Lockdown inspired career changers to enrol in postgraduate study

Demand for postgraduate courses surged during the pandemic as people reacted to lockdowns and lost jobs by deciding to retrain or extend their skills.

There have been three distinct groups of people enrolling in postgraduate study in the last year or two, according to Flinders University ­education dean Debra ­Bateman – ­career changers, ­career extenders and profes­sional/Covid responders.

While all three areas grew, the third cohort was largely “an emergent group looking for specific studies that will enhance an identified gap in professional practice or the desire to develop new skills to respond to a specific Covid consequence or issue”, Professor Bateman said.

“A small group of this last cohort may also be using studies for personal development, rather than for employment purposes.”

Popular courses at Flinders include psychology, continuing professional education nursing, allied health, wellbeing and positive mental health (education), but across the sector there is a wide range of skills in demand.

Other universities have also seen a jump in demand for postgraduate study. Particularly popular areas include cybersecurity, data science and, not surprisingly given supply problems during the Covid-19 pandemic, logistics.

RMIT Online said that during the pandemic (the 2020-21 financial year) enrolments for the Master of Data Science Strategy and Leadership increased by 64 per cent, while demand for the Master of Supply Chain and Logistics Management rose by 45 per cent, and the Master of Business Administration by 37 per cent.

RMIT Online product director Julian Stevenson said there was “a huge demand for online data science postgraduate degrees as the volume of information and data available to organisations is growing exponentially and, in parallel, so is demand for skilled professionals in data science”.

Data science was also popular at Charles Sturt University and UNSW, the latter also seeing ­increased interest in data analytics and cybersecurity. A UNSW spokesperson said Covid had led to “the acceleration of digital transformation across the economy [and] buoyed the demand for these ‘skills of the future’.”

Likewise the increased spotlight on health outcomes, including mental health and the importance of health, has sparked increased interest in medical and biomedical sciences including psychology and science generally.

A University of Sydney spokesperson said there had been a 15 per cent increase in domestic postgraduate enrolments over the last two years, including a 30 per cent increase for health and medicine-related programs, but there was “no indication yet this increase signifies a trend”.

University of Queensland vice-chancellor Deborah Terry said postgraduate demand from Australian students had risen sharply when the pandemic started, with semester two 2020 admissions up 66 per cent compared to 2019 and they had “remained strong throughout 2021, with our intake 14 per cent higher than pre-pandemic levels in semester one and 30 per cent in semester two”.

Professor Terry said growth had been particularly strong in environmental management, public health, epidemiology, nursing, teaching and business.

At Victoria University, postgraduate nursing and education qualifications had showed strong growth, with the graduate diploma in early childhood education, for example, experiencing treble the usual demand. “In nursing, certainly something going on that’s Covid-related – (possibly) a call to arms or maybe a recognition that these are skills that are going to be in demand over the long haul,” arts and education dean Rob Strathdee said.

University of Melbourne deputy vice-chancellor (academic) Gregor Kennedy said that, despite it being relatively early in the enrolment cycle for 2022, there was increased demand for a range of domestic postgraduate courses compared to pre-pandemic levels.

“It not clear that the pandemic is the primary reason,” Professor Kennedy said. “Government campaigns encouraging students to consider careers in some program areas are likely to be contributing to students showing an interest.” Areas of increased interest included public health, teacher education, information technology and social work.

The increased demand for University of Technology Sydney’s property and construction postgraduate courses was caused by the current boom in the property market, said its School for the Built Environment head Jua Cilliers. “We’ve been approached by industry partners looking to ­appoint our graduates in property,” she said.

Independent Tertiary Education Council Australia chief executive Troy Williams said increased enrolments in disciplines such as health and hospitality were driven by the “more focused environment” for postgraduates to acquire new knowledge. Independent providers were “often specialists in a particular field”.