Towards Regular Availability of Comparative European Data on graduates

ended

Tracking graduates represents a core component of quality assurance systems as it provides a mechanism for gathering intelligence on skills utilisation in the labour market, placement rates and the career paths of graduates. In this context, AlmaLaurea Interuniversity Consortium (AL) proposes the initiative “Towards Regular Availability of Comparative European Data on graduates” (TRACED) and its commitment in participating in the 2nd phase of the Eurograduate Pilot Survey. AL exists since 1994, comprising 78 out of the 98 Italian universities, and carries out every year two surveys on graduate profile and graduate employment situation at 1, 3 and 5 years from graduation. AL dataset, as main research tool, results from the merge of different kinds of data acquired at different stages and processed for survey run: administrative data officially provided by the graduate's university, data provided by the student close to graduation in the framework of the annual profile survey carried out; data provided by the graduates following their academic career. High-quality data on the pathways of graduates after they finish their studies, including self employed and entrepreneurs, enable policy-makers and educational institutions to improve future teaching and learning outcomes, the employability of graduates, tackle skills gaps and mismatches. Such initiative at EU level will enable cross-country comparative analysis, which in turn allows benchmarking, the identification of policy areas in need of attention, better targeting and a higher efficiency of education investment. TRACED project foresees the set-up of a national research team from Italian Ministry of University and Research (MUR), Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) and from the applicant team of experts. It aims at creating the baseline for potential cooperation possibilities for data sharing and use, in line with the EU legislation on privacy, open data and the re-use of public sector information.