Location of Employment

As one might expect, Bridgewater graduates continue to work in the Commonwealth and contribute to the vitality of the Massachusetts economy; approximately 92 percent of this year’s respondents are employed in the state, up 10 percent over last year. For the 1998 graduates, only 2 percent indicated that they were employed in other New England states and 6 percent outside the Northeast.

The Class of 1998 graduates are employed in a variety of fields. Thirty-nine percent indicated that they were employed in Business, either manufacturing or non-manufacturing. Thirty percent reported employment in Education (including Elementary, Early Childhood, Physical Education and Special Education) and 10 percent in human services and the health fields. Given the educational preparation of these graduates, these results are not surprising. The vast majority of respondents were Management Science, Education, and Behavioral Sciences majors. The number of graduates in government positions doubled from 3 percent in 1997 to 6 percent in 1998.

Relatively few graduates indicated that they were self-employed (2 percent), in the Military (1 percent) or in volunteer service (1 percent).

Relation of Position to Academic Major

Graduates were asked to identify the degree to which their position was related to their academic major. Approximately 80 percent felt that their current position was either directly or somewhat related to their major. With the strong job market and the low unemployment rate, many graduates have had the opportunity to find and secure positions more closely related to their field.

Graduates were also asked how well they thought BSC prepared them for their position by responding to the statement, "The academic program at BSC prepared me for my current position" using a scale from strongly agree to strongly disagree. Overall, 81 percent agreed or strongly agreed with the statement. It appears that since many were able to find employment in their chosen field, graduates felt good about their overall academic preparation.

Graduate’s Rating of the Academic Program

"The academic program at BSC prepared me for my current position"

Salary Data

[Out of the 562 returned surveys 83 percent of the Class of 1998 answered the salary range question.]

With news of the national and regional economy continuing to flourish, one might expect to hear that BSC salaries for the Class of '98 are increasing in turn. Although more students are employed than in 1998, salaries have seen only slight increases.

The best news is in Management Science, approximately 43 percent of the graduates indicated that they were earning between $24-$29,999 per year. Twenty-seven percent indicated they were earning between $30,000-$35,999 per year up 14 percent over last year. Ten percent of Management graduates who responded to this question are earning $39,000 or above.

The salary picture for Education graduates is similar to 1997 when looking at those earning between $18,000-$23,999 (24 percent) in 1997 and (23 percent) in 1998. Those earning between $24,000-$29,999 represented (36 percent) 1997, and (37 percent), 1998. The major changes this year were in the top and lower ranges. Those earning $30,000 and above represented 12 percent in 1998 and only 4 percent in 1997. On the lower end, only 8 percent indicate they were earning less than $12,000 down nine percent from a year ago.

Information on national and regional starting salaries can be provided upon request.  Please contact Brian Salvaggio

BSC Salary Data for Graduates Employed Full-Time

Methods of Obtaining Current Position

Graduates were asked to reveal what they considered to be their primary source used to obtain their current position. Thirty five percent of the graduates indicated that they obtained their position from networking (up 10 percent over 1997). This is not surprising given the strong focus our office has given to networking-related activities. Twenty-six percent obtained their current positions from newspapers or professional journals and another 10 percent indicated that they were hired directly from their internship.

Five percent of our graduates indicated that they used an employment agency to obtain their current position. As we have seen before, graduates are using a variety of employment methods to find their jobs and networking continues to be an important strategy in finding the first job.

Graduate School

Approximately 17 percent of the respondents were enrolled full-time (9 percent) or part-time (8 percent) in graduate or professional school at the time of this survey. The consistent trend shows that from 1994-1998 between 13 to 17 percent of our graduates go directly on to graduate school. Increasingly, graduate programs are encouraging applicants to have at least a year or two of professional work experience before enrolling. With a strong economy, we will probably not see a large increase in graduate school enrollment directly out of college.

Of the ninety-six people who indicated they were enrolled in graduate school, 84 percent are in masters programs, 14 percent in post baccalaureate programs and two percent are in doctoral programs. Almost thirty-eight percent are enrolled at Bridgewater State College and the majority of graduates are enrolled in education related programs (71 percent). Appendix B outlines some of the graduate programs and colleges where the graduates are enrolled.

Notes/Acknowledgements:

• Included in Appendix C is a Summary Sheet of the responses to survey items for all graduates. For any major with more than 10 responses we can provide a break out report. Please contact Brian Salvaggio, Career Services, at 697-1328 for details or by e-mail at bsalvaggio@bridgew.edu

• For a copy of this report and a list of the employers not included here, go to our web site at http://www.bridgew.edu/CareerServices/surv98.cfm

• Special thanks to Pat O’Brien and Stephanie Ryan from the Office of Institutional Research who assisted us with the survey data.

Brian Salvaggio,
Director, Career Services

Last Modified: October 6, 2003