Mature Graduates I: Occupational attainment and the effects of labour market duration

This paper examines occupational attainment among mature graduates as compared with early graduates using data from the General Household Survey (GHS) (1982-1993). These surveys yielded a sample of 1025 mature men and 654 mature women graduates; 5365 men and 3465 women graduates at the conventional age. Mature graduates now compose about one quarter of the undergraduate population and it is believed that the level of mature participation will remain high. It was found that although mature graduates are disadvantaged on entry to the labour market, after about 15 years they have similar attainment to early graduates. Mature graduates primarily work in the public and welfare services, while conventional age graduates increasingly work in the private sector, with rising percentages of both women and men in the financial and business services sector. The concentration of mature graduates in the public sector has consequences for pay, which is discussed in the light of the current student funding system.