Equity in the quality of insertion: An analysis of subjective indicators

Abstract

This article analyses the quality of job insertion for Catalan college graduates three years after obtaining a university degree. The labour integration process is studied from an equity perspective, considering subjective indicators of achievement. For this purpose, job satisfaction as well as the assessment of the skills acquired at the University and their usefulness for the labour market have been investigated. Whether students find a balance between the received training and their job performance or not has been considered too. To do so, we have selected a quantitative methodology, working with the Survey on Labour Market Insertion for University Graduates conducted by the Agency for the Quality of the University System of Catalonia (AQU), years 2014 to 2017. This is a stratified sample catalogued by university degree in which 17,337 and 15,563 students have participated respectively. Results show that some structural features of university graduates, especially being women, and other educational details such as getting good grades or studying a BA degree that does not fall under humanities contribute to configuring a more positive perception of the transition to the labour market. The comparative analysis between the survey's two editions demonstrates the negative effect of the economic crisis as well as some signs of recovery, which are very pronounced in the fields of Engineering and Architecture. Finally, it is concluded that the Bologna reform and the application of competence-based learning have delivered positive results, even though it is still necessary to continue working on policies aimed at monitoring and guiding students in the process of transition from university education to the labour market.