The Brighton Factor!Graduate choices: University, Living and Working

Emma Pollard Marc CowlingPete Bates

Specific Local Issues

Who comes to Sussex University?

What attracts them?Are they happy with their

decision?What about the future?How important is the ‘Brighton

factor’?

General Issues

Location location location!

Student numbers and participation

Widening participation

Student fees and debt

Graduate wage premium

Data, methods etc

Exiting student survey, 2007

650 final year students

Test for gender, ethnic, age and original domicile differences

Econometrically investigate key differences on locational choice pre-university and post- university

Where do they come from and who are they?

UK 68.1%, EU 13.7%, Overseas 18.2%

Within UK, 73.2% from London and South East

Higher proportion of UG’s from UKSocial sciences (23.8%),

humanities (18.5%) and life sciences (17.6%) largest faculties

Why do they come to Sussex?

0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4

right course

teaching quality

brighton factor

general feel of uni

research quality

distance

social campus

countryside campus

term jobs

graduate employment

And who thinks finding the right course is more or less important?UK students from outside of the

South East (more important)Females (more important)Law students (much less

important)Social science, business and

management, and language students (marginally less important)

And who thinks teaching and research quality is is more important?Research quality:- EU students- Post-graduate students - Older students- BME students- Soc science, life science and humanitiesTeaching quality:- Post-graduate students, BME students- Soc science, life science and business

And who thinks the Brighton Factor is more important?Under-graduates find the Brighton

factor marginally more importantUnder-25s find it far more

importantOver 25’s find it increasingly less

important

And who finds the general feel of the university more (or less) important?UK students from outside the

South East find it more importantEU and overseas students less

importantUnder-graduates find it more

importantWomen find it more important25+ students less importantLanguage students more

important

A bit of Brighton Factor

What graduates expect from the world of work - activities

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

Permanent employment

Temporary employment

Self employment

Further study (same subject)

Further study (different subject)

Time out

Expectation 6m on Goal 3 yrs on

A bit of Brighton Factor What graduates expect from the world of work -

jobs

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25%

Teaching, academic

Business, finance, legal

Creative (media design,arts)

Development, community, charity work

ICT, Scientific R&D

Expectation 6m on Goal 3 yrs on

A bit of Brighton Factor What graduates want from employers

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Interesting, challenging work

Training and development opportunities

Sound ethical policy

Geographical location

Financial package

Reputation within industry

Sound environmental policy

Very important Quite important Of some importance Not important at all

A bit of Brighton Factor What gives a city an advantage?

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Friendly atmosphere

Availability of affordable housing

Good restaurants, cafes, bars and clubs

Good public transport

Good standard of public healthcare

Many graduate-level opportunities

High salary levels

Low unemployment rates

Should I stay or go?

UK students from outside SE less likely to relocate to London (or elsewhere in Sussex), as are 25+

But BME students more likely to go to London

Women more likely to relocate elsewhere in SE

But all non-SE students have higher probability of moving elsewhere

And where will I work?

London is more attractive to BME and social science students

Sussex is less attractive to Non-SE UK students and maths, social science, humanities and drama, media, film students

SE is less attractive to non-SE UK students

All non-SE students have higher probability of working elsewhere

Does Brighton have a net inflow of graduate talent?Brighton will benefit from a net

increase (inflow) of 27.6% of total non-SE graduates from Sussex uni

Exports (defined as graduates working elsewhere but living in Brighton) will be accounted for by 4.9% from London, 3.4% from Sussex

Imports (defined as graduates working in Brighton but living elsewhere) are negligible

Graduate flows

Brighton will retain 38.6% of SE graduates, 50.4% of UK non-SE graduates, 28.1% of EU graduates and 24.1% of overseas graduates as residents

Brighton will retain 31.1% of SE graduates, 40.0% of non-SE graduates, 22.0% of EU graduates and 20.7% of overseas graduates as labour market entrants

So what is the ‘Brighton factor’ on a social level?

0 1 2 3 4 5

house prices

green

friendly

public transport

safe

bars, rest, clubs

health care

sat

imp

Social Brighton

Under-performs on housing costsOver-performs on greeneryOver-performs on friendlinessOver-performs on public transportOver-performs on safetyOver-performs on bars,

restaurants, clubs etcOver-performs on health care

So what is the ‘Brighton factor’ in economic terms?

0 1 2 3 4 5

graduateopportunities

pleasantenvironment

high pay

sat

imp

Economic Brighton

Brighton under-performs on graduate level employment opportunities

Brighton over-performs in terms of providing a pleasant working environment

Brighton just about matches graduate pay expectations

Summary

Sussex university providing the right courses and maintaining high teaching quality are key to continuing to attract large numbers of high quality students (especially post-grads and women)

But the Brighton factor is also very important (especially to younger students) and this does not hold for Sussex more generally

Economic impact

The net economic and social impact of Sussex university is considerable for Brighton

There appears to be a large net inflow of graduates from Sussex university and this has the potential to generate high levels of ‘export’ earnings for Brighton.

The Brighton factor, particularly at the social level, is a huge attraction, although economically more graduate jobs may be required in the future