While the UK’s top female students are ruling out careers in the City seeing it as unethical and rife with discrimination, two thirds of healthcare workers are enthusiastic about their jobs, with nine out of ten feeling that they really make a difference.
 
According to a survey of 450 female undergraduates at Oxford University undertaken by the educational establishment and published by the Times newspaper, a huge three quarters saw the financial services industry as making little contribution to society, with most viewing banking in particular as "demonstrably unethical".
 
Moreover, when asked to rate eight sectors, a massive 85% of respondents viewed banking as the occupation in which they were most likely to come up against discrimination compared with only 50% of men.
 
As a result, seven out of ten felt that the high salaries provided were outweighed by poor promotion prospects, while half believed they would face discrimination in relation to workplace culture and pay. A further 35% felt that they would be discriminated against on a day-to-day basis and three out of ten in how flexibly they could work.
 
The most appealing careers, which were considered to balance good pay and benefits with making a contribution to society, were in engineering and environmental work. Many thought employment in teaching and medicine was secure and socially useful, but also felt that such positions offered poor rewards and little independence.
 
The research was carried out after a bank and management consultancy questioned why only a third of Oxford applicants for graduate posts were women. About 10% of the university’s total graduates go on to work in the Square Mile.
 
The findings will be circulated to the University’s main graduate recruiters, which include the Bank of England, HSBC and Morgan Stanley.

Elsewhere, a second study showed that a huge 68% of NHS personnel were enthusiastic about their jobs, with 81% believing that they were interesting and 76% indicating that the time passed quickly while they were working. Nearly three quarters of respondents were also able to take advantage of flexible working options.
 
Gill Belford, director for core member services at NHS Employers, which represents Trusts on workforce issues, said: "NHS organisations recognise that excellent staff engagement is perhaps the most important factor in responding to the economic downturn and the increasing demands on the healthcare system."
 
The NHS Staff Survey, which was undertaken by the Care Quality Commission, also revealed that, while only 44% of respondents felt that they were provided with good opportunities to develop their potential at work, nearly eight out of ten had received job-relevant training, learning or development over the last 12 months.
 
Moreover, 69% had received an appraisal within the last year, up 5% on the year before, although only a third said they were well structured. About six out of ten indicated that such appraisals had included personal development plans, however, up 5% on the previous year.
 
But some areas still required more work, said Belford. For example, less than four out of ten respondents felt that they worked in a well-structured team environment. Many also said that they suffered from high levels of pressure. Such work pressure was ranked on average at 3.08, with one indicating no pressure and five extremely high levels.
 
In addition, around 17% of those questioned had experienced bullying, harassment or abuse from either their line manager or other colleagues, down by only a marginal 1% on 2008 and 2007. Similar treatment from patients or their relatives was on a downward trend, however, with 21% of those questioned experiencing such behaviour in 2009 compared with 2008 (23%) and 2007 (26%).