Futuretrack is an academic research study exploring the relationship between higher education, career decision-making and labour market opportunities. Graduate employment has become a heated issue in media and academic debates among those concerned with the relationship between higher education and the labour market. But what are recent graduates doing? Is it now necessary to have more than just a degree? Are people who didn’t go into higher education and got a job after school at a disadvantage or advantage relative to graduates? Who gets the good jobs and who ends up under-employed, and just what is ‘graduate employability’?

These are just some of the questions asked by Futuretrack, a longitudinal study conducted by a team of researchers at the Warwick Institute for Employment Research. We have been tracking the 2005/2006 cohort of the University and Colleges Admission Service (UCAS) applicants for five years, starting from their initial application to higher education. By surveying the cohort four times in the five-year period, Futuretrack is shedding light on the relationship between higher education, employment and how students’ views of career options evolve during their studies.

The programme involves the collection and analysis of both quantitative and qualitative data. Futuretrack is an independent, interdisciplinary, policy-related research project funded by the Higher Education Careers Service Unit (HECSU) and this Institute, and supported by UCAS. For more information please contact us at graduateresearch at warwick dot ac dot uk.

News:

Futuretrack is funded by:

Working with: