University Students Willing to Accept Unrelated Jobs, Study Finds: The majority of university students are willing to accept a job unrelated to the degree they studied for in order to start earning money, new research has found.

The survey, which was conducted by Mintel, discovered that over half (54%) of the university students questioned would take a job irrelevant to their qualification to start receiving an income.

University Students Willing to Accept Unrelated Jobs Finds Education Market Research

Somewhat dull career prospects don’t appear to dampen students’ motivation levels though, with seven in 10 (70%) stating success in their future career is important to them. Almost half (47%) of the survey’s respondents said they are confident about their job prospects upon leaving higher education, with around one in 10 (11%) saying they tend not to worry about the future.

Around two fifths (43%) believe the increased tuition fees charged by universities have made students think more carefully about which subjects to study at university, and just over half (51%) say the raised fees should equate to additional services being provided by the institutions.

One quarter (25%) of the students questioned said universities’ increased tuition fees had put financial strains on themselves or their family.

However, despite these monetary pressures, one third (32%) said their parents do not mind what they pursue once they have finished university, with less than one in seven saying their parents expect them to follow a certain career path. Just 15% said they were concerned about outside pressure from their parents to achieve good grades.

The study found that the top worry for students today is having a workload that is too heavy for them (56%), with marginally less (54%) stating that anxiety over their bank balance is a key concern. Despite the majority of respondents fretting over their financial balance, almost nine in 10 (86%) said they get by or have money left at the end of the month, with just 14% saying they are constantly in their overdraft or have fallen behind with the payment of bills.