Master’s degree graduates from 2021 enjoy easier entry in the labour market

The keynote notes that it exclusively focuses on French graduates (96,000 students under 30 years old), but also highlights two main steps: returning to studies, for 27.4% of them, and entering professional life, for 78.1% of students graduating from university.

The post-health crisis is more favourable

The keynote from the ministry of higher education focuses on this aspect: Master’s graduates from 2021 graduated after the health crisis and its impacts on the labour market. And the study underlines that “the part of students who returned to studies is now shrinking”: 27.4% versus 28.6% for the previous promotion. In contrary, students who entered the labour marker enjoyed higher insertion: 78.1% have a paid job 18 months after graduating, versus 74.8% for the previous promotion (+3.3 points), a promotion for which “insertion on the labour market was hindered on the year of graduation by the impacts of the health crisis”.

Easier insertion depending on study courses

In detail, the study registered several major trends:

• Graduates from law-Economy-Management (DEG in French for Droit-Economie-Gestion) enjoy the fastest and deepest insertion. Paid job rate 18 months after graduation reaches 77.1%, a 1.8 point increase compared with the 2020 promotion. Their insertion is also the fastest: 64.3% had a paid job in France after 6 months.
• insertion after 18 months of graduates in Literature-Languages-Arts (LLA) and Sciences-Technology-Health (STS, for Sciences-Technologies-Santé) stays buoyant: it is 4.2 points higher compared with the previous promotion.

Employment occurs mainly in the private sector

The keynote also stresses that professional insertion of master’s graduates in 2021 occurs “mainly as a permanent job in the private sector for non-teaching master’s graduates 18 months after graduation”.

Indeed, most graduates (63.5%) completing a non-teaching master’s course who have a paid job in France entered the private sector in permanent contract. About 30% have a fixed-term contract in the public of private sector. According to the keynote, only 3.3% graduates obtain a permanent contracts in the public sector and appointments in the public service.

Slight improvement in for women

Another lesson to be learned from the keynote: paid employment in France for Master’s graduates in 2021 is slightly higher for women at all measurement dates after graduation. Thus, 18 months after graduation, the salaried employment rate in France for women is 75.3% for non-teaching Master’s graduates compared with 74.8% for men (90.6%), a 0.4 points gap. More specifically, the salaried employment rate in France is higher for women in DEG, LLA and SHS. Conversely, it is higher for men in STS (+0.6 point).

It should be noted, however, that while men are slightly less likely than women to be in paid employment in France, “when they do have a job, it is more likely to be a stable one”: 69.5% of men have an permanent contract, compared with 61.3% of women, and 32.4% of employed women have a fixed-term contract, compared with 24.2% of men.

To know more

Read the keynote