A quarterly publication of AQU Catalunya

81

April 2016

The study analyses the effects of the economic crisis on the employment outcomes of graduates from Catalan universities, with attention being focused on the following variables: unemployment, occupation, the employment quality index, salaries, continuing education, job satisfaction and employability.

 Effects of the crisis on graduate employment outcomes [Catalan]

The study consisted of a retrospective observational analysis of three sets of cross-sectional samples corresponding to 2008 (the cohort that graduated in the 2003-2004 academic year), 2011 (the cohort that graduated in the 2006-2007 academic year) and 2014 (the cohort that graduated in the 2010-2011 academic year).

Broadly speaking, the findings of the research as regards the effects of the crisis are as follows:

• There has been an increase in the probability of a graduate being unemployed, although the crisis has had much less of an impact on graduates than those without a university education;
• There has been a decrease in job quality (quality of employment): the probability of having a full-time job has decreased and the probability of a job contract being for less than a year has increased considerably;
• There was a drop in annual gross incomes of 18.85% in the period from 2011-2014;
• There has been an increase in the probability of graduates continuing their studies;
• There has been a statistically significant decline in graduate satisfaction with job prospects and salary levels.

In addition, the effects of the crisis on the dependent variables analysed has been modified by the following factors:

• Gender: the effects on female graduates have been more pronounced than on males;
• Area of knowledge and subject: the areas of knowledge most affected are Humanities and Social Sciences, while building and construction-related subjects were the ones most affected;
• The university where students graduated: the universities most affected were those outside the main metropolitan areas; and
• Access to the first job: public employment services is the sector most affected by the crisis.