More than one-quarter of Australia鈥檚 graduates say that their university qualifications are not important for their jobs, raising concerns about the value of some degrees.
Eleven per cent of graduates questioned in the Department of Education鈥檚聽 said that their degree was 鈥渘ot at all鈥 important for their job, while 15 per cent said that it was 鈥渘ot that鈥 important.
Just 40 per cent of graduates considered their degree in management and commerce 鈥 the most popular field of study 鈥 to be important for their job, with the figure standing at 41 per cent for information technology and 43 per cent for creative arts degrees.聽聽
Workplace supervisors were more positive, although less than half (48 per cent) of those questioned in the survey thought that management and commerce degrees were important for a graduate鈥檚 current employment.
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Supervisors of creative arts graduates were equally聽divided,聽while just 45 per cent of supervisors of information technology graduates believed the degree to be important.
The survey also found that employers showed a preference for graduates with vocationally-oriented degrees, such as engineering and health, over those with generalist degrees.
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Overall, however, 84 per cent of employers said that they were satisfied with the qualifications that graduates got at university, showing a slight fall of about one percentage point.
Writing in ,聽Innes Willox, head of employer organisation Australian Industry Group, said that the survey showed that some graduates were 鈥渧erging on the unemployable鈥 颅because degrees were not relevant to their profession.
鈥淚f there was any advice I would give the wave of young people about to enter tertiary studies in the next few weeks, it would be to focus on employability skills and seriously consider developing the science, technology, engineering and maths qualifications [that] new workplaces increasingly require,鈥 he writes.
But Catriona Jackson, Universities Australia鈥檚 acting chief executive, disagreed, saying: 鈥淓mployers have given university graduates the equivalent of a high distinction.
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鈥淭hese results tell an overwhelmingly positive story about graduates in the labour market and that universities are preparing their students well for their chosen careers.鈥
Simon Birmingham, the聽minister for education and training,聽said that while the results were encouraging, they also reinforced the need to ensure Australia鈥檚 higher education institutions were focused on the work-readiness of graduates.
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