The brief
The University of Southampton wanted to better understand current Post Graduate Research (PGR) students’ recruitment journeys for both those studying at Southampton and those at other UK universities.
The Research Enterprise Marketing team sought greater insight on motivations to study for a PhD, and the criteria prospective students used when deciding to apply to Southampton and other providers.
The approach
The research was conducted in two phases. Phase 1 was a series of 4 online focus groups with both UK and international PGRs recruited from all 5 faculties of the University of Southampton. 25 participants took part in total.
Phase 2 was conducted with 14 PGR students, in 2 focus groups, recruited from universities local to Southampton and other Russell Group providers identified as key competitors. The results from phase two were used to compare decision-making factors, the recruitment journey and pain points for Southampton and non-Southampton PGR students.
The value
We provided Southampton with a summary report of the findings from Phase1, and a final combined report for both phases which answered key questions about how the Research Enterprise Marketing team could better support prospective PGR students during the recruitment process.
It contained actionable recommendations on how best to ensure prospective PGRs have a positive experience throughout the process of discovering PhD opportunities, matching with a supervisor, application and offer acceptance.
