A bimonthly publication of AQU Catalunya

49

July 2010

Recent studies on graduate labour market outcomes carried out by AQU Catalunya have shown that the job situation of graduates in the Humanities, three years after obtaining their degrees, is clearly unfavourable in comparison to that of other disciplines.

A survey was carried out in 2008 of Humanities graduates who completed their studies in 2001 and whose job duties in 2005 were not on a level with their university studies, to establish whether, within six years after completing their degrees, graduates in the Humanities manage to be as successful as degree holders from other disciplines, or if they need more time to find a suitable job.

The results obtained were as follows:

• The analysis shows that progress was made in the quality of graduate labour market outcomes, and that one third of all Humanities graduates improved their job situation.
• Out of the group that did not have job duties on a level with their university studies three years after obtaining their degree in the Humanities, the job situation after six years had improved for almost half of them, while the rest (53.5%) continued to be mismatched (in a situation of education-job mismatch).
• Graduates with qualifications in the Humanities require more time to find a suitable job (with a good education-job match): the situation of Humanities graduates six years after obtaining their degrees was equivalent to the situation of graduates in other disciplines after three years. This result supports the thesis that points to university education being a long-term career commitment, and even more so in the Humanities.

 PDF A study on the labour market outcomes of Humanities graduates from the public universities in Catalonia. A follow-up six years after graduation