"Pragmatic" graduates target business and economics

Students and recent graduates are adopting a "new pragmatism" to deal with the rising cost of university and a difficult jobs market, with many ditching arts degrees in favour of qualifications in business and economics, according to a new poll.

The survey of 1,086 graduates and students by recruitment website reed.co.uk found that 23 per cent had opted for a business or economics course.

Only 15 per cent were studying arts or languages, while nine per cent were taking IT and computer sciences.

Thirty-per cent of respondents had graduated last year, while ten per cent were set to leave university in 2012. The remainder had graduated in a fairly even spread over the past four years.

Reed said that the "pragmatic approach" to studies and the move away from arts and humanities reflects the realities of the current jobs market. It current has 12,000 accountancy jobs on its books, while media, digital and creative posts are barely a sixth of that number.

Earlier this month, a report from the Association of Graduate Recruiters predicted that the number of graduate vacancies would shrink by 1.2 per cent in 2012 compared with last year.

Despite the projected decline, the association's chief executive Carl Gilleard said: "The findings show that the market is predicted to remain relatively stable, which is a relief and should be seen as good news against an uncertain national, European and global economy."