Athens, Ga. – The job market for journalism and mass communication graduates showed signs of continued improvement in 2012 and 2013, suggesting that the worst in terms of the market is in the past.
Those earning bachelor’s degrees from journalism and mass communication programs around the country reported higher salaries than a year earlier, and the increase offset the impact of the relatively low inflation in the country.
The improvements in the job market were not universal. Master’s degree recipients reported difficulty finding work and the same average salary as a year earlier.
University of Georgia researchers released these findings from the Annual Survey of Journalism and Mass Communication Graduates at the annual conference of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication today. The meeting is being held at the Renaissance Washington, D.C. Downtown Hotel.
Researchers Lee B. Becker, Tudor Vlad and Holly Simpson reported that just fewer than three out of four of those earning bachelor’s degrees in journalism and mass communication in the spring of 2012 had at least one job upon graduation, comparable to what was true a year earlier.
By Oct. 31-the benchmark date for comparison year-to-year-56 percent of the bachelor’s degree recipients had a full-time job, up just slightly from 53 percent a year earlier, they said.
The rate of employment improved in the months after graduation, they found, and 66 percent of the graduates reported holding a full-time job roughly six to eight months after graduation.
Bachelor’s degree recipients were more likely to have found a job in the field of communication than a year earlier, with 60 percent of them employed six to eight months after graduation.
Those earning master’s degrees in journalism and mass communication in 2012 saw no improvement in the job market compared with what was experienced by graduates a year earlier, according to the research team.
“The job market for journalism and mass communication graduates in 2012 was not much improved from the year before, but the movement was in the right direction, at least for those who earned a bachelor’s degree,” the researchers reported.
Bachelor’s degree recipients who found full-time work earned on average $32,000 in 2012, compared with $31,000 a year earlier. The increase offset the impact of inflation. Master’s degree recipients with full-time jobs earned $40,000 in 2012, the same as their counterparts in 2011.
The Annual Survey of Journalism and Mass Communication Graduates is designed to monitor the employment rates and salaries of graduates of journalism and mass communication programs in the United States, including Puerto Rico, in the year after graduation.
Becker has directed the survey since 1987, and since 1997, the survey has operated from the James M. Cox Jr. Center for International Mass Communication Training and Research at the University of Georgia Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication.
Becker is director of the Cox International Center and Vlad is associate director of the center. Simpson is a graduate student in the center. Konrad Kalpen, who recently completed his graduate studies at the University of Georgia, also contributed to the report.
The complete Cox Center report is available at www.grady.uga.edu/annualsurveys/.
UGA Grady College
Established in 1915, the UGA Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication offers undergraduate majors in journalism, advertising, public relations, digital and broadcast journalism and mass media arts. The college offers two graduate degrees and is home to the Knight Chair in Health and Medical Journalism and the Peabody Awards, internationally recognized as one of the most prestigious prizes for excellence in electronic media. For more information, see http://www.grady.uga.edu or follow @UGAGrady on Twitter.
