The World of Higher Education Podcast Listen now →

The World of Higher Education Podcast Listen now →

Tag: Employment

Measuring Graduate Quality

A few months ago, I was in a discussion with a number of colleagues about how one should go about measuring how well universities and colleges prepare students for the labour market. It’s a tough question to answer. Employment rates aren’t helpful because those move with the economic cycle (and in places like Alberta with tight labour markets, low unemployment might be more of a sign of desperation for warm bodies than it is of educational quality). Employer satisfaction surveys

Read More »
May 24, 2012 No Comments

Discontent over Employment

It’s that time of year when the subjects of “education” and “jobs” are inextricably linked. When the economy is good, the stories are about go-getting recent graduates, and how they’re changing the world, etc. Universities then use this publicity to argue for more research money. “Look at all the great stuff our graduates do,” they say. “Our education gets kids jobs!” When the economy is bad, on the other hand, universities are subject to variations of Margaret Wente’s recent irritating

Read More »
May 23, 2012 No Comments

Does Debt Affect Career Choice?

A lot of hypotheses about the negative effects of student debt (some of which I was responsible for, 15 or so years ago), have, over time, been shown to be wrong. The one about debt being a serious deterrent to access, for instance (at least at current levels of borrowing); or the one about how increased student debt delays family formation. But what about the hypothesis that higher levels of student debt might leading students to take “jobs that pay

Read More »
May 22, 2012 1 Comment

Hooked on School

What do Canadian students do when they’ve finished their university studies? And how do they differ from students in other parts of the world? We recently had the opportunity to examine country-level graduate surveys around the world. Now, there are important caveats – no two countries conduct the same survey among the same exact population of graduates at the exact same time (and international data agencies like the OECD restrict most of their graduate analysis to fairly basic indicators, such

Read More »
May 11, 2012 No Comments

A Duty Ignored

One of the reasons universities have had such success in attracting students over the years is the promise they hold for better employment. Over 80% of students say that “getting a better job” is a main reason for going to university. It’s not the only reason they go, of course; most have some kind of intellectual interest in the subjects they study. But the promise of good job outcomes is pretty central to the appeal of a university. So why

Read More »
May 1, 2012 15 Comments

One Thought to Start Your Day

One Thought to Start Your Day is our founder and CEO Alex Usher’s popular daily blog, brimming with up-to-the-minute insights and informed opinions on today’s higher education industry.

Subscribe

Search Posts

Search Publications

Social Media

Linkedin Youtube Spotify

Recent Posts

More thoughts on...