Graduates fare well in employment, study finds

Graduates tend to find jobs with relatively high incomes and good working conditions and nearly a half further their studies, according to a Career Outcomes of Graduates 2002 study.

The study was carried out by the Students' Advisory Services in collaboration with the Workers' Participation Development Centre to address the need for scientific data regarding the career-outcomes of university graduates.

It was answered by 938 participants (49 per cent of the 2002 graduate population), gathering a wide range of information about graduates' current employment and further studies.

The results of the study showed that in March, 2003, 94 per cent of the preceding November's graduates were either employed, or continuing their studies on a full-time basis, while six per cent were unemployed and looking for a job.

Although the university passes on several useful skills to students, graduates felt they were not equipped with adequate techniques and skills related to the development of creativity and originality.

The study found that university courses were still not equally accessible to students coming from different social backgrounds and that males and females were not equally represented in all university courses.

Male graduates tend to experience more favourable work-related outcomes than their female peers according to traditional standards and younger graduates are more likely to work in the private sector and on a fixed term contract when compared with older graduates.

The study showed that graduates from science-based courses ran fewer risks of unemployment, or under-employment, and tended to earn more than their peers in arts-based courses.

Engineering, education and health studies graduates view skills they learnt at university as most relevant to their jobs, while law, arts and communication studies graduates view them as least relevant.

The study aims to provide up-to-date information to Maltese career guidance officers and similar practitioners both within and outside educational institutions.

http://home.um.edu.mt/sas/research_2003/