Graduates’ evaluations of usefulness of university education, and early career success – a longitudinal study of the transition to working life

Abstract

Graduates' evaluations of usefulness of university education, and early career success -A longitudinal study of the transition to working life AbstractA successful transition from university to working life requires that graduates are able to employ their education and academic competences in real working-life contexts. Our previous research showed that graduates varied in how they were able to reflect on their competences at the time of graduation.The present longitudinal mixed-method study follows the same graduates and explores their evaluations of the usefulness of university education and career success, three years after graduation.The follow-up data consisted of 57 graduates' survey answers analysed by quantitative and qualitative methods. The results showed that graduates who were able to describe and evaluate more competences at the time of graduation perceived their current jobs to correspond more to their education. Graduates with more limited evaluations of their competences, on the other hand, had experienced more challenges related to employment and were more uncertain of their goals. The results also showed that having diverse competences and an ability to recognise them at the time of graduation is important for later career success and may also be related to what kind of challenges graduates face in working life. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education

Supporting Employability by a Skills Assessment Innovative Tool—Sustainable Transnational Insights from Employers

“…Most formal learning modules propose a sequence of learning assessment with, in general, suggestions for further learning according to prior assessment results. Graduates, for example, have limited ability to self-assessment [32] therefore they need an employability assessment tool which offer also recommendations according to the type of job profile, like the proposed innovative tool from this study.…”

“…Further, studies dealing with informal or non-formal learning have shown a lack of evaluation tools adapted to these types of training situations, particularly in a dynamic dimension over the duration of an integration path (in vocational situations) [34], or, in the case of students, a medium-low development of competencies for employability [3]. A successful transition from university to working life requires that graduates are able to employ their education and academic competences in real working-life contexts [32].…”

A University Training Programme for Acquiring Entrepreneurial and Transversal Employability Skills, a Students’ Assessment

“…Regarding transversal employability skills, HEIs must ensure that students are prepared to handle and solve complex problems in an environment of uncertainty [51] and produce employable graduates that contribute to economic growth and sustainable development [52]. Some studies analyze the integration between higher education and job skills and the positive effects that it entails [53,54]. The European Commission [55] explains the connection between sustainable growth, education, and the labor market [56]: it is necessary to improve the performance of education systems to facilitate the entry of young people into the labor market; the acquisition of new skills that empower people and empower their job training and the best adaptation between labor supply and demand.…”

“…Other authors [67][68][69][70] research the incorporation of transversal competences applied to the university sector; while other studies analyze the integration between higher education and job skills and the positive effects that it entails [53,54,71]. The Phoenix report of Future Work Skills H2020 [72] proposes the following skills as a basis for achieving success in the workplace: Creating meaning, social intelligence, original and adaptive thought, trans-cultural competence, literacy in new means of communication, transdisciplinary to understand concepts through multiple disciplines, developing a way of thinking in order to attain the desired results, cognitive load management, virtual collaboration as a member of a virtual team, computational thinking for transferring large quantities of data into abstract concepts and to understand data-based reasoning [73].…”

A University Training Programme for Acquiring Entrepreneurial and Transversal Employability Skills: A Students’ Assessment

“…Regarding transversal employability skills, higher education institutions (HEIs) must ensure that students are prepared to handle and solve complex problems in an environment of uncertainty [45], producing employable graduates that contribute to economic growth and sustainable development [46]. Some studies analyse the integration between higher education and job skills and the positive effects that it entails [47,48]. The European Commission [49] explains the connection between sustainable growth, education and the labour market [50]: it is necessary to improve the performance of education systems to facilitate the entry of young people into the labour market; the acquisition of new skills that empower people and empower their job training and the best adaptation between labour supply and demand.…”