Article

AQU Catalunya publishes the first report on the results of the survey of recent higher arts education (EAS) graduates’ satisfaction

Jordi Amat Rodríguez, senior advisor of Internationalisation and Knowledge Generation Department

The aim of the satisfaction survey is to analyse the level of satisfaction of recent graduates in order to carry out actions to improve educational processes. The survey is conducted annually and started in 2015 with bachelor’s degree studies; in 2017, master’s degrees were added, and in 2019, higher arts education (EAS).

Thus, information is currently available for the whole higher education system at levels 2 and 3 according to the Catalan Higher Education Qualifications Framework (levels 6 and 7 of the European Qualification Framework).

The survey questions can be grouped into three main blocks, in addition to the overall rating of teaching:

The teaching-learning process: study programme structure, subject coordination, teaching staff, workload, methodology and assessment.
Student support: satisfaction with the virtual campus, facilities, library, support and information services, response to complaints and information on the web.
Results: the extent to which the training has improved communication, personal and professional skills.

Every three years AQU Catalunya produces a report analysing in greater detail the results of the survey of the last three graduating classes surveyed (see the second study on bachelor’s degrees here and master’s degrees here). This report presents, for the first time, the results of EAS graduates.

The results of the report are based on the answers of 2,193 bachelor’s degree graduates and 392 master’s degree graduates (42.8% and 40.1% response rate, respectively), who received their degrees in the 2018-2019, 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 academic years. In the case of the results of master’s graduates, the overall results of the dimensions and willingness to repeat are shown, given the small existing population and the fact that most EAS respondents were Music students.

Results of EAS bachelor’s graduate survey

The overall satisfaction of bachelor’s degree graduates is close to very good (6.9), with almost 8 out of 10 people (79.3%) stating that they would choose the same degree course again.
The results dimension (6.9) is the most highly rated, followed by teaching-learning (6.0) and student support (5.5).

With regard to the teaching-learning dimension, the teaching staff (6.8) and the structure of the study programme (6.5) were the highest-rated aspects, while the assessment system (5.4) showed the greatest room for improvement.
Information on the website (6.3) and facilities (6.1) are the indicators with the highest satisfaction in the dimension of student support, whereas respondents were less satisfied with the virtual campus (4.6) and response to complaints (4.7).
The three items that make up the results dimension are rated as good, almost very good: improvement of professional (7.2), personal (6.9) and communication (6.7) skills.

The results were also analysed by group of degree programmes, namely Design, Music and Performing Arts (Drama and Dance), in addition to the degree in Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage.

The results show that graduates in Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage are the most satisfied with their studies in any of the dimensions analysed, and they are also the ones who most said they would repeat both the degree and the centre where they studied it. Design graduates, however, show the lowest degree of satisfaction.

Results of EAS master’s graduate survey

As in the case of the EAS bachelor’s degrees, overall satisfaction is also close to very good (6.8). However, in this group, student support is the dimension that obtained the best score (7.4). Approximately 2 out of 3 people would choose the same degree again (66.2%) and the same centre (61.1%).