2015 - 2016 first destination survey - career services · 2017-01-20 · 2015-16 first destination...

2015 - 2016First Destination Survey

Analysis of Results

A collaborative effort of NMSU graduates and the NMSU Career Services and Institutional Analysis Departments.

All About Discovery!

nmsu.eduNew Mexico State University

2015-16 First Destination Survey New Mexico State University

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INTRODUCTION The First Destination Survey is administered within six weeks of the fall and spring graduations to all New Mexico State University (NMSU) students who have applied for graduation. The 2015-16 survey included students at all degree and certificate levels at all five of the NMSU campuses who applied for their degrees in Summer 2015, Fall 2015, or Spring 2016. The predominant goal of this survey is to ascertain the employment picture of students upon graduation.

Students who had applied for a certificate or degree within the academic year were individually sent an email message containing a link to the survey within six weeks of graduation for fall and for spring (summer degree applicants were contacted at the same time as fall degree applicants). Because students were offered the survey prior to receiving their degrees, students who applied for a degree in the summer or fall, and who had to re-apply for the degree in the spring, were sent the survey invitation for both administrations. However, only the most recent degree and response was kept for this analysis, i.e., student counts for both population and responses are unduplicated in this

analysis. This includes an unduplicated count for students who may have received multiple certificates and/or degrees from the branch campuses.

RESPONSE RATES Of the nearly 5,200 graduating students who were sent a survey invitation, 1,257 completed the survey for a 24% response rate. This is a slight decrease over last year’s response rate of 29%. Of the respondents, 295 were obtaining a certificate or associate degree from an NMSU community college (23% of responses). A total of 223 students responded from the Doña Ana campus, this represented 16% of that campus’ graduating class, while the 16 respondents from NMSU Grants and 20 respondents from NMSU Carlsbad both represented 19% of their graduating class. NMSU Alamogordo had the highest response rate of the branch campuses with 23%. Of the Las Cruces campus graduates, 962 responded for a 28% response rate—down 4% from last year. These data are summarized in Figure 1. Note—counts at the bottom of the graphs represent total participants.

23%19%

16%19%

28%24%

0%5%

10%15%20%25%30%

Figure 1: Response Rates by Campus


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Typical of most surveys, a higher percentage of women responded relative to the graduating population; 27% of female degree applicants responded compared to only 21% of men. While response rates were slightly lower than last year, the gap between women and men closed moderately over those observed for last year’s survey at 33% and 24%, respectively. Response rates by race/ethnic group varied this year. Minority graduates registered the highest response rate (28%), as opposed to having the lowest response rate last year (25%). White/Unknown followed closely with 27%, while Hispanics reported the lowest percentage rate at 22%. Down 5% from last year. Refer to Figure 2 for more details.

Because Las Cruces campus degree recipients comprised 77% of the responses, this analysis focuses heavily on the Las Cruces campus students. Additional details on the community college respondents are presented near the end of the report.

By degree level, 27% of bachelor degree applicants responded to the survey, as did 30% of master’s candidates, and 36% of the doctoral candidates (Figure 3). The response rates were lower for all groups, but especially in the case of doctoral (-7%) and master’s (-6%) candidates when compared to the 2014-15 version of the survey. Because few responses were received at the associate (n=6), education specialist (n=2), and graduate certificate (n=3) levels, responses for these degree levels are excluded from the discussion.

28%

22% 23%27%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

Minority(N=366)

Hispanic(N=2,642)

International(N=377)

White/Unknown(N=1,785)

Figure 2: Response Rate by Race/Ethnicity

27%30%

36%

0%5%

10%15%20%25%30%35%40%

Bachelor (N=2,538) Master (N=723) Doctorate (N=120)

Figure 3: Response Rate by Degree (Las Cruces)


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Response rates varied slightly across the different academic colleges (Figure 4). Degree applicants in the College of Agriculture, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences had the highest response rate (33%), just edging out the English department (32%). Health and Social Services degree applicants had the lowest response rate at 23%.

EMPLOYMENT PLANS Close to two-fifths of bachelor degree respondents had a job/job offer when they took the survey, as did roughly half of master’s degree respondents and more than three-fourths of doctoral degree respondents (Figure 5). The bachelor and master’s figures are comparable to those observed in the 2014-15 iteration of the survey, while the doctoral degree respondents increased considerably this year.

33%

27% 28% 27%

32%

23%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

ACES(N=395)

A&S(N=1,255)

BUS(N=481)

EDUC(N=454)

ENG(N=523)

HSS(N=320)

Figure 4: Response Rate by Las Cruces Campus

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

Bachelor Master Doctorate

Figure 5: Employment Plans by Degree Level

Have a job/offer

Seeking employment

Contining education

Other


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Of the 425 Las Cruces campus graduates who reported having a job/job offer when they responded to the survey, more than half of those jobs are in New Mexico (Figure 6). More than half (56%) of bachelor degree respondents were staying in New Mexico for their job, as were just under 60% of master’s degree respondents. Another 12% of the bachelor students had a job in Texas. Approximately 35% of doctoral degree respondents said their job was in New Mexico with others reporting jobs across the US and internationally. Job location data by degree level is presented in Figure 7. Across all degree levels, the proportion of graduates remaining in New Mexico to work was relatively similar to those in 2014-15.

While only a small number of respondents (roughly 2%) said they would be in the military or working for a national non-profit organization, a quarter of bachelor degree respondents and 15% of master’s degree respondents said they would be continuing their education. Just under half (48%) of bachelor degree respondents who plan to continue their studies plan to do so at NMSU, while another 42% intend to study out-of-state. The remaining 10% will be attending another New Mexico institution of higher education. Fifty-eight percent of master’s degree respondents planning to continue their studies will continue their education at NMSU.

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Bachelor Master Doctorate

Figure 7: Job Location by Degree (Las Cruces Campus)

New Mexico

Texas

AZ, CA, CO

Other, USA

International

55%

44%

1%

Figure 6: Job Location (Las Cruces Campus)

In-state (N=232)

Out-of-State(N=189)

Unknown (N=4)


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EMPLOYMENT SECTORS Bachelor degree respondents reported having jobs predominantly in the Engineering (16%), Business (15%) and Education (14%) sectors. Jobs for master’s degree respondents were predominantly in the Education sector (31%). This was also true for doctoral degree respondents with 55% reporting a job in Education, 15% in Engineering, and 10% in other sectors. There was a strong relationship between college of degree and job sector, wherein each college fielded the most job offers in their respective job sector. The Education sector attracted students from nearly all colleges, particularly students graduating from Arts & Sciences (30% of graduates) Table 1. With a variety of majors available within the College, Arts & Sciences majors found jobs across all of the reported sectors. Approximately one quarter of graduates of the College of Agricultural, Consumer & Environmental Sciences said their sector was something other than the sectors listed in the survey. See Appendix A for the list of other types of industry. Additionally, a list of employers as provided by the respondents is in Appendix B.

Table 1: Industry Sectors of Jobs/Job Offers for Las Cruces Graduates by College

Industry Sector Ag., Cons., & Env. Sci.

Arts & Sciences Business Education Engineering

Health & Soc. Serv. Total

Agriculture 18 1 1 0 1 0 21 Business 5 8 30 0 1 0 44 Education 5 30 6 50 3 0 94 Finance 1 2 6 0 0 0 9 Federal Government 5 10 5 1 12 1 34 State/Local Government 6 12 4 1 3 7 33 Arts & Entertainment 1 9 1 1 0 0 12 Engineering 0 3 2 0 62 0 67 Healthcare 2 6 2 6 1 15 32 Nonprofit 0 5 0 2 0 1 8 Other 14 14 5 5 3 5 46 Total 57 100 62 66 86 29 400

The College of Education asked respondents to specify the education field of their job. Roughly, one-third said they had a job at a college or university, 14% of which were teaching and the other 19% in administration, while 39% were in K-12 teaching. Very few respondents had a job in K-12 Administration (Figure 8). Nearly half who selected “other” had positions working with early childhood education, while the other half had positions in higher education. These figures are relatively consistent between the current and 2014-15 versions of the survey. The list of other positions is in Appendix C.

4%

39%

14%

19%

24%

Figure 8: Education Field of Respondents with an Education Job

K-12AdministrationK-12 Teaching

College/UniversityTeachingCollege/UniversityAdministrationOther


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Salary is a very important consideration for many job candidates. Figure 9 reports annual salary by degree level. One out of every 3 bachelor degree graduates (30%) reported earning between $20,000 and $39,999 a year, with an additional 31% reporting between $40,000 and $59,999 a year. Among the master and doctorate degree levels, the most common salary range was between $40,000 and $59,999 a year, representing 38% and 49% of master’s and doctoral graduates, respectively. There is evidence of a wage premium to education in the data, as roughly one out of every five doctoral graduates reported earning at least $80,000 a year, compared to only 12% among master’s graduates and 4% among bachelor’s graduates. Figure 10 reports earnings across academic colleges. Engineering graduates earn the most on average, with roughly 61% of respondents reporting that they expect to earn at least $60,000 a year and an additional 30% expect to earn over $40,000. By contrast, graduates from the College of Agricultural, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences and the College of Arts & Sciences report the lowest average levels of actual/anticipated earnings. In both colleges, over half of graduates anticipate earning less than $40,000 a year and an additional 30% did not expect to make more than $59,000.

Finally, Figure 11 examines the distribution of earnings by industry of employment. Graduates entering the education and arts & entertainment fields tend to report among the lowest average levels of actual/anticipated earnings. In the Arts, nearly 90% of respondents expect to earn less than $40,000 a year; while in Education,57% expected to earn less than $40,000. Graduates who secured employment with the federal government or in the engineering field, by contrast, rank among the best-compensated individuals in the survey. 63% of engineering employees and 50% of federal government employees expect to earn $60,000 or more a year. Both sets of figures vary moderately from the 2014-2015 survey responses.

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

Bachelor

Masters

Doctorate

Figure 9: Annual Salaries by Degree Level

$0-$19,999 $20,000-$39,999

$40,000-$59,999 $60,000-$79,999

$80,000+

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

Health & Soc. Serv.Engineering

EducationBusiness

Arts & SciencesAgri., Cons., & Env. Sci.

Figure 10: Annual Salaries by College

$0-$19,999 $20,000-$39,999

$40,000-$59,999 $60,000-$79,999

$80,000+


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ADDITIONAL EMPLOYMENT QUESTIONS Nearly 95% of doctorate degree respondents reported full-time positions, while only 3% said their positions were temporary. The proportion of master degree respondents with a full-time job was slightly lower (90%), while the proportion of bachelor’s degree respondents with a full-time job was marginally lower (80%). However, the percentage of respondents securing full-time employment is higher amongst doctorate and bachelor degree respondents and only 2% lower amongst master degree respondents compared to last year. Slightly more than one-third of respondents who reported they already had a job/job offer said they had other job offers (Table 2). Approximately, 53% of respondents who had a job/job offer reported that other NMSU graduates were employed by their employer. Some of this high percentage is related to many of the graduates, especially at the master’s level, having employment at NMSU. Although many respondents said they were working on their degree while employed, well over 60% of respondents said they had no prior connection to their employer.

Table 2: General Questions of Respondents with Job/Job Offer Bachelor Masters Doctorate Total Count Percent Count Percent Count Percent Count Percent Have other job offers 116 45% 50 41% 15 38% 181 43% NMSU graduates already employed 134 53% 73 59% 14 35% 221 53% Prior connection to an employer 99 39% 47 38% 15 38% 161 39%

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

OtherState/Local Government

NonprofitHealthcare

FinanceFederal Government

EngineeringEducation

BusinessArts & Entertainment

Agriculture

Figure 11: Annual Salaries by Industry

$0-$19,999 $20,000-$39,999 $40,000-$59,999 $60,000-$79,999 $80,000+


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PARTICIPATION IN NMSU SERVICES NMSU offers opportunities for students to participate in Cooperative Education Programs (Co-ops) and internships. Although Co-ops are open to students in most majors, only eight percent of respondents reported they had a Co-op (Table 3). This average mainly encompassed bachelor and master degree levels, while only 2% for doctoral graduates. Internships were more common; 44% of bachelor respondents and 49% of master’s respondents said they had an internship. This percentage nearly doubled to 32% for doctoral respondents when compared to last year’s survey, where far fewer doctoral respondents indicated having an internship.

Table 3: Number of Respondents with Co-ops or Internships Bachelor Masters Doctorate Total Count Percent Count Percent Count Percent Count Percent Had a Co-op 55 8% 22 9% 1 2% 78 8% Had an Internship 306 44% 123 49% 15 32% 444 45% Having a Co-op may have given bachelor respondents a slight advantage in securing a job—55% of bachelor respondents who reported having a Co-op had a job/job offer compared to 45% who did not have a Co-op (Table 4). The difference was similar between students who had an internship (55% with a job) and those who did not (45% with a job).

Table 4: Bachelor Degree Respondents and Relationship

Have a job/offer Still looking Total Count Percent Count Percent Count Had a Co-op 26 55% 21 45% 47 Did not have a Co-op 227 50% 223 50% 450 Had an Internship 123 55% 100 45% 223 Did not have an Internship 130 47% 144 53% 274

In contrast, when students were asked what factors they thought led to their employment, 14% cited an internship (14% of bachelor respondents and 15% of master’s respondents) compared to only 2% who cited a co-op. There were several comments from students who believed the internship experience provided necessary skills as well as contacts to help them secure their job. See Table 5 on the next page for more details. These findings are largely similar to what was observed in the 2014-15 iteration of the survey. Thirty-one percent of students reported getting their job because of a direct application for the position. This was especially true for doctoral students (50%). Secondly, 27% of respondents with a job/job offer said their employment was a result of something other than the categories listed on the survey. Several respondents said they were continuing the position they had while working on their degree, while a few mentioned getting a position or a change in position after having worked for the company/organization at some time prior to graduation. Four percent of respondents credited NMSU faculty with getting their jobs, while a similar amount gave credit to family and friends. The “Other” categories are listed in Appendix D.


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Table 5: For Respondents with a Job/Job Offer, Employment was a result of… Bachelor Masters Doctorate Total Count Percent Count Percent Count Percent Count Percent On-Campus Career Fair 28 11% 6 5% 0 0% 34 8% Off-Campus Career Fair 6 2% 2 2% 1 3% 9 2% Career Services 1 0% 0 0% 0 0% 1 0% NMSU Faculty 9 4% 7 6% 2 6% 18 4% Direct Application 65 26% 43 37% 17 50% 125 31% Family Member 13 5% 3 3% 0 0% 16 4% Co-op 6 2% 3 3% 0 0% 9 2% Internship 36 14% 18 15% 2 6% 56 14% Summer Employment 21 8% 4 3% 1 3% 26 6% Other 68 27% 31 26% 11 32% 110 27% Total 253 100% 117 100% 34 100% 404 100% As a whole, participation in workshops, career fairs, and the Aggie Career Manager increased slightly from last year. Forty-five percent of bachelor respondents reported having participated in Career Fairs at NMSU, and 41% have used the Aggie Career Manager. However, only 17% said they attended any workshops. Slightly more than 30% of master’s respondents participated in a Career Fair, as did 20% of doctoral respondents. Slightly less doctoral students reported participating in workshops (18%). A few comments were received regarding the Career Fairs. While some students commented that the Fairs were useful for meeting potential employers, others suggested that a wider array of companies need to attend the Career Fairs.

NMSU COMMUNITY COLLEGE GRADUATES Thirty-eight of the 286 community college respondents to the survey received certificates, while the remaining 87% expected to receive an associate degree. Most of the respondents were graduating from Doña Ana Community College (Table 6).

Table 6: Awards of Respondents by Campus Award Category Alamogordo Carlsbad Dona Ana Grants Total Certificate 1 2 30 5 38 Associate 33 18 187 10 248 Total 34 20 217 15 286

Compared to last year, branch campus respondents were very similar to last year’s iteration. A similar number of respondents had plans to join the military (2% in 2015-16 and 2% in 2014-15), while slightly less intended to continue their education (15% in 2015-16 as opposed to 16% in 2014-15). Several students provided comments regarding their plans to continue their education. Overall, not quite half (43%) had a job or a job offer; this is comparable to last year’s results. Detailed employment plan statistics by community college are presented in Table 7 on the next page.


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Table 7: Employment Plans by Campus

Alamogordo Carlsbad Dona Ana Grants Count Percent Count Percent Count Percent Count Percent Have a job/offer 14 40% 11 55% 96 43% 5 31% Seeking employment 7 20% 4 20% 75 34% 6 38% Military or other 2 6% 0 0% 4 2% 0 0% Not seeking employment 5 14% 1 5% 19 9% 0 0% Continuing education 7 20% 4 20% 29 13% 5 31% Total 35 100% 20 100% 223 100% 16 100%

Table 8 presents data on the industry of employment among community college respondents who indicated that they had a job/job offer. Across all campuses, the most commonly identified industry sectors were Business, Education, and Healthcare. A sizeable number of respondents identified ‘Other’ sectors, as well. These figures are similar to those indicated in the 2014-2015 responses.

Table 8: Industry Sector of Job, by Campus Alamogordo Carlsbad Dona Ana Grants Total Agriculture 1 0 1 0 2 Business 1 0 18 1 20 Education 1 2 17 1 21 Finance 1 0 2 0 3 Federal Government 0 0 3 0 3 State/Local Government 2 1 2 0 5 Arts & Entertainment 0 0 8 0 8 Engineering 1 1 4 1 7 Healthcare 4 6 22 2 34 Nonprofit 1 0 1 0 2 Other 2 1 18 0 21 Total 14 11 96 5 126

The location data presented in Figure 12 reveals that nearly 9 out of every 10 community college graduates who either secured a job or were offered a job will be working within New Mexico.

88%

6%6%

Figure 12: Location of Employer

New Mexico(N=108)

Texas (N=8)

Other, USA(N=7)


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Figure 13 summarizes reported earnings data across each of the five campuses. Since the number of observations is very low for many of the campuses (Grants N=5; Carlsbad N=11; Alamogordo N=13), these figures should be interpreted with caution. Across all of the community college campuses (N=120), three out of every four graduates reported earning less than $40,000 a year.

Table 9 provides information about participation in internships and co-ops among community college graduates. Results vary substantially by campus, with the Doña Ana graduates having the highest participation rate in internships and Grants the highest in Co-op participation. Although roughly 23% of NMSU Alamogordo respondents said they had completed an internship, no students had participated in a Co-op. Internships and Co-ops were very rare at NMSU Carlsbad and NMSU Grants. Compared to last year, internship participation rates decreased at Alamogordo (from 29% to 23%) and Carlsbad (from 10% to 5%), but increased slightly at Doña Ana (from 24% to 26%) and Grants (from 0% to 6%). Co-op participation rates grew slightly among graduates from Carlsbad, while decreasing at Doña Ana, Grants, and Alamogordo campuses.

Table 9: Respondents Reporting an Internship or a Co-op

Campus Total Had an Internship Had a Co-op

Count Percent Count Percent

Alamogordo 35 8 23% 0 0%

Carlsbad 19 1 5% 1 5%

Dona Ana 215 55 26% 20 9%

Grants 16 1 6% 2 13%

Total 285 65 23% 23 8%

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

All Campuses

Grants

Dona Ana

Carlsbad

Alamogordo

Figure 13: Annual Salaries by Campus

$0-$19,999 $20,000-$39,999 $40,000-$59,999

$60,000-$79,999 $80,000+


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As with the Las Cruces campus graduates, a majority (38%) of the community college graduates had another reason for why they got their job/job offer rather than the options listed in the survey (Figure 14). These included continuing their current employment and reasons related to previous employment (See Appendix D). Branch campus students did not cite the Career Fairs or Career Services for getting their jobs. However, some students, especially Doña Ana Community College respondents, said they had participated in the Career Services activities of Aggie Career Manager, Career Fairs, and Workshops (Table 10). These results indicate workshop and career fair participation nearly doubled over those observed on last year’s survey.

Table 10: Participation in Career Services Activities by Community College Respondents Alamogordo Carlsbad Dona Ana Grants Total Workshops 0 0 37 2 39 Career Fairs 1 0 49 3 53 AggieCareer Manager 2 0 63 1 66 None of the above 32 18 123 13 186 Total 35 18 272 19 344

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

On-Campus Career FairCo-op

Career ServicesOff-Campus Career Fair

Summer EmploymentNMSU Faculty

InternshipFamily Member

Direct ApplicationOther Reason

Figure 14: Community College Respondents, Employment as a Result of…


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STUDENT VOICES The last question in the survey asked respondents for any open-ended comments they deemed relevant and worth sharing. Table 11 presents the distribution of these comments across general thematic categories. Of the 251 comments received (20% of all respondents), roughly one-third focused on NMSU career and professional services (i.e., Aggie Career Manager, Career Fair, or Career Services). Several of these comments offered ways to improve service and to improve Aggie Career Manager, while others mentioned how the Center helped them to get their job. Roughly 17% of respondents willingly discussed their plans for life after graduation—mostly regarding plans for furthering their studies, often after taking some time off to work. Another 20% of comments were overall reflections—frequently manifested in statements of sincere appreciate for NMSU and, in particular, appreciation for the community colleges. Other comments conveyed more detailed appreciation of the education they received, the faculty, and their programs of study. There was an equal amount of comments provided this year when compared to last year. Additionally, the thematic categories and percentage within each theme matched last year’s totals fairly closely. The similarity in comments, in addition to similarities in the overall results of the survey, when compared to last year, may indicate consistency in NMSU preparing students for life after college.

Table 11: Comments by Theme

Theme Count Percent Aggie Career Manager 10 4% Career Fair 28 11% Career Services 51 20% Department, Program, or College 25 10% Future Plans 43 17% Internships/Co-ops 16 6% Not Applicable 8 3% No Comment 7 3% Online Students 9 4% Overall 50 20% Survey 4 2% Total 251 100%

2015 - 2016 first destination survey - career services · 2017-01-20 · 2015-16 first destination...

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