A bimonthly publication of AQU Catalunya

37

July 2008

AQU Catalunya has presented the results of the third study on employment placement of graduates from Catalan universities. The president of the agency, Antoni Serra Ramoneda, and its director, Javier Bará Temes, presented the most relevant data from the third survey, accompanied by the president of the Social Council of the Universitat de Barcelona (University of Barcelona, UB), Joaquim Coello Brufau, who carried out an analysis of the results from the standpoint of society, together with the vice-rector of Academic Affairs at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (Autonomous University of Barcelona, UAB), Maria Dolors Riba.

One of the most noteworthy conclusions of the study is that three years after graduating, 93.5% of the interviewees had found employment, of whom 88% fulltime, and unemployment affected just 3% of the graduates (6% from Humanities and 2% from Health Sciences and Technology). As regards satisfaction with their new jobs graduates rated their general satisfaction with an average mark of 5.5 (out of 7). As regards the different aspects of their work they rated job content as most satisfactory and the usefulness of their knowledge as the least satisfactory. As for their choice of degree, 74% stated that they would choose the same course if they had to start again. This percentage oscillates between 71% for Humanities (72% in Technology) and 80% in Health Sciences.

The third study on employment placement of graduates from Catalan universities was commissioned by the social councils of the seven public universities – the Universitat de Barcelona (UB), the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (Technical University of Catalonia, UPC), Universitat Pompeu Fabra (Pompeu Fabra University, UPF), the Universitat de Girona (University of Girona, UdG), the Universitat de Lleida (University of Lleida, UdL) and the Universitat Tovira i Virgili (Rovira i Virgili University, URV) – and the Universitat de Vic (Vic University, UVic) and the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (Open University of Catalonia, UOC).