Tracer Survey

8/8/2019 Tracer Survey

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THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES

MONA CAMPUS

REPORT ON THE

SURVEY OF FIRST DEGREE GRADUATES

CLASS OF 2007

OFFICE OF PLANNING AND INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH

MARCH 31, 2009


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INTRODUCTION

TheUWI,throughtheOfficeofPlanningandInstitutionalResearch,MonaCampusconducteda

survey of First Degree graduates from the Class of 2007 who graduated from the Mona

Campus. The survey instrumentwas developed collaboratively among the Universitywide

PlanningOffices.

The

survey

solicited

responses

to

approximately

30

questions

covering

student demographics, area of study, further studies, employment, and personal and

professionaldevelopment.

The survey not only shows how students have fared in the job market one year after

graduating, but also reveals important trends in the labourmarket and suggests areas for

improvementbytheMonaCampus.

METHODOLOGY

SurveyAdministration

TheSurveyofFirstDegreeGraduatesfromtheClassof2007wasadministeredbytheOfficeof

Planning and Institutional Research. Questionnaires were mailed during the last week of

January2009toapproximately2,464graduatesresidinginJamaica. Asecondmailingfollowed

inmidFebruary to approximately 180 graduates residing in other Caribbean territories. All

graduatesweregiventheopportunitytoreplytothesurveybymailorelectronicallybyMarch

15,2009.

Studentswho completed all the survey questions on timewere eligible towin one of four

facultyprizesofUS$500 cash and a grandprizeofUS$1,000 cash. Thewinnersare tobe

announcedsometime

in

April.

Bytheendofthesurveyperiod,633formswerereceived,representinga24%returnrate. This

responseratemarksanimprovementoverthe14%responserateachievedfromthesameclass

ofgraduatessurveyedattheMonaCampusbetweenOctoberandNovember2007.

SurveyInstrument

Thesurveyinstrument,whichwasdevelopedcollaborativelybythePlanningOfficesacrossthe

University, comprised four sections. Section one collected personal information from the

graduates

such

as

their

name,

age,

sex,

phone

number

and

email

address

as

well

as

their

faculty

ofstudy,degreeearned,andclassofdegree.

Section twoof the survey inquired about further studies such aswhetherornot theywere

currently enrolled in a graduate programme, their field of study, the type of programme

enrolledin,andthenameoftheinstitution.


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Sectionthreeaskedaseriesofquestionsonthestudentsemploymentstatusandtheextentto

whichtheircurrentjobwasrelatedtotheirfieldofstudy.

Sectionfouraskedtwelvequestionsabouttheskillsandcompetenciesacquiredwhilestudying

at the Mona Campus. Students were asked to rate the Campuss contribution to their

skills/competenciesdevelopment

on

ascale

of

None,

Very

Little,

Moderate,

to

Strong.

FINDINGS

Section1: PersonalData

AgeGroup

AsTable1shows,themajority(42%)ofrespondentsfromtheClassof2007wereinthe1924

agegroup.

Table1

Age

Group N %

1924 268 42

2529 133 21

3034 79 12

35+ 153 24

Total 633 100

Sex

AmongtheClassof2007,79%ofgraduateswerefemaleand21%male. AsseeninTable2,a

higherpercentageoffemales(84%)respondedtothesurvey.

Table2

Sex N %

Male 101 16

Female 532 84

Total 633 100

Faculty

Among the faculties, theSocialScienceshad thehighest representationat38%, followedby

HumanitiesandEducation(35%),MedicalSciences(13%)andPureandAppliedSciences(13%).


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Table3

Faculty N %

Humanities&Education 226 35

MedicalSciences 85 13

Pure&AppliedSciences 80 13

SocialSciences

242

38

Total 633 100

DegreeEarned

MostrespondentsgraduatedwithaBachelorofSciencedegree(62%),followedbyaBachelor

ofEducationdegree(18%)andaBachelorofArtsdegree(17%).

Table4

DegreeEarned N %

BA 109 17

BBMS 4 1

BED 117 18

BSC 392 62

MBBS 11 2

Total 633 100

MajorField

of

Study

The top tenmajor fieldsof studywereManagementStudies (66),Nursing (64),History (33),

Hospitality and Tourism (28), Psychology (28), Education (22), International Relations (21),

Media and Communication (19), Educational Administration (18), Literacy Studies (15) and

Mathematics(15).

ClassofDegree

Most respondents (45%) graduated with Lower Second Class Honours followed by Upper

SecondClassHonours(35%). Twelvepercent(12%)receivedFirstClassHonours.


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Table5

ClassofDegree N %

FirstClass 78 12

UpperSecond 219 35

LowerSecond 283 45

Pass

53

8

Total 633 100

Section2: FurtherStudies

When asked about their enrolment in postgraduate studies, sixteen percent (16%) of

respondents reported that they were currently enrolled in postgraduate studies. This

representsa significant increaseover the5% reportedamong the samecohort inNovember

2007. Amongthepostgraduaterespondents(103),48%werestudyingthesamefieldastheir

Firstdegree,

while

52%

were

studying

another

field.

Table6

Postgraduate

Studies N %

Yes 103 16

No 530 84

Total 633 100

Type

of

Programme

As Table 7 shows, themajority (75%)ofpostgraduate respondentswere enrolled in Taught

programmeswhile12%wereenrolledinResearchprogrammes.

Table7

Programme N %

Taught 77 75

Research 12 12

AdvanceDip 5 5

Professional 9 9

Total 103 100


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InstitutionAttending

Most (76%) of these postgraduate respondents were attending the UWI while smaller

percentageswereenrolledatoverseasinstitutions(17%)andotherJamaicaninstitutions(7%).

Table8

Institution N %

UWI 78 76

Overseas 17 17

OtherJamaican 7 7

Total 102 100

IntentiontoEnrolinPostgraduateStudies

Amongthe

530

respondents

who

were

not

enrolled

in

ahigher

degree

programme,

492

or

93%saidtheyplannedtoenrol inthenearfuture,while7%saidtheydidnot. Amongthose

whoplannedtoenrol,44%saidtheywouldstudythesamefieldastheirFirstdegreewhile56%

reportedthattheywouldstudyanotherfield. Amongthosewhowouldstudyanotherfield,

thehighestreportedfields includedHumanResourceManagement(21),MBA(16),Business

Administration(15),Marketing(13),Law(13),andEducation(10).

Section3: Employment

CurrentlyEmployed

Whenaskedabouttheiremploymentstatus,90%ofrespondentssaidtheywereemployed.

The employment rate among this cohort increased tremendously over the 61% reported in

November 2007. Among the 10% unemployed, 46%were currently pursuing postgraduate

studies.

Table9

Employed N %

Yes 570 90

No

63

10

Total 633 100


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ActivityofEmployer

Theprincipalactivitiesofemployersfellintothreemaingroupswhichtogetheraccountedfor

65% of all reported activities. These were Education (194), Healthcare (90) and

Finance/Banking(90).

TypeofEmployer

Among the employed graduates, 37% were employed by a Central Government/Statutory

Authority, 34% by the private sector, 23% by another public sector institution, and 6% by

anotherentity.

Table10

Sector N %

Central

Govt./Statutory

208

37

OtherPublic 132 23

Private 194 34

Other 35 6

Total 569 100

When the responsecategorieswere recoded tomatch the responses to theNovember2007

survey,mostrespondentsreportedemploymentintheEducationsectorwhichaccountedfor

32%ofresponsesin2007and35%in2009.

Table11

Sector2 N %

Education 198 35

Public/Statutory 170 30

Private 190 33

Other 11 2

Total 569 100

JobTitle

Whenaskedabouttheiroccupationorjobtitle,mostrespondentsreportedthefollowingtitles

whichtogetheraccountedfor70%ofallreportedjobtitles: Teacher(144),Officer(68),Nurse

(56),Assistant (38),Manager (28),Representative (19),Teller (17),Analyst (13)andSecretary

(11). It is not surprising how many respondents reported teacher, since the majority of

respondentsreportedemploymentintheeducationsector(Table11).


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TypeofJob

Amongtheemployedgraduates,71%reportedbeingemployedonafulltimepermanentbasis

while 22%were employed on a fulltime temporary basis. Another 6% reported parttime

employmentand1%,selfemployment. Thenumberofselfemployedgraduatesdeclinedfrom

4%in

November

2007

to

1%

in

2009.

The

fact

that

93%

of

respondents

reported

full

time

Table12

TypeofJob N %

FTPermanent 403 71

FTTemporary 127 22

PartTime 33 6

SelfEmployment 4 1

Total 567 100

employmentisgoodnewsfortheMonaCampusandanindicationoftheopportunitiesinthe

labourmarket. Further analyses revealed that fulltime employmentwas not limited to a

particular age group (Table 13) and that all three sectors (education, public, and private)

accountedforalmostequalsharesofthefulltimeemployedgraduates(Table14).

Table13

Age

FullTime

Employment

N %

1924 197 37

2534 184 35

35+ 149 28

Total 530 100

Table14

Sector2

FullTime

Employment

N %

Educ.

188

35

Public/Stat. 169 32

Private 164 31

Other 9 2

Total 530 100


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CurrentJobRequiresaFirstDegree

Almosthalfofrespondents(49%)reportedthataFirstdegreewasaminimumrequirementfor

theirjob,while51%saidaFirstdegreewasnotaminimumrequirementfortheirjob. Thefact

Table15

JobRequires

FirstDegree N %

Yes 275 49

No 292 51

Total 567 100

thathalfofrespondentswereholdingjobsrequiringaFirstdegreeindicatesthecaliberofjobs

Monasgraduatesareobtaining,andalsothe importanceofaUniversityeducation inthejob

market.

Further

analyses

revealed

that

the

youngest

age

group

(19

24)

was

the

most

likely

to

reporttheirjobrequiredaFirstdegree(Table16)and,amongthesectors,theprivatesector

wasthemostlikelytorequireaFirstdegree(Table17).

Table16

AgeGroup

JobRequires

FirstDegree

(Yes)

N %

1924 132 48

2534 92 33

35+

51

19

Total 275 100

Table17

Sector2

JobRequiresFirst

Degree(Yes)

N %

Education 74 27

Public/Statutory 90 33

Private

106

39

Other 5 2

Total 275 100


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JobRelatedtoFieldofStudy

When asked to what extent their current job was related to their field of study, most

respondents (51%)saidtheirjobwasdirectlyrelatedtotheir fieldofstudy,andanother27%

saidtheirjobwassomewhatrelatedtotheirfieldofstudy. Only10%ofrespondentsreported

theircurrent

job

was

neither

related

to

their

field

of

study

nor

their

preference.

Table18

JobRelatedto

FieldofStudy N %

Yes 293 51

Somewhat 154 27

No,mychoice 67 12

No,notmychoice 55 10

Total

569

100

FirstJobSinceGraduatingfromUWI,Mona

With regard to whether or not their current job was their first job, nearly half (44%) of

respondentssaidyes,while56%saidno. AsTable20shows,thosemostlikelytoreporttheir

currentjobastheirfirstweretheyoungestagegroup.

Table19

FirstJob N %

Yes 248 44

No 320 56

Total 568 100

Table20

AgeGroup

FirstJob

Yes No Total

1924 123 97 220

2534 89 108 197

35+ 36 115 151

Total 248 320 568


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Sixtypercent(60%)returnedtoajobtheyheldpriortograduatingfromMona(Table21).

Table21

Returnedto

PreviousJob

N

%

Yes 190 60

No 127 40

Total 317 100

Notsurprisingly,thosewhoreturnedtoapreviousposttendedtobeolder(Table22)andwere

employedintheeducationsector(Table23).

Table

22

AgeGroup

ReturnedtoPost

TotalYes No

1924 16 81 97

2534 66 39 105

35+ 108 7 115

Total 190 127 317

Table23

Sector2Returned

to

Post

TotalYes No

Education 107 36 143

Public/Statutory 48 26 74

Private 33 60 93

Other 2 2 4

Total 190 124 314

Gross

Monthly

Salary

(JA$)

Amongtheemployedgraduateswhoreportedtheirgrossmonthlysalary(91%responserate),

the mean was $90,912, the median $82,250 and the mode $80,000. The minimum and

maximumsalariesrangedfrom$16,000to$380,000permonth.


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Table24

Measure

GrossMonthly

SalaryinJA$

Mean 90,912

Median 82,250

Mode

80,000

Std.Dev. 43,645

Minimum 16,000

Maximum 380,000

When themeansalarieswerecomparedby faculty, the facultywith thehighestmeansalary

wasHumanitiesandEducation($98,181)followedbyPureandAppliedSciences($90,700)and

SocialSciences($87,951). ThemeansalaryforMedicalScienceswas$79,480. Thereasonfor

thehighmeansalaryinHumanitiesandEducationisduetothehighermeansalaryinEducation

($115,296).Sixty

three

percent

(63%)

of

respondents

from

that

department

were

35

years

or

older,manyofwhomwereemployed as teacherswith theMinistryofEducation. Teaching

salarieswerereportedonaverageinthe$90,000$120,000range. Additionally,intheFaculty

ofMedical Sciences, 75% of respondentswere nurseswhose salarieswere in the $40,000

$50,000 range compared with the few MBBS respondents who reported salaries in the

$100,000andoverrange.

Table25

Faculty Mean N St.Dev.

Humanities&Education 98,181 191 40,195

MedicalSciences 79,480 70 62,079

Pure&AppliedSciences 90,700 64 42,743

SocialSciences 87,951 194 37,938

Total 90,912 519 43,645

Whenthemeansalarieswerecomparedbyagegroupthemeansalariesincreasedwithage.

Table26

Age Mean N St.Dev.

1924 75,970 204 38,483

2529 89,228 110 49,379

3034 96,254 70 36,717

35+ 112,095 135 40,414

Total 90,912 519 43,645


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Whenthemeansalarieswerecomparedbysex,maleshadahighermeansalary($98,194)than

females($89,758)byalmost$10,000.

Table27

Sex

Mean

N

St.Dev.

Male 98,194 71 49,536

Female 89,758 448 42,584

Total 90,912 519 43,645

Salarydatawerealsoconvertedintoannualincometoseewhatpatternsemerged. AsTable28

shows,61%ofemployedrespondentswereearning$900,000ormoreayear,whichcompares

favorablytothe27%reportedbythiscohortinNovember2007. Itappearsthen,thatstudents

employmentprospectsimproveoneyearaftergraduation.

Table28

IncomeGroup N %

$1499,999 36 7

$500,000699,999 75 14

$700,000899,999 92 18

$900,0001,099,999 116 22

$1,100,0009,999,999 200 39

Total 519 100

Section4: PersonalandProfessionalDevelopment

WhenaskedaboutacquiredskillsandcompetenciesfromtheMonaCampus,respondentswere

generallysatisfied. Respondentswere invitedtoratetheCampusscontributiononascaleof

None, Very Little, Moderate, to Strong,with None representing a score of 1 and

Strong representing a score of 4. As Table 29 shows, respondents gave Moderate to

Strongratingstoallbuttwocategories,InnovativeandEntrepreneurial,andProficiency

in a Second Language. These two categories reflect areas for improvement atMona. It

shouldbenoted,however,thatofthefewrespondentswhoseMajorwasaforeignlanguage,

theserespondents

gave

high

ratings

to

Proficiency

in

aSecond

Language.


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Table29

Competencies Mean

CriticalThinkingSkills 3.51

ProblemSolvingSkills 3.46

EffectiveWritingSkills 3.48

EffectiveSpeaking

Skills

3.29

WorkingEffectivelyw/IT 3.11

Innovative&Entrepreneurial 2.72

Understanding&Appreciating

Diversity/OtherCultures 3.45

Think&WorkIndependently 3.56

WorkEffectivelyinTeams 3.50

Socio/PoliticalAwareness 3.17

EthicalConduct 3.23

ProficiencyinSecondLanguage 1.66

SummaryandConclusion

Inconclusion, theSurveyofFirstDegreeGraduates,Classof2007,hasprovidedsomeuseful

information on graduates one year after graduation. On the positive side, findings show a

markedimprovementintheemploymentratewhichwasreportedtobe61%somefivemonths

aftergraduationand90%oneyearlater. Ahigherpercentageofgraduateshavealsopursued

postgraduate studieswhichwas 5% fivemonths after graduation and 16% one year later.

Salaries also improved greatlywith 61% of graduates earning salaries of $900,000 ormore

annually,

compared

with

27%

of

graduates

earning

this

amount

five

months

after

graduation.

Findings also reveal important information about the labourmarket. Most notable are the

threemain sectors inwhich graduates are employed, Education,Healthcare, and Finance&

Banking. It issomewhatofasurprisethat teachingsalariesareonparwith thesalariesof

recentMBBS graduates. Despite concernsoveraweakeningeconomy,many graduatesare

abletofinddecentpayingjobsonafulltimepermanentbasis. Thesejobsarenotonlyrelated

totheirfieldofstudybutmoreandmore,thesepositionsarerequiringaUniversitydegree.

TheMonaCampus,however,needstoaddresscertain issues toremainaviable,competitive

institution. OneareaofconcernisthegenderimbalanceattheMonaCampuswhichrequires

interventionatthelevelofhighschool. Moregrowthneedstooccurinpostgraduateresearchprogrammes through perhaps better funding opportunities for students. With regard to

innovativeandentrepreneurialskills,theMonaCampuscouldbetterpreparegraduatesinthis

areaby institutingamandatoryentrepreneurialcourseforallfinalyearstudents. Thiscourse

would not only prepare graduates for theworld ofwork butwould also contribute to the

countryseconomicgrowththroughincreasedentrepreneurship.


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SECTION 1 PERSONAL DATA

1.Name:..

2. Age Group

19to

24

25

to

29

30to34 Over35

3.Sex

Male Female

4.PreferredContact#:

5.CurrentEMailAddress:

6.Faculty/School

Humanities Education

MedicalSciences PureandAppliedSciences

SocialSciences

7.NameofDegreeEarned:..

TheUniversityoftheWestIndies,Mona

GraduateTracerSurveyof

FirstDegreeGraduates


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8.ClassofDegreeObtained:

FirstClass UpperSecondClass

LowerSecondClass Pass

SECTION 2 FURTHER STUDIES

9.Areyoucurrentlyenrolledinagraduateprogram?

Yes No

Ifanswertotheaboveisyes,pleasestatefieldyouareenrolledin:

SameFieldasmyFirstDegree

Otherfield.

Please

state

.

10.Typeof program

Taughtmasters ResearchDegree

AdvancedDiploma OtherProfessionale.g.A.C.C.A.

11.Nameofinstitution:.

12.Ifyouarenotenrolledinagraduateprogram,doyouintendtointhenearfuture?

Yes No

Ifanswertotheaboveisyes,pleasestatewhichfieldyouwillenrollin:

SameFieldasmyFirstDegree

Otherfield.Pleasestate.

SECTION 3 - EMPLOYMENT

13.Areyoucurrentlyemployed?

Yes No


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14. If yes, please state name of your employer:

...

15. Briefly state the principal activity of your employer e.g. commercial banking, health

care etc.:

16. Type of employer

CentralGovernment/StatutoryAuthority

OtherPublicSectorInstitution

PrivateSector

Other

17. What is the title or designation of your job?

.

18.GrossMonthlySalary(IfNotJA$,StateCurrency)

.

19. Type of job:

Fulltimepermanent Fulltimetemporaryorcontract

Parttime

Self

employed

20. Is the minimum requirement a first degree for the job in which you are currently

employed?

Yes No

21. Is your current job directly related to your field of study?

Yes,isdirectlyrelatedtomyfieldofstudyYes,itissomewhatrelated(withinthebroaderdiscipline)

No,itisnotrelated(butmychoice)

No,itisnotrelated(notmychoice)


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22. Is your current job your first job since graduating from UWI?

Yes No

23. If your answer to the above question is (no), did you return to a job you previously heldin the public or private sector?

Yes No

SECTION 4 YOUR PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

24. Rate the following competencies in terms of the contribution of your UWI education

COMPETENCIES

EXTENTOFUWISCONTRIBUTION

(pleasetickappropriatecircle)

None Verylittle Moderate Strong1.Criticalthinkingskills O O O O

2.Problemsolvingskills O O O O

3.EffectiveWritingskills O O O O

4.Effective

speaking

skills

O

O

O

O

5.WorkingeffectivelywithmodernIT

communicationtechnologies

O O O O

6.Innovativeandentrepreneurial O O O O

7.Understandingandappreciatingdiversity

andothercultures

O O O O

8.Abilitytothinkandworkindependently O O O O

9.Capacitytoworkeffectivelyinteams O O O O

10.Socio/Politicalawareness O O O O

11.Ethical

conduct

O

O

O

O

12.Proficiencyinasecondlanguage O O O O

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