1377.0 - Measures of a knowledge-based economy and society, Australia, 2003  
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Contents >> Human Capital Indicators >> Graduate outcomes by qualification, employment status

CHARACTERISTIC: FLOW OF SKILLED PEOPLE

INDICATOR: Graduate outcomes by qualification, employment status

Of the 202,200 recent university graduates in 2003, 65% were employed four months after completing their qualification. Since 1993, the proportion of university graduates unemployed four months after their course ended has declined (from 18% in 1993 to 13% in 2003), while the proportion of those not in the labour force remained relatively constant (24% in 1993 and 22% in 2003). In 2003, a greater proportion of recent bachelor graduates were unemployed and not in the labour force than were postgraduates.

LABOUR FORCE STATUS OF RECENT UNIVERSITY GRADUATES
Employed
full-time
Employed
part-time
Employed
Total
Unemployed
Not in
labour force

1993
%
%
%
%
%
Postgraduates
68.0
7.0
75.0
14.2
10.8
Bachelor graduates
47.6
5.3
52.9
19.5
27.5

All university graduates
52.4
5.7
58.1
18.3
23.6

2003
%
%
%
%
%
Postgraduates
68.3
9.9
78.2
10.3
11.6
Bachelor graduates
52.9
6.1
59.0
14.1
27.0

All university graduates
57.5
7.2
64.7
13.0
22.4
Source: Graduate Careers Council of Australia (GCCA).


STATISTICAL NOTES

Data are from the Graduate Destination Survey conducted by the Graduate Careers Council of Australia (GCCA), which is a census collecting data on people who graduated from university in the previous calendar year. The survey is conducted throughout the year and sent to graduates approximately four months after the completion of their qualification. 'University graduate' refers to all those who graduated from a university in the previous year. 'Bachelor graduate' refers to those individuals who completed a Bachelor degree (Pass, Honours or Graduate) or three-year Diploma; 'Postgraduate' refers to those individuals who completed a Doctorate, Masters (by coursework or research), Graduate or Postgraduate diploma, or Graduate certificate. It should be noted that the Graduate Destination Survey consistently obtains response rates of only around 50% which has implications on overall data quality.


INTERNATIONAL COMPARISONS
SELECTED OECD COUNTRIES, UNEMPLOYMENT RATE BY LEVEL OF EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT, 25–64 YEARS, 2002
Below Upper
Secondary
Upper Secondary and post-secondary non-tertiary education
Tertiary
type B
education
Tertiary type A
and advanced research programmes
All levels of
education
%
%
%
%
%
FEMALES
Australia
6.3
4.9
4.9
2.4
4.8
Canada
10.3
6.7
4.5
4.6
6.0
France
13.1
8.8
4.6
5.7
9.0
Germany
13.0
8.7
5.7
4.6
8.6
Japan
4.6
5.1
3.9
4.7
4.8
Korea
1.4
2.1
3.2
1.9
1.9
New Zealand
5.2
4.1
3.6
3.0
4.0
United Kingdom
6.4
4.0
1.8
2.1
3.6
United States of America
10.6
5.1
3.1
2.6
4.6
MALES
Australia
8.6
4.0
4.5
2.8
5.2
Canada
11.0
6.6
5.4
4.9
6.7
France
10.6
5.3
5.4
5.3
6.9
Germany
17.7
9.2
4.5
4.0
8.8
Japan
7.9
5.5
3.2
4.4
5.1
Korea
2.9
3.2
4.5
2.9
3.2
New Zealand
5.9
2.8
3.7
3.2
3.7
United Kingdom
10.4
4.1
2.8
2.7
4.4
United States of America
9.9
6.2
4.3
3.0
5.5
Source: Labour Market Statistics- Indicators, OECD Corporate Data Environment http://www1.oecd.org/scripts/cde/members/lfsindicatorsauthenticate.asp

STATISTICAL NOTES

International Standard Classification of Education
The International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) was developed by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) to facilitate comparisons of education statistics and indicators within and between countries. It was originally endorsed at the General Conference of UNESCO in 1978. The current version (ISCED 1997) was officially adopted in November 1997.
The 1997 International Standard Classification of Education ( ISCED-97) introduced a mult-dimensional classification framework, allowing for the alignment of the educational content of programmes from different countries using multiple classification criteria. These dimensions include the type of subsequent education or destination to which the programme leads, the programme orientation (whether it be general or pre-vocational education, or vocational education) and the programme duration. For detailed notes see the OECD publication Classifying Educational Programmes, Manual for ISCED 97 Implementation in OECD countries, Edition 1999.

The ABS has designed ASCED to be as consistent with ISCED as possible. However, the needs of users and producers of statistics on education in Australia, and other factors unique to the Australian education system, have meant that total consistency has not been possible. Like ASCED, ISCED has separate dimensions of Level of Education and Field of Education. Correspondence tables providing comprehensive information on the relationship between ASCED and ISCED 1997 are available on the ABS Website; ABS Australian Standard Classification of Education (cat. no. 1272.0).




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