Employability and satisfaction of graduates of a Portuguese Higher Education Institution: preliminary indicators

Abstract

The aim of this study was to know the indicators of employability and satisfaction with training in a Higher Education Institution (HEI) in a sample of 1693 graduates, with a mean of 29.05 years of age (Dp7,67). Statistical analysis was performed through the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.0 for Windows. It was verified that, 72.7% of the graduates are employed, the majority of these graduates (82.9%) are employed up to one year after completing their studies, and employment is mostly (80.9%) in the training area, being that of those who found employees at the date of completion of their studies, the majority (64.6%) did not change jobs yet.
Regarding the current contractual situation of the graduates who are employed, 55.7% as employees. Regarding the need for additional training, 55.1% of all respondents said they felt a need, but only for career progression. With regard to the evaluation that the graduates make to their training received by the HEI regarding the adequacy of the training obtained in the course they attended to perform professional functions in the area, it should be noted that the majority (86.3%) score as “adequate” to “fully adequate”. The majority of graduates (92.3%) consider the theoretical contents and their importance for the professional practice of “relevant” to “extremely relevant”, 86.1% regarding the evaluation of the teaching methods used, in evaluating the updating of the programs 87.4%, and 88.4% on the curricular stage. With regard to overall satisfaction with the course, 81% of graduates surveyed consider themselves “satisfied” to “fully satisfied” with regard to the course
they attended at HEI.