Mizzou’s graduates from last year have found fewer jobs than the class the year before, according to an annual survey by the school.

The study, which had a 50 percent response rate, showed that the percentage of 2007-08 graduates who were employed within 6 months of graduation had decreased by 7 percent from the previous year. The employment rate was 78 percent, compared to 85 percent for 06-07 graduates.

That’s probably not a huge surprise, given the tough economy that has confronted the more recent graduates.

My colleagues and I here in the newsroom have also noted with interest (and alarm) that the undergraduate school of journalism had the lowest percentage of graduates — 62 percent — who reported having a job. But again, we were not surprised. On the other end, the most successful undergraduate school was engineering, which had 96 percent of graduates with jobs.

Engineering graduates also had the highest average salary at $53,500. The lowest average salaries went to graduates of social work ($25,400) and education ($29,000).

Finally, the survey also showed a continued gender disparity in pay. Overall, male graduates made an average of $46,900 a year compared to female graduates who made $41,300. Part of that may be because more women took lower-paying jobs as teachers and social workers. But women also made less than their male counterparts in nearly every other category.

One notable exception was engineering. Companies apparently value female engineers enough to pay them more. Women with engineering degrees made $56,700, compared to the men who made $52,600 on average.

The Grade is the St. Louis region’s premier blog on education and child welfare. To read other recent posts, go to www.stltoday.com/thegrade.

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