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QS Research - the postgraduate world in 2005
There has never a better time to study a postgraduate degree internationally. Research from QS, the leading network for top careers and education, reveals some of the latest student trends in the market for international masters and research programmes.
2004 saw more than two million students travel to other countries in pursuit of degree-level qualifications, approximately one third of whom opted for postgraduate programmes. A recent survey conducted by QS Research, in association with the QS World Grad School Tour, has once again revealed some interesting trends amongst those seeking postgraduate opportunities internationally and the academic areas most in demand. The survey, based on a sample of 1,566 people attending the QS World Grad School Tour in 2004 – for people interested in postgraduate masters and research programmes – drew responses from a wide range of regions, giving a clear global picture of the market for postgraduate programmes. Never before has the survey received such a diverse set of responses, with 108 nationalities represented from the 19 venues hosting a QS World Grad School Tour event.
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| Figure One |
Though MBA programmes tend to be thought of as the only postgraduate qualification that attract applicants with significant work experience, the survey indicates otherwise. Both Figure One and Two indicate the current predominance of those interested in postgraduate programmes having some measure of experience of the workplace.
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| Figure Two - Current Work Situation |
Never before has the survey received such a divers set of responses, with 108 nationalities represented from the 19 venues hosting a QS World Grad School Tour event
Clearly, the number of students applying for postgraduate programmes from the workplace has an impact on the age at which those interested in postgraduate study apply to their chosen programmes. As Figure Three indicates, on average, those responding to the survey were aged between 23 and 26, with a further 18% aged between 27 and 29. The reasons for those applying to postgraduate programmes having more experience and being older? Certainly the rapidly changing global environment has contributed to the feeling that jobs are no longer necessarily for life. Looming recession in many parts of the world has encouraged those in the workplace to examine their positions, resulting in a significant global growth in the demand for postgraduate education and the subsequent acquisition of knowledge and skills for future career prospects. Additionally, large numbers of those returning to education from employment to take a postgraduate qualification do so because they wish to develop an area of interest that they find stimulating, often diametrically different from their career experience.
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| Figure Three |
Amy Reff, in her final year of a linguistics PhD at the University of Essex in the UK, is therefore typical of this current trend. “Before coming to Essex, I was a volunteer paraprofessional for AmeriCorps where I worked in the special education department of a rural high school in upstate New York.” She worked in this environment for a couple of years before deciding to return to university, “I was 23 when I first came to Essex” and had already “learned a lot about myself and the world.”
Figure Four shows the types of subject areas respondents were particularly interested in (people could select more than one option). The data underpins the impression that internationally active institutions have felt over the last few years that, although specialist masters programmes in the areas of business, finance and management continue to be popular amongst students, a wide variety of other academic areas are growing in popularity amongst international students. Equally, both Law and International Relations are disciplines gaining favour amongst those wishing to study at the postgraduate level. The number of LLM students has increased fivefold over the last 20 years, reflecting the enormous global demand for lawyers able to work in varied and largely international environments. Like many, Mike Wilkinson chose to study an LLM abroad for a number of clear reasons. “From both a cultural and linguistic point of view, it was far more enriching to live and to learn in a foreign environment than to be at home.” Taking his degree from the College of Europe in Bruges has had a direct impact on his career, “I don't think I would have got my pupillage (to work as a Barrister) without studying a Masters at the College and I certainly wouldn’t feel half as confident as I do now about my prospect on the job market in both Brussels and London.” Similarly, the popularity of international relations and other social sciences now represents 22% of all postgraduate interest.
