ISSUES
: Business and Trade
Chapter 1: Business today
6
Graduate entrepreneurs call for
more support from universities
Are the UK’s universities missing their students’
entrepreneurial potential? According to graduates, they could be...
88% of graduates have considered
freelancing or being self-employed...
...with more men than
women considering
going it alone
More than half of graduates freelanced during
their studies...
Most graduates’ universities didn’t offer enough
advice about freelancing and self-employment
Graduates thought the biggest
barriers to going freelance were:
Graduates thought the biggest
advantages of taking on graduate
freelancers were:
...for these reasons
21%
23%
36%
Definitely
Probably
Maybe
2011-15
total
considering
80%
48% 52%
45%
22%
to gain experience
to help pay bills
62%
19%
12%
Not discussed at all
Discussed but not in depth
Did discuss
53%
44%
38% 37%
16%
55%
50% 49% 47% 46%
Not being able to cover costs
Not enough adequate experience
Not familiar with business processes
Lack of contacts/network
Expectation of parents & peers
Up-to-date subject knowledge
Flexibility
Not limited by processes
Being able to think outside the box
More enthusiasm
Infographic reproduced with
kind permission from PolicyBee.
Please visit
for further information.
© PolicyBee
Research was conducted by Youth Sight on behalf of PolicyBee during July 2015, among 1,002 graduates.
