Career Survey Report - Class of 2002

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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 2002 survey was mailed out in early January to 1,133 alumni representing bachelor degree graduates from January, May, and August 2002.  A second mailing was sent out in February, a third mailing in March, and follow-up phone calls were conducted in April and May.  For the third year, we utilized an on-line survey located on our web site that allowed graduates to send their results to us over the Internet.

Through all of these efforts we yielded a total of 579 replies, a response rate of approximately 51 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.  

Field of Study	# of Respondents
Social Sciences	143
Education	149
Management	110
Humanities	137
Sciences	40
Total	579

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, 90 percent of the Class of 2002  were employed. Of those employed, 81 percent were employed on a full-time basis (down 14 % from the class of 2001) and 13 percent (up eight percent from 2001) were employed part-time. 

Fifty-six graduates indicated that they were not currently employed. These respondents fell into one of the following categories: they could not find employment it their field or location (24), they were in graduate school (22), or they were not looking for employment (10).  

Graduates Reason for Not Employed

Numbers are represented as frequency, not percentages

 

The unemployment rate for the Class of '02   was up .5  percent from the previous year's graduates.  This is not surprising given the economic downturn that started in 2001 and continued into 2002.  The unemployment rate of BSC graduates for the Class of 2002  respondents was still slightly lower than the Massachusetts unemployment rate of 4.4 percent during the same time period 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.

 

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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 92 percent of this year's respondents are employed in the state. For the Class of 2002 graduates, only four percent indicated that they were employed in other New England states, and another four percent were employed outside the region.  

 

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Fields of Employment

The Class of 2002  graduates are employed in a variety of fields.  Thirty-nine percent indicated that they were employed in Business, either manufacturing or non-manufacturing.  Twenty-nine percent reported employment in Education (including Elementary, Early Childhood, Physical Education and Special Education), 13 percent in human services and non-profits and 10 percent in health-related fields.   The percentages have stayed consistent over the past few years. Given the educational preparation of our graduates, these results are not surprising. Traditionally BSC graduates seek employment in human services, non profits, and business and education fields. The number of graduates in government positions decreased slightly from 6.2 percent in 2001 to 5.4 percent in 2002.

Approximately 15 percent of the Class of 2002  indicated that they were self employed. This was up almost 5 percent from last year.  Only a few graduates indicated that they were in the Military (2) and there are no respondents who entered full-time volunteer service i.e., Peace Corp and VISTA.  

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 Relation of Position to Academic Major

Graduates were asked to identify the degree to which their position was related to their academic major.   Seventy-seven percent felt that their current position was either directly or somewhat related to their major.  It appears that despite the continued down turn in the job market the majority of the graduates of the Class of 2002  were able to secure positions closely related to their field of study.

 

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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, 83 percent agreed or strongly agreed with the statement. The response to this question has stayed consistent over time with responses ranging from 81 to 85 percent over the past ten years.  

“The academic program at BSC prepared me for my current position”

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Salary Data  

[Out of the 579 returned surveys, 455 answered the salary range question representing 78% of the respondents.]

BRIDGEWATER STATE COLLEGE
Class of 2002 Salary Data - Employed Full-time  
Data is represented in percentages.

Annual Salary $	Social Sciences	Humanities	Sciences	Education	Management
< 12,000	2%	2%	4%	3%	1%
12,000-14,999	0%	4%	0%	3%	1%
15,000-17,999	3%	3%	0%	6%	1%
18,000-20,999	5%	8%	0%	5%	0%
21,000-23,999	21%	9%	4%	14%	3%
24,000-26,999	22%	19%	11%	10%	5%
27,000-29,999	11%	11%	4%	9%	13%
30,000-32,999	13%	19%	8%	22%	16%
33,000-35,999	6%	8%	11%	10%	13%
36,000-38,999	6%	1%	8%	3%	9%
39,000-41,999	1%	1%	4%	3%	8%
42,000-44,999	0%	0%	4%	3%	10%
45,000-47,999	2%	2%	0%	0%	0%
48,000-50,999	0%	1%	0	0%	4%
51,000 -53,999	2%	0%	8%	0%	1%
54,000 & over	2%	2%	11%	2%	9%
Missing	4%	10%	23%	7%	6%

For comparison purposes a list of regional salaries and national salaries is included on the last page

Less than 12,000 to 20,999  
On the lowest end of the scale from less than $12, 000 – 20,999 Education students and Humanities students represented about 17 percent each in this range.  They were followed by Social Sciences majors at 15 percent. Management Science graduates represented only 3 percent in this category.  

$ 21,000-32,999  
In this range the Social Science majors led with approximately 61 percent followed closely by Humanities at 58 percent and Education majors at 55 percent.  Management students in this range represented 37 percent.  

$33,000-44,999    
In this range Management Science represented 40 percent of the graduates.  In this same range Science majors represented only 27 percent followed by Education majors at 19 percent, Social Science at 13 percent and Humanities at 10 percent.  

$45,000-54,000 and over  
On the upper end of the salary range Science majors represented the majority at 19 percent in this range.  Closely behind were Management majors at 14 percent and then it trailed off with Social Sciences at 6 percent, Humanities at 5 percent and Education students representing only 2 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

The increase in students hired from internships or part-time employment was six percent higher over last year. As the internship program continues to evolve I would guess that more students are likely to secure jobs after the completion of the experience. This trend is supported in the literature from employers who indicate that they continue to look for strong interns to test out potential employees and to meet their employment hiring needs. Even when students do not secure employment with their internship employer, the experience alone gives them a competitive edge in the job market and many can leave with solid references and additional contacts in their field.

The remaining methods included employment agencies, on-campus interviews, resume referrals, job fairs and job postings on the web.  The number of students who found positions using job related web sites has increased a few percentage points each year. For the Class of 2002  twelve percent found employment utilizing on line job listings.

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Graduate School        

Eighty six students were enrolled in graduate school at the time of the survey, which represents about 15 percent of the class. Of the eighty-six, 51 were enrolled full-time and 35 were enrolled part-time. The consistent trend shows that from 1998-2002 between 15 to 18 percent of our graduates go directly on to graduate school. Increasingly, many graduate programs are encouraging applicants to have at least a year or two of professional work experience before enrolling. Many BSC students wait at least a year or two before applying for graduate study.

  Of those enrolled in graduate school, 70 are in masters programs, 8 in post baccalaureate programs, 4 in professional degrees and 4 in doctoral programs.  Of the 86 graduates who were enrolled in graduate study, 22 are enrolled at BSC.  A list of all the colleges and universities where the Class of 2002  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 (86%) received academic credit for the experience, and most felt the internship (93%) was related to their field of study.  Although there has been a growing trend by some industries and organizations to pay interns, most students (76 percent) did not get paid. 

 The chart below identifies the questions asked and the overall response rate from the 156 graduates who indicated that they participated in an internship. This does not include student teaching.  For comparison purposes we have included the responses for both the class 2002 and 2001.

Internship Questions Comparison - Class of ‘01 and ‘02

Question	Class of 2001	Class of 2002
Did you complete an internship?	27% Yes 72% No	27% Yes 72% No
Did you receive academic credit?	75% Yes 25% No	83% Yes 17% No
Was the internship related to your field?	91% Yes 9% No	93% Yes 7% No
Was the internship required by your  major?	49% Yes 51% No	49% Yes 51% No
Was the internship paid?	24% Yes 76% No	28% Yes 72% No

For the second year we included 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.  

 

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 Notes/Acknowledgement

• Included in Appendix C is a Summary Sheet of the responses to survey items for all graduates.  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 website in late August 2003.  http://www.bridgew.edu/careerservices/.
  
  

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

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 Average Starting Salary Offers  
For Entry Level Graduates 2002 Data

 

  Reprinted from the EACE July 2002 Salary Survey with permission of the National Association of Colleges and Employers, copyright holder.

Last Modified: November 14, 2006