Sat. May 06, 2005 | Somaaljecel

By: Mohamed Mukhtar

Imagine if you are a university graduate and keen to jump on the employment ladder of success but has two stark choices. The first one is to be unemployed and the second one is to be underemployed. It is not an admirable position but that is the stark choice facing Adam, a university graduate in London, and many more like him.

Not so long ago I was in my office when I heard a light knock on the door. Then I turned to my left and saw a familiar face poking through the door. Politeness and engaging smile are the two traits that you cannot fail to notice when you meet Adam. We quickly exchanged hellos and started chatting. I knew that he was a computer science graduate but I have never managed to gather how he earns his living. I casually asked him what line of work he does. “I work one day a week for a voluntary organization,” Adam answered in a witty manner. His answer came no surprise to me, as I am familiar with many Somali graduates who are in the same situation.

“If my case is not bad enough,” said Adam sarcastically. “Abdi, my housemate, holds MA Migration and Diasporas Studies but he works as a security guard.” Unconsciously I racked a section of my brain, which is meant to store the names of Somali graduates who are unemployed or feel underemployed in their current jobs. It has started transmitting names like Ali, who holds MSc Economics, is a bus driver. Ahmed completed his MA Philosophy two years ago but he is still looking for a job. Before the list could get any longer I chose to halt and start to put this employment matter into context.

The challenges that these graduates face did not start at the graduate labor market but started long before they have even finished their high schools. Most of these degree holders are victims of a civil war and refugees in this country. English is not their first language and most of them are from low-income families. A large number of them might have lived in other countries before coming to the UK and coming to finish their education in the UK presents great deal of challenges. Some of these graduates have experienced bullying and racial harassment.

Despite them facing serious social, economic and linguistic barriers, these graduates completed their education with sheer determination by doing few classes here and few classes there as they moved around a lot. Some of them could be described as transient pupils. Their purpose of university was not to be frozen out from the employment market, but they have found out that being from a marginalized ethnic community a degree would not give you a head start. 

It is almost every student’s dream to go to a higher education to get higher social status and income; however that dream is not true for these graduates. According to the Government's Department of Education and Skills, today's graduates can expect to earn a modest £120,000 more across their entire lifetime, than those with two A-levels who go straight into employment. This report has not clearly taken into account these graduates as most of them are not doing graduate jobs.

In fact, a significant number of these graduates, those who are lucky enough to have jobs, are working in menial jobs earning as little as non-graduate workers earn, while others are still dreaming for highly paid jobs although they are unemployed. Sadly, a report published by Prospects, the UK’s official graduate careers, said, “Graduates unemployed six months after graduation spent longer periods unemployed and had lower future earnings.” Does this mean that their degrees have been of no advantage whatsoever?

Since most of these graduates are either unemployed or hold jobs that do not require a university degree, they are seriously exploring the potential of self-employment as an option. The Institute for Employment Studies says, “The graduate labor market is changing, and with no promises of linear corporate careers, self-employment offers wider opportunities.” Unfortunately every graduate does not have what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur. John Mack Carter, publisher of Good Housekeeping, once said, “Ninety-nine percent of the people in the world should be working for somebody.”

Even those who have the will and determination to create an employment opportunity for themselves don’t have the necessary experience to do so. Mark McCormack writes in his outstanding book: What They Don’t Teach You at Harvard Business School, “The new businesses that are most likely to succeed are the ones that have some relation to what you are already doing for someone else.” What about if you are unemployed?  McCormack goes on to say, “If you want to be in your own business because you are unappreciated or undervalued, forget it. These are not reasons for starting a business; these are reasons for running away from your present job.”

The problem of graduate employment is not confined to the Somali graduates, for example, according to figures collated by the Higher Education Statistics Agency, the unemployment rate among graduates of 2004 is 5.9% which is higher than the national unemployment rate, 4.75%. A quarter of a million graduates from all over the UK who received their first degree in 2004 took part the survey and almost half of them said they were in non-graduate jobs. If the employment market is not favorable for the graduates from the mainstream just imagine what is like for graduates from a marginalize community.      

Mohamed Mukhtar

London

Email:   mohamed323@hotmail.com