RESEARCH PROFILE

The impact of higher education expansion on the labour market in the UK, change in the occupational structure; gender segmentation in employment; gender differences in career development; and development of more effective mixed-methods research.

BACKGROUND

Kate Purcell returned to the IER on 1st September 2006, having spent seven years as Professor of Employment Studies and Director of the Employment Studies Research Unit at Bristol Business School, the University of the West of England. She has spent two previous periods as a researcher at the Institute, from 1986-89 and 1996-99, and remained an Associate Fellow for most of the intervening periods.

With a background in sociology, she specialises in investigating the interface between labour markets and organisations, with a focus on changing employment boundaries.

At the core of her work is an interest in gender segmentation in employment and gender differences in career development, but increasingly, her research interests have been focused on change in occupational structure and in particular, the impact of higher education expansion on the labour market. Kate is currently directing Futuretrack the most ambitious investigation of the relationship between higher education and employment ever undertaken, the core of a major initiative on career-making sponsored by the Higher Education Careers Services Unit (HECSU), and which is a longitudinal study which is tracking 2005 and 2006 UK higher education applicants from the point of applying for full-time courses, through their higher education experience and into employment. Her comparative international research work includes the current Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) funded 'Pathfinder' project which will assess the impact of higher education expansion on economic restructuring, occupational change and access to opportunities in Brazil and India. .

Kate has conducted a series of longitudinal studies of graduate transitions from higher education to employment and case study investigations of both graduates and employers, funded by a range of sponsors including HECSU, the ESRC, the Council for Industry and Higher Education and successive UK government departments responsible for employment, higher education and skills. She has published and lectured widely on her research, both nationally and internationally and served in a consultancy or advisory capacity to a range of labour market, research and higher educational stakeholder organisations.

RESEARCH PROJECTS

Click on the link below to view all research projects

View all Research Projects

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

• Purcell, K., Elias, P., Atfield, G., Behle, H. and Ellison, R. with Hughs, C., Livanos, I. and Tzanakou, C. (2009) 'Plans, aspirations and realities: taking stock of higher education and career choices one year on', Findings from the Second Futuretrack Survey of 2006 applicants for UK Higher Education [Report]
• Purcell, K., Atfield, G. and Ball, C. with Elias, P. (2008) 'An investigation of the factors affecting the post-university employment of chemical science graduates in the UK report to the Royal Society of Chemistry', Coventry: Warwick Institute for Employment Research, University of Warwick, Report to the Royal Society of Chemistry funded by Chemistry for our Future [Report] [view]
• Purcell, K. and Elias, P. (2008) 'Achieving equality in the knowledge economy' in Women and employment: changing lives and new challenges, 19 - 53, Editors: Scott, J., Dex, S. and Joshi, H., Cheltenham ; Northampton, Mass.: Edward Elgar
• Purcell, K., Wilton, N. and Elias, P. (2007) 'Hard lessons for lifelong learners? Age and experience in the graduate labour market' Higher Education Quarterly 61 (1), 57 - 82
• Atfield, G., Green, A., Purcell, K., Staniewicz, T., and Owen, D. (2011) 'The impact of student and migrant employment on opportunities for low skilled people', Evidence Report 32 [Report] [view]

View all Publications

Conferences

RESEARCH DEGREES SUPERVISED

• Graduates in UK small businesses: What is the extent of graduate skill utilisation? (Daria Luchinskaya) , Date of Completion: 2014
• The Utilisation and Contribution of Graduate Returnees in China: A comparative study in state-owned and multi-national financial organizations (Di Zhang), Date of Completion: 2013
• The early career paths of Greek doctoral graduates of science and engineering who have studied in Greece and UK and their integration in the Greek labour market (Charoula Tzanakou), Date of Completion: 2012