From the Directorate of Relationship with the University Graduate of the Academic Secretary of the National University of La Plata, an extensive survey was carried out on the monitoring and professional trajectory that the graduates of the UNLP have had in the labor market, since they concluded their degree career to date.
follow-up-career-work-graduates-unlpTaking as reference the years of 2004, 2005 and 2006, it was also sought to detect what has been its evolution in this aspect, to distinguish the relationships between the acquired competences and work; and what influence his university career had on the world of work.
From this report it is shown how the University in its educational context intervened in the development of professional tools for Graduates. In this sense, higher education acts as an agent that facilitates access to greater job opportunities when it provides complete and adequate training to the needs of the graduate. However, the processes of labor insertion of university graduates are characterized by their high level of heterogeneity since there are many academic, work and personal factors that can affect their opportunities.
All this complexity can be analyzed and assessed using tools among which, the main and increasingly generalized one, is that of follow-up studies of graduates based on surveys of the different agents.
In relation to the above, it is highlighted that today public universities are becoming a great pool of talents in training for the world of work and an enormous source of recruitment of trained and competent personnel to face the new demands in the world of work.
We also know that the University does not transmit only theoretical teachings, but other types of knowledge outside the classroom. What is that other teaching that the University leaves us outside the classroom?
This is related to aspects of training that aim to strengthen behaviors and values related to attitudinal and emotional aspects of students and future graduates.
This non-formal teaching implicitly develops potential competencies that are valued and necessary in any workplace.
The report consists of 201 tables where all the indicators extracted from the survey are revealed, which aims to become a source of input to generate future research on the employment trajectories of our graduates.
1,500 graduates were surveyed out of a Universe of 10,500 corresponding to the years 2004/05/06 of the 117 degrees awarded by the National University of La Plata in those years. For better implementation and study, the undergraduate degrees were divided into 9 professional areas in terms of their academic affinity and professional concern.
With an average age of approximately 32/34 years, it is distinguished as the first relevant data that 55% of the Graduates decided to continue training through postgraduate courses, whose most chosen modality were
Specializations.
In reference to the link between their work and the qualification obtained in their university degree, we conclude that 81% of Graduates work in their profession.
Regarding the type of employment relationship, 51% work in a dependency relationship, 20% on their own, while the remaining 29% fluctuate between these two aforementioned categories.
We can also say that 48% of them kept the same job since they graduated. Within this Universe, 57% increased the number of occupations.
Therefore, these are professionals with more than one job today.
In turn, the Universe of those who changed jobs did so in 39% only once, in 26% twice, and in 35% between three or more times.
If mention is made of the work progress that graduates have had in their employment, we identify that 41% work in the same job as five years ago, while 45% rose to intermediate positions and the remaining 41% to positions managerial and / or hierarchical.
65% of graduates value the training and non-training tools that their undergraduate career gave them and their university experience in general to start and develop in their jobs.
Half of the graduates surveyed emphasize that their career path up to now has given them other knowledge that their undergraduate career did not.
According to professionals, the ability to solve problems, such as professional knowledge and teamwork turn out to be the most valued in the job market.
When assessing monetary and non-monetary compensation (learning opportunities, work environment, etc.) that they perceive in their work, 61% of those surveyed agree, 22% affirm that they were worse than expected; and the final 17% stated that they were better.
Taking into account the salary compensation received, 51% of those surveyed say that what they are paid is less than what they do, 47% say that it is reasonable, and 2% that they receive a higher remuneration than what they do.
Regarding the values and characteristics of the job, the graduates highlight as main attributes the opportunity to learn, autonomy to perform jobs, responsibilities in tasks, the initiative to undertake tasks and obligations.
Regarding the work environment and labor relations, Graduates value with great importance taking care of interpersonal contacts with their colleagues and co-workers, and having a boss who motivates and guides them.
In general terms, graduates attach greater importance to job stability, work-family conciliation, learning new things and professional growth, likewise all agree on moving social prestige to the last place on their list of priorities. The possibility of obtaining high income, or time for leisure occupy intermediate positions that vary between different professional areas
A relevant fact to take into account is that the majority of graduates are satisfied with their current job, although it is interesting to observe the variations in this result depending on the different professional areas, as detailed in the final report. Finally, related to the perception of the situation of their profession at the local level, 51% affirm that development is lacking, 28% express that the market is saturated, and the remaining 22% that it is sufficient.
Foundations of the Directorate of Relationship with the University Graduate SAAUNLP
The Directorate of Relationship with the University Graduate dependent on the Academic Secretary of the National University of La Plata has as a starting point to build a program that raises the connection of professionals with the institution, the world of work and job placement. The fundamental idea is to obtain relevant, systematic and updated information on the socio-occupational situation of young graduates and their work trajectories in a given territorial area, as well as their evolution over time, placing the UNLP as a of pioneering Universities in tackling this problem.
Guiding, linking and training young graduates in their first steps of "professional life" is the central objective.
This accompaniment process is fundamental in their first years of graduation, where most of them face a concrete and precise reality that has nothing to do with the “theoretical reality of university classrooms”.
The conceptual construction of these "linkage tools" can be characterized from two central aspects: related to a diagnostic, informative and monitoring part of our graduates; and linked to the implementation of actions aimed at the elaboration of institutional policies for the sector, materialized through this Program.
For the fulfillment of the objectives, we will first define the strategy used to link the graduate with the UNLP. As a second measure, we will highlight the systematic and methodological implementation of the monitoring and analysis of the situation of our graduates, for future institutional actions towards them.
The first point to take into account is that our University has been training in recent years an average of between four thousand and five thousand graduates per year, where the challenge is to build the basic tools for their evaluation and monitoring.
Given this large number of students, we were forced to create a bonding policy, since once they finished their studies, the University lost contact with the vast majority.
We begin to define the problem in question, how to relate it and what are the mechanisms to achieve it. We set out to create a first link by collecting the personal and contact data of each of the graduates, thus centralizing all the graduates of the different academic units of the UNLP.
Characteristics of the Program
Technological advances in the field of computer science and the overcrowding of E-mails are the main tool on which we base our communication strategy.
By means of a personalized email, they are sent a letter of presentation of the program, inviting them to upload their CV, professional and academic profile, and their socio-occupational situation. Once subscribed, graduates are automatically incorporated into the database, statistics and graduate monitoring area.
From this moment on, the Graduate has the possibility of knowing the job and academic opportunities that are generated from the program, by entering the page, or through the systematic sending of emails, generating a direct link between them and the institution.
By permanently updating your personal data (CV and professional profile), it is possible to monitor the problems of young professionals over time. For this reason, different sample cohorts of graduates are taken, where a survey is carried out per year of graduation, Faculty and career.
Discrimination by year of graduation is essential when measuring quantitatively, since it allows us to compare the professional's situation year after year, thus inferring the difficulties and achievements that they have from the time they graduate until they become professionally consolidated. obtaining an accurate diagnosis of the situation.
This makes it easier to identify the fundamental demands when it comes to entering professionally and professionally. They serve as conceptual guides to diagram and organize the program in areas, whose mission is to channel concerns and build theoretical-practical tools so that graduates can develop professionally and academically.
The Labor Opportunities and Human Resources Program (PROLAB) is made up of a group of professionals who in an interdisciplinary way work in areas such as Human Resources, Labor Psychology, Statistics, Organizational Sociology, Professional Marketing, Institutional Communication, Teacher Training and Educational Methodologies.
In these fields of action, the profile of our professionals is worked on and evaluated, carrying out research tasks and concrete actions on the problems faced by young University graduates, with regard to insertion into the world of work.
The program areas act as a link between the University and the reality of the graduates, generating a monitoring and evaluation system of policies used institutionally in the sector. These areas are cross-linked, each one is nourished by the data that is collected daily and where it is evaluated before carrying out each activity.
to. Labor opportunities and Human Resources area
It is the area where graduates can apply, through our website, to job offers offered by companies and public and private institutions in the region.
From there, job search processes, follow-up of work trajectories, curriculum analysis, performance evaluation and socio-occupational perceptions of professionals are carried out.
This tool gives all graduates the possibility to upload their curriculums vitae (from now on CV) and their professional profiles for the job search, where the institutional profiles, the position and the applicant for the offer are compared and analyzed. in question.
Companies can access a system of internships for students and contracts for graduates, thus selecting applicants who meet the required needs.
b. Statistics and database area
Its main objective is to create a database of our graduates to generate a record that links them to the professional, academic and productive fields, thus allowing us fluid contact.
The construction of this database is carried out by means of an online computer program, where contact information, CVs and professional profiles are recorded, which allows us to obtain a personalized diagnosis, and implement policies oriented to the problem of the same.
Since 2003 we have carried out an annual survey of our professionals, where qualitative and quantitative aspects such as academic training, postgraduate degrees, training demands, links with the university and professional entities, socio-occupational and economic aspects in general are investigated.
c. Professional and teaching training area
Since universities are in charge of generating knowledge and research processes in all disciplines, we are forced to develop strategies for permanent and continuous professional training for young graduates.
For this reason we provide free training and training tools that cover topics related to teacher professionalization, labor psychology, human resources, statistics and methodology, organizational sociology, accounting administration, business administration, professional marketing, institutional communication. Thus we contemplate essential and interdisciplinary aspects in the formation of different professions.
d. Advice and information area for young professionals
Its mission is to guide professionals when they face the world of work. This concern is a constant in young people given that they do not usually have basic information tools when starting their professional activity, mainly with regard to legal, labor and tax aspects that this relationship entails.
We believe that a professional must have all the necessary tools to carry out their profession, according to the frameworks established by the different bodies that regulate it.
For this reason and depending on the specific demand, we offer free courses / workshops with the problem in question, in addition to advising through our website the periodic consultations that they carry out.
and. Institutional relationship and communication area Its
objective is to link the UNLP through framework and specific agreements with the different entities that regulate the professional field, such as Professional Associations, Associations and public and private institutions.
From this part, meetings were held with the referents of the cloister of each of the Academic Units, where the reality of the graduates of each Faculty was discussed, and curricular analyzes were carried out, exchanging experience between the academic and professional world.
Program Objectives
• Train, guide and relate to the job market, both for students and university graduates, as well as the community in general.
• Generate a fluid link between the UNLP and professional entities.
• Link and contain graduates within the institution.
• Assemble and consolidate interdisciplinary teams that work on the problem.
• Generate institutional policies for the sector.
• Promote and carry out agreements with companies and institutions for the development of actions that involve graduates.
• Investigate and analyze the problems of the young graduate.
• Professionally and academically train the graduate.
The importance of monitoring graduates in strategic decisions of the University
The analysis of the relationships between the competencies acquired in higher education and those required in the workplace constitutes an essential line of research for understanding the processes of transition to the labor market of university graduates. Higher education acts as an agent that facilitates access to greater job opportunities when it provides complete and adequate training to the needs of the graduate. However, the job placement processes of university graduates are characterized by their high level of heterogeneity as there are many academic, work and personal factors that can affect their job opportunities.
This complexity can be analyzed and assessed using tools among which the graduate follow-up study based on surveys of the different agents, became the main and most generalized.
In relation to the above, it should be noted that today public universities become a great pool of talents in training for the world of work and a huge source of recruitment of trained and competent personnel to face the new demands in the world of work.
We also know that the University does not transmit only theoretical teachings that emanate strictly from its undergraduate curricula, but also other types of knowledge outside the classroom. This is why in the first instance we could ask ourselves, what is that other teaching that the University leaves us outside the classroom?
This is the one that is related to aspects of training that aim to strengthen behaviors and values related to attitudinal and emotional aspects of students and future graduates.
This non-formal education implicitly develops potentialities that are valued and necessary in any work environment.
Taking exams orally, the permanent recycling and reading of texts for their preparation, respect and care in the way of relating to their interlocutor, expanding and detailing information when transmitting and arguing messages in a technical, logical way, or from common sense, enhance verbal skills.
Teamwork from the first years of the degree contributes to the allocation of roles and tasks, fostering interpersonal relationships, generating situations of solidarity, camaraderie and mutual learning, and promoting integration to achieve the objectives set out in the delivery of their practical work.
In the study groups we can see who has a leadership capacity to develop operationally in group coordination, showing capacity and security in the presentation of required topics and projects.
The compulsory learning to manage independently in the Faculty in terms of the presentation of certifications, the obligation to carry out administrative procedures in the student departments, the self-regulation of their attendance to classes, the choice of schedules, subjects to study and chairs, promote the autonomy of students when drawing up their objectives.
Respect for curricular norms and criteria also requires respect in the form of relationship with teachers, in which students are reflected, to learn from them and assume responsibilities, aspiring to achieve personal and academic recognition within and outside of the chair structures.
The organization and planning of the career by the student is essential. The student, consciously or unconsciously, develops an analytical capacity in which she sets her own goals and objectives in the short and long term to be able to receive herself and finish her studies with effort and dedication. For this, the student in general observes, examines and cautiously reasons each situation, detecting mistakes and successes.
Most of the students adapt easily and obtain a better performance before clear and precise work instructions with specific procedures in which they must elucidate the logic that sustains them, a product of the permanent and methodological change that is promoted from the different currents of thought that the student studies during his career.
We see that the main aspect of student motivation is the fact of finding a place where they can train and grow professionally. The student generally shows a great interest in continuing to implement the knowledge obtained in the Faculty and acquire technical-practical skills that allow them to develop and experiment with new tasks.
The constant academic demand, in terms of the delivery of work and the successful fulfillment of what is stipulated in the study plans, the organization of their time and tasks, and the fact that they are permanently avoiding obstacles in the Faculties, make most of the students have a greater tolerance to stress than other people who have not experienced a university degree.
These formative aspects and their competencies that make up the personality of students and graduates are highly valued in organizations. Therefore, we can say that the public university consciously or unconsciously forms highly prepared profiles for today's job demands.
Benefit provided by the monitoring of graduates
Improving transition processes to the labor market can become unapproachable if there is no useful quantitative information available on the evolution of graduates' professional careers. Therefore, it is essential to develop quality indicators appropriate to the reality of the university that reflect, not only its contribution to the teaching-learning processes, but also factors influencing these processes and belonging exclusively to the field of the graduate such as socio-economic environment or behavior in their insertion into the labor market.
Young people have been monitored since 2003, after their first year as professionals, through a survey on job and professional insertion. This allows the construction of statistical indicators, in-depth diagnoses of the relationship, and employment of Graduates in the field of work and in their relationship with the University.
Graduate follow-up studies are a valuable and essential tool, as they are an inexhaustible source of information on the university's contribution to its graduates. Although these data are considered of great importance, it only allows to have a “photo” of what is happening to young people in a certain period (one year after graduation).
The Graduate Relations Office intends to focus attention on analyzing graduates, six years after completing their university studies. This will allow, beyond their academic and political relevance of their results, to have relevant information on labor insertion, their links between higher education and the transition to the labor market, their skills acquired during their years of training and the construction of different itineraries work and training that they are building.
Criteria used to carry out the research
The Program used, perfected and expanded the information and ideas developed so far through new instruments and the adaptation of existing ones to prepare a questionnaire according to the objectives set.
For this research, the concept of professional training areas was deepened, which refers to the field of professional concern in which the Graduate works, according to their academic and disciplinary instruction.
In turn, it was decided to group the 117 degrees awarded by the National University of La Plata into nine professional work areas, in order to make a detailed study more feasible.
On a database of 10,500 graduates corresponding to the years 2004-2005-2006, a sampled universe of 1,500 was worked on, attending to the nine areas of professional concern.
The different areas were made up as follows:
Legal Area: Refers to professionals dedicated to Legal Sciences, authorized to intervene in lawsuits, assisting interested parties through sponsorship or directly representing them in cases where sufficient power is granted.
Technical Area: Includes Graduates who work as professionals in the productive environment and in research for scientific-technological development; trained to carry out basic and applied scientific research tasks, as well as occupations related to the analysis, design, implementation and maintenance of computer systems.
Design / Architecture Area: It includes professionals trained to design, project, direct and execute the concretion of the spaces destined for human habitat, construction of buildings, spaces that they make up; also those with the scientific, technological and humanistic training necessary to use existing technology and participate in its adaptation and in the creation of new ones; and also to graduates whose work environment is linked to the realization of studies, programming and development, supervision, inspection and productions of elements that make it possible to visually communicate information about facts, ideas and useful values to man.
Science Area: It refers to Graduates who work by distinguishing a particular object of study and applying the scientific method to it, with the aim of obtaining conclusions that allow to verify or refute their previous hypotheses.
Economics / Administration Area: Specifies professionals dedicated to Economics, with the ability to intervene in the design, implementation and evaluation of the accounting system of any organization; to perform with a comprehensive approach, with specific knowledge management skills; or to undertake tasks of advice, analysis, management and evaluation of activities and economic problems in general.
Health Area: It encompasses those professionals whose professional scope is focused on the field of health in a broad sense, since it also includes the mental and dental aspects of the human being, with the aim of achieving a better quality of life. It also includes those who are dedicated to animal health.
Art Area: Refers to graduates who come from the disciplinary field of the arts, oriented to its various branches such as painting, plastic arts, music, staging, audiovisual arts, among others. These are professionals whose scope of labor application operates extensively with the languages, procedures and materials typical of visual aesthetic discourses, where creativity occupies a preferential place.
Social Area: It is aimed at professionals whose labor insertion is linked to the study of man as a social being, emphasizing communicational aspects, field work and measurements, fundamental to approach the object of study with greater integrity.
Teaching / Undergraduate Area: Refers to the teaching staff and degrees taught at the National University of La Plata, distributed throughout most of its Academic Units, whose graduates in their work performance are aimed at the instruction and training of new professionals of each specific area.
Implementation of the Questionnaire:
An on-line questionnaire with 20 closed questions is prepared from the Directorate, which was sent via email to the population proportionally selected for the sample. The results of each survey are found online in a proprietary program designed for data collection and analysis. This computer tool contains all the contact information of the graduates for each year of graduation and degree.
To guarantee the management of the survey and its correct implementation, it was decided to contact by telephone those cases that after a certain time did not respond to the questionnaire, this being a very useful option.
Job presentation
Each of the tables will be presented below, divided into the different dimensions of analysis in which the survey was structured:
1. Characteristics of graduates
2. Postgraduate academic training
3. Relationship between undergraduate training and work
4. Current characteristics of the graduate job market
5. Career and professional trajectory
6. Job evaluation the profession
