Study title

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.The Students as Catalysts of City and Regional Growth: Employer Survey, 2008-2009 was conducted as part of a wider piece of research investigating the impact of higher education (HE) students on cities. The research examined how HE students impact on cities, neighbourhoods and disadvantaged communities, and collected data from five case study cities using both interviews and a telephone survey of employers. Responses were coded into a quantitative data file. The survey provided for the first time a broad-ranging overview of employers' motivation in hiring students and their perceived advantages and disadvantages as employees. In accordance with the proposed approach a target list of business 'types' was developed (by sector and location) to target sectors known to be significant employers of students. Though difficult and extremely time-consuming in practice, 150 interviews were successfully completed with a broadly similar profile of employers in each city (including 79 retailers; 61 hospitality employers, and 5 each of call centres and stadia). Questions were a mix of closed and more open questions and the latter were recorded in detail to provide qualitative insights to supplement the quantitative summary measures (these are included in the quantitative data file). Responses were spread equally across the cities, with the exception of slightly fewer in Sunderland (24), simply because its smaller scale meant that categories of potential interviewees were exhausted more quickly. The sampling was purposive rather than representative of employers. It was designed to allow comparison of a similar set of employers between the case study cities (though ultimately few statistically divergent answers were found) and also to allow a comparison of views and experiences of employing students between the hospitality and retail sectors (the two most significant employers of student labour). Further...