The Catalan University Quality Assurance Agency (AQU Catalunya) has published the results of their seventh study of the Catalan university system (CUS). The results of the analysis have been taken from a survey conducted between January and June 2020 with students who completed their university studies three years ago. With over 100,000 students registered and a response rate of around 50% by the collective in question, this is one of the most representative studies in its field. 

Employment, job quality and training are three of the main areas of bachelor’s and master’s degree graduates analysed.

Data and results on UIC Barcelona bachelor’s degree graduates

A huge 91.7% of UIC Barcelona bachelor’s degree graduates are currently in work –whether that be in the public or private sector– compared with 90% of students from the wider Catalan university system. University studies in architecture as well as the health sciences feature prominently as the most employable fields of knowledge. 

With regard to job quality, seven out of ten UIC Barcelona graduates (71.1%) perform tasks directly related to their degree programme on a daily basis, a result that exceeds the CUS data by 12.7%. In addition, this year's UIC Barcelona study has shown a considerable increase in the number of permanent contracts among graduates with respect to the 2017 study, rising from 37.6% to 48.1%. Despite the fact that the rate of temporary contracts among this student profile (21.2%) is lower than that of the rest of the CUS (33.3%), self-employed contracts are up, mainly among graduates from medicine and architecture degree programmes.

In terms of earnings, more than 37.8% of students from UIC Barcelona have a gross monthly income of between €1,000 and €2,000, a figure that exceeds that of the Catalan university system, measured at 35.6%. UIC Barcelona graduates from bachelor’s degrees related to the social and legal sciences, such as communication, law, business administration and education, earn more on average than those from other Catalan universities.

The AQU study also evaluates the job quality index (JQI), which is calculated on the basis of several indicators: contract, job satisfaction, salary and relevance. Its scale measures from 0 to 100, where higher values indicate better job quality. The JQI of the degree programmes taught at UIC Barcelona is 69.8 (3.6 points more than in 2017), which indicates an improvement in the job quality of the institution's graduates and sits above the CUS average. For example, the subfield of law reflects better job quality in comparison to other universities.

Finally, as regards their level of satisfaction with their overall education, the majority of UIC Barcelona students submitted a very positive evaluation, highly valuing skills such as teamwork, theoretical learning and practical activities. Likewise, with regard to their level of satisfaction with the degree programme, 84.5% of students would repeat the same one they chose to study, whilst the rest of the people who would not repeat the same programme (6 out of 10 students) said so due to the fact that they have always had other interests.

Data and results on UIC Barcelona master’s degree graduates

The vast majority of master's degree graduates from UIC Barcelona hold the same employment status as others from the CUS (92%), meaning that master's degree graduates are working mainly in the fields of health and social care, business services and public administration. What’s more, eight out of ten master’s degree graduates have secured a full time position; the rate of permanent contracts remains the same but the rate self-employment has decreased.

This year’s AQU Catalunya report also shows a reduction in the percentage of UIC Barcelona master’s graduates with salaries of over €2,000 per month, despite the fact that UIC Barcelona remains above the CUS average in this regard.  However, in terms of medicine and biomedical sciences, some master's graduates earn up to €1,000 more per month.

The JQI of the master’s degrees offered at UIC Barcelona is 67.5 out of 100, meaning that graduate's job quality exceeds the CUS average (65.68 out of 100 points). Specifically, graduates’ satisfaction with their education was noteworthy, and the most highly-evaluated skills were critical thinking, theoretical learning and ethical and social responsibility in professional performance.

Along the same lines, in terms of satisfaction with the master’s degree, eight out of every ten graduate students would repeat the same programme and, likewise, almost nine out of every ten students would repeat it at the same institution.

Most indicators reveal a positive trend, both for UIC Barcelona and for the Catalan university system as a whole, compared to the 2017 report.