news
campusreview.com.au
Graduates downplay degrees
About half of university
graduates regard their degree
as unimportant to their job.
C
ontention surrounds the latest
Employer Satisfaction Survey,
which has brought into question
the importance of university degrees.
The Quality Indicators for Learning and
Teaching survey revealed that while employers
remain highly satisfied with graduates, half of
students don’t see their degree as important
in the context of employment.
In the largest ever survey of employers
and employees, overall satisfaction with
graduates and their skills scored a rating of
83 out of 100. Despite this, only 56 per cent
of graduates said their university studies had
proven “important” or “very important” to
their job, and at least 11 per cent said it was
not important at all.
In terms of the most useful degrees,
both employers and employees were more
happy with the skills demonstrated by
graduates of “more vocationally oriented
courses”, such as engineering, architecture,
health and education. These were the only
fields in which more than 50 per cent of
students said their degree was important. In
comparison, less value was given to more
generalist degrees such as commerce,
management, natural sciences, and society
and culture.
Asked whether this meant university
degrees had become a waste of time,
Degrees that work
Report reveals which graduates are most
likely to secure full-time employment.
M
edicine and health graduates are the most likely to
find employment, a new report has found, while those
who study creative arts, psychology, humanities or
communications are at the bottom of the employment ladder.
The figures come from the 2017 Graduate Outcomes Survey
National Report, and are available on the Quality Indicators
for Learning and Teaching website as a resource for incoming
university students.
Education Minister Simon Birmingham has urged school leaders
to do their research on courses and their prospects.
Education Minister Simon Birmingham said
university graduates continued to perform
well and contribute to the Australian
economy, but contingent arrangements
would be put in place for future funding.
“We shouldn’t talk down our universities in
any way, but it is why as a government we’re
wanting to put in place some performance-
contingent arrangements for universities in
terms of their funding, because we’ve seen
concerning declines in terms of student
completion rates, in terms of student and
employer and graduate satisfaction rates,
and we want to see that reversed,” he said.
“So future funding growth for universities is
going to be more contingent, more tied to ...
improved outcomes in terms of graduate
outcomes, completing their degrees, getting
a job, getting a better job and employers
being satisfied with those graduates.”
The survey also recorded employer
satisfaction with graduates from each of
Australia’s education institutions. James
Cook University sat highest on the list with
an overall score of 90.6. It was followed
by the University of Notre Dame (89.1),
University of the Sunshine Coast (88.8) and
Bond University (88.6). ■
Statistics show that when it comes to the field of health, more
than 90 per cent of graduates secured full-time employment last
year in medicine, rehabilitation, pharmacy, dentistry, nursing and
health services.
Creative arts and psychology were lowest on the list, but the
rates of employment in these areas had seen a significant rise
since 2014.
“Accepting an offer can be a life-changing decision, and it’s vital
that students have the tools they need to make the best possible
choice when selecting a course and institution,” Birmingham said.
“That’s why the Turnbull government has ramped up its efforts
to improve the transparency and availability of information in areas
including the satisfaction of students and employers, the quality of
teaching in courses and job outcomes.
“The more resources prospective students have at their
fingertips, the better decisions they will be able to make when
considering the courses and careers they choose to embark on.”
Birmingham said report results showed that 82 per cent of
teaching students secured full-time employment within four
months of graduating, but the figure dipped below 61 per cent for
graduates in creative arts and communications.
“It’s also clear that graduates in vocationally oriented fields
such as dentistry and vet science are more likely to gain full-time
employment than graduates with more generalist degrees such as
management and commerce, and social sciences,” he said.
The survey also showed that employment rates had also
increased for graduates from regional and remote areas, while the
median salary for graduates also saw an increase.
For more information visit www.qilt.edu.au. ■
5