Graduate employment trends in the life sciences: implications for microbiology educators

Abstract

Graduates in the Life Sciences, including microbiology have experienced similar employment trends to graduates in other fields over the past 30 years. Recent downward trends in graduate employment levels have raised concerns among educators and the community in general. Awareness of the diverse opportunities for graduates of microbiology is needed. For many, explicit education in ‘employability skills' is also considered to be needed to enable graduates to succeed in the competitive job market.