org. Comm.	43,086	38,377
Elementary Education	32,167	34,071
Early Childhood	+	32,286
Physical Education	+	32,064
Secondary	+	35,633
Special Education	+	34,546
Criminal Justice/Corrections	32,375	45,106
English	37,672	34,327
Foreign Language	36,833	35,366
History	40,890	37,223
Liberal Arts/Gen. Studies	30,000	38,418
Political Science/Government	39,993	38,179
Psychology	34,434	33,564
Social Work	29,333	30,399
Sociology	36,457	34,796
Visual and Performing Arts	35,286	35,571
Other Humanities	48,643	41,317
Social Sciences    Anthropology & Geography	37,627	38,910
Biological Sciences	36,312	35,042
Chemistry	47,459	45,106
Environmental Science	42,000	38,720
Geology	32,920	44,800
Mathematics/Statistics	50,392	49,736
Physics	50,000	47,496
Computer Science	65,060	60,416
Computer Programming	+	50,000
Computer Systems Analysis	55,357	54,382
Information Systems	55,667	52,418

Reprinted from the NACE Salary Survey and Northeast Regional Salary Survey, summer 2008 with permission of the National Association of Colleges and Employers, copyright holder.

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Last Modified: August 13, 2009