A new look into the US college experience and graduates' subsequent professional lives has been carried out by Purdue University and Lumina Foundation.
From a survey of just under 30,000, the inaugural Gallup-Purdue Index reveals that those who majored in business education at undergraduate level were more likely to report high levels of job satisfaction and 'purpose well-being' if they went on to pursue postgraduate study.
Whether they took degrees in postgraduate business education (be it an MBA or related degree) or in another discipline was not specified. However, students of all undergraduate backgrounds reported higher levels of job satisfaction and well-being if they advanced to the level of postgraduate study, according to the Gallup-Purdue Index.
For undergraduate majors in business education, postgraduate study saw 10% more graduates report (56% overall) that they were 'thriving' in their professional lives and 7% more of this same group (43% overall) strongly agreed that they held a deep interest in their current work.
But, these rises still placed business majors behind than their equivalents in the job satisfaction stakes who, at undergraduate level, had chosen to major in social sciences/education, sciences/engineering, or arts and humanities.
Postgraduate study among arts and humanities undergraduate majors, for instance, led to a high level of interest in their current work being reported by 52% of those surveyed - a rise of 14%.
In addition, the Gallup-Purdue Index noted that among these four groups, it was undergraduate majors in business education that were the least likely, at 22%, to take on postgraduate study.
Yet business was the most popular field to major in among undergraduates, accounting for a fifth of all those surveyed, leading the Gallup-Purdue Index to express its concern that: "business majors do not outperform other majors in important metrics that ensure graduates have 'great jobs' and 'great lives'."
Tim is a writer with a background in consumer journalism and charity communications. He trained as a journalist in the UK and holds degrees in history (BA) and Latin American studies (MA).
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