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