Women graduates

The report, tabled at the Annual Meeting of the University Council last month, said, however, that most employers are reluctant to consider women graduates for positions requiring a significant amount of training because there is a greater risk of losing them before the investment in training could produce worthwhile returns.

The average working life of women graduates would be clearly much shorter than that of their male counterparts but no conclusive information is readily available, especially from the private sector, on how men and women graduates compare in the avertime spent in first jobs.

The Report said it was significant that more women general arts graduates were known to have found jobs with business firms this year.

"While the numbers involved are still small, three spontaneous and favourable reports have been received which make it clear that after only six months the employers concerned are very pleased with the experiment."

The Report added that it would be grossly misleading to suggest that within a few years the business world would be willing and able to absorb all the interested women graduates but at least this year has been the first time that a significant albeit small improvement could be recorded.

Commenting on the demand for graduates the Report said that there was an increased unsatisfied demand for good graduates in statistics, accountancy, economics, the pure sciences and mathematics. There was also a further shift towards more emphasis by employers on leadership and management potential in hese specialised fields.

The shortage of graduates in some fields has, according to the report, encouraged employers concerned to improve the image of their field of employment.