A bimonthly publication of AQU Catalunya

71

March 2014

What is the Ocupadors/Employers survey?

The purpose of the Ocupadors/Employers survey (henceforth Employers survey) is for the universities to receive feedback from the labour market regarding university education with the aim of aligning the preparation and training that students receive at university with the needs of the labour market. The survey's ultimate aim is to develop policies for improving and enhancing higher education and the university system as a whole, in terms of both academic provision (for example, in the form of programme curricula that are more relevant for the labour market and improvements to the practical dimension of curricula) and institutional actions and services that facilitate the transition to the labour market.

This survey complements the survey on the labour market outcomes (destinations) of the graduate population from Catalan universities. This will consequently provide the universities, as far as the professional outcomes of their programmes of study is concerned, with the opinions of both those who are employed or in the process of becoming employed, and those who are employing them. The project is fully funded by Obra Social de La Fundació La Caixa and is also supported by the Catalan government's (Generalitat de Catalunya) Ministry of the Economy and Knowledge and Ministry of Labour.

The specific objectives of the survey are described below in Table 1.

There are three consecutive stages to the survey, as described in Figure 2:
 

Figure 1. Stages to the survey

Why is it an important study?

Effective management of higher education institutions requires the collection, analysis and use of relevant information on their programmes of study and other activities (Standard 1.6 ESG, 2005). The availability of reliable data is crucial for decision-making.
 

Employability refers to the development and acquisition of a range of attributes (knowledge, skills and abilities) that can be transferred beyond what is study at university and make graduates more likely to be successful in their chosen occupations. These attributes (referred to as skills or "competences") have become the global currency of the 21st century (OECD, 2012). Employability is of particular importance in new workplace scenarios characterised by flexibility and where, as to doing the same job throughout one's entire working life, the situation has now become one of permanent preparation for occupation. Employability is in fact one of the core issues underpinning the setting up of the European Higher Education Area, which aspires to the free circulation of professionals. As the Leuven-Louvaine Declaration (2009) points out:

"With labour markets increasingly relying on higher skill levels and transversal competences, higher education should equip students with the advanced knowledge, skills and competences they need throughout their professional lives."

The development of an effective strategy that improves the preparation of graduates calls for the skill to assess the quality and quantity of skills (competences) among the graduate population. In order to do this, however, "an intelligence system" is required that can provide information, not only on the level of skills at a given time, but also on the change in demand for these skills.

Figure 2. Information system for the Catalan university system

At the present time, the university system in Catalonia has a very sound data system as a result of the indicators gathered in repositories of information, such as UNEIX, where data on the Catalan university system that has been collected since 2000 (the profile of students, that of faculty teaching staff, indicators on academic/learning outcomes, etc.) can be accessed via WINDDAT, in addition to the data and figures from the surveys on the labour market outcomes (destinations) of graduates. The forthcoming inclusion in this system of the data onstudent satisfaction, together with those from the employers survey, will make for a leading and competitive intelligence system at international level.

To find out more

• Eurobarometer survey (report and questionnaire): http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/flash/fl_304_en.pdf
• Skills Survey Report (2013 survey, published in 2014): http://www.ukces.org.uk/assets/ukces/docs/publications/evidence-report-81-ukces-employer-skills-survey-13-full-report.pdf
• GUNN, V.; BELL, M. S.; KAFMANN, K. (2009) Thinking strategically about employability and graduate attributes: Universities and enhancing learning for beyond university. Glasgow: Quality Assurance Agency Scotland (p. 6): http://www.enhancementthemes.ac.uk/docs/publications/thinking-strategically-about-employability-and-graduate-attributes.pdf?sfvrsn=20
• MCKINSEY (2013) Education to employment: designing a system that works. http://www.compromisorse.com/upload/estudios/000/222/Education-to-Employment_FINAL.pdf

References

• ENQA (2005) The Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area. Helsinki: European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education: http://www.enqa.eu/indirme/esg/ESG%20in%20Catalan.pdf
• OECD (2012) Better Skills, Better Jobs, Better Lives: A Strategic Approach to Skills Policies: http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264177338-en
• Communiqué of European Ministers for Higher Education, Leuven/Louvain (2009): http://www.ehea.info/Uploads/Declarations/Leuven_Louvain-la-Neuve_Communiqu%C3%A9_April_2009.pdf