SOC (HE)
For more information, see SOC (HE): A classification of occupations for studying the graduate labour market, Researching Graduate Careers Seven Years On research paper no.6, Peter Elias and Kate Purcell, March 2004. http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/ier/research/current/7yrs2/
The five categories of SOC (HE) are:
Traditional graduate occupations
These are the established professions for which a degree has historically been required. Solicitors, research scientists, architects and medical practitioners are all examples. They typically require the post-holder to be an expert in a very specific area.
Modern graduate occupations
The expansion of higher education in the 1960s, and the development of new professional fields in areas such as IT, have resulted in the development of a range of newer professions requiring graduate-level qualifications. Software programmers, journalists, primary school teachers and chief executives are all examples of modern graduate occupations. They require the post-holders to be ‘experts’, but also often to have more strategic or interactive responsibility than a traditional graduate job.
New graduate occupations
These are areas of employment that are often rapidly expanding in today’s labour market. The nature of these jobs has changed relatively recently to mean that the most accepted route into them is via a graduate-level qualification. Marketing, management accountancy, therapists and many forms of engineer are examples of new graduate occupations. They typically require a higher level of strategic responsibility or of ability to interact with others, and less need for them to be an expert in a topic.
Niche graduate occupations
This area is expanding. Many occupations do not require graduate-level qualifications, but contain within them specialist niches that do require degrees to enter. Nursing, retail managers, specialist electrical engineers and graphic designers all fall into this category. Often they require a combination of skills, such as managerial and expert skills, but equally often the need is for an ‘all-rounder’ with a range of abilities.
Non-graduate occupations
All jobs that do not fall into the previous four categories are considered ‘non-graduate occupations’. This does not automatically imply that it is not appropriate for a graduate to be doing them, or that a graduate in one of these occupations cannot enjoy a fulfilling job. It means that, in the main, a degree is not required to enter these occupations.
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