Agència per a la Qualitat del Sistema Universitari de Catalunya

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Context

Studies of graduate placement have periodically been carried out in Catalan universities for more than twenty years and have served as the basis for understanding the process of transition for graduates between the university and the labour market and, in certain cases, the degree of graduate satisfaction regarding the training received at university. They have also proved to be of use for decision-making in university planning. Both the format and content of these studies were, however, specific and corresponded to the objectives and priorities of each individual university.

In 2000, AQU Catalunya and the seven public Catalan universities (Universitat de Barcelona, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Universitat de Girona, Universitat de Lleida and Universitat Rovira i Virgili) agreed to an ambitious project to carry out a transversal assessment of university graduate placement in the labour market. This pioneer project, which for the first time included all of the universities, involved harmonisation of the methodology used to compare and integrate the information and extract reliable conclusions in reference to the situation in Catalonia. The project involved three main processes:

1. The establishing of a frame of reference for the evaluation of the state of graduate placement according to the different forms of university education in Catalonia, Spain and Europe.
2. Preparation of a methodology to assess the process of university graduate placement in the labour market.
3. A survey on graduate placement and the collection of information.

One overarching aspect of the project was an evaluation of the labour market outcomes of graduates, which had a two-fold objective, the drawing up of plans to enhance the process itself in the universities and its usefulness in decision-making for each degree course, according to the survey results.

Given the importance of the survey as an instrument, periodic repetition and gathering of information were estimated to be a positive way of establishing records that would show the ongoing development of graduate placement and allow for the analysis of trends.

The fourth AQU study of the labour market outcomes of graduates from Catalan universities was carried out during 2011. All of the Catalan universities participated in the study, so it has been the most extensive analysis of this type ever carried out in the European Union. A population of 28,616 graduates in 2007 was analysed, using a sample of 16,182 people.

AQU also carrying out the second study on the employment outcomes of students who graduated in 2006-2007 and those awarded a PhD in 2006 and 2007, as well as a new study relating to gender on graduates from ten years ago to establish any possible gender-based differences.

The fourth study on graduate labour market outcomes was based on three surveys:

• Graduates 2006-2007. This will analyse the quality of the labour market outcomes of those students who graduated in the 2006-2007 academic year, and their impressions, three years afterwards, of their studies.
• PhDs 2006 and 2007. This will analyse the quality of the labour market outcomes of doctorate degree holders who read their thesis the years 2006 and 2007, and their impressions, three years afterwards, of their studies.
• Gender monitoring 2001. This will analyse whether there are any gender-based differences or inequalities among graduates in the process of obtaining employment ten years after completing their studies.

 PDF Graduates survey

 PDF PhD survey

1.2.2013