HEA Statistics Newsletter Quarter 1 2022

Posted: 1 March, 2022

Welcome to the first edition of the HEA Quarterly Statistics Newsletter!

In this edition you will find information on our latest publications, a featured dashboard, and some other useful information on upcoming surveys and reports, along with dates and deadlines.

In this issue we will be talking about the newly released Graduate Outcomes Survey – Class of 2020 report, our Socio-Economic Profiles dashboard, the Eurostudent survey, and our recent webinar on graduate survey response rates and stakeholder engagement.

We hope you find this newsletter interesting and informative, let us know your feedback, or anything you would like included in future editions, at statisticsnews@hea.ie. You can sign up to receive this newsletter direct to your inbox here.

Graduate Outcomes Survey Class of 2020

The Graduate Outcomes Survey report is out now.

The Graduate Outcomes Survey is a nationally representative annual survey of graduates from Irish higher education institutions. Graduates are surveyed nine months after graduation and for the Class of 2020, the response rate was 49%.

This report is of particular interest as it provides an insight into the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on our recent graduates.

The survey found that:

• Overall, 75.9% of graduates are in employment nine months after graduation (down from 80.1% for the Class of 2018). Employment is highest among Education graduates (93.2%) and lowest for Arts & Humanities graduates (53.1%).  In terms of further study, 13.8% of graduates pursue further study nine months after graduation (up from 12.6% for the Class of 2018). The proportion pursuing further study is highest for Arts & Humanities graduates (27.4%) and lowest for Education graduates (2.9%).
• The average full-time earnings for younger graduates are €32,596. ICT graduates have the highest proportion earning more than €40,000 nine months after graduation (44.1%).
• Nearly two-thirds (64.3%) of graduates are on Permanent or Open-Ended contracts (up from 61.9% for the Class of 2018). Permanent or Open-Ended contracts are most common in ICTs (79.0%), and least common in Education (42.2%).

Read the Class of 2020 Report

Check out our all years dashboard

Socio-Economic Profiles Dashboard

Our featured dashboard this quarter is our Socio-Economic Profiles 2019/20 dashboard, which looks at the levels of advantage and disadvantage in higher education in Ireland.

This analysis uses Deprivation Index Scores, which measure the relative affluence or deprivation of a particular geographical area. This is measured right down to street level, based on small-area statistics (on average, 80-100 households). Thus, this shows the extent to which every neighbourhood, suburb, and village is affluent or deprived. Ten key indicators are included in the calculation of this measure (e.g., proportion of skilled professionals, employment levels, education levels).

Go to the Socio-Economic Profiles Dashboard

Did you know...?

..that in Ireland, students living with parents have the longest commuting time to get from home to their HEI? The median is 45 minutes one way! Those not living with parents have a commuting time of 20 minutes. Their peers living in student accommodation have a commuting time of 10 minutes.  We know this thanks to the Eurostudent survey, carried out every few years across Europe.

Read more below about the Eurostudent 8 survey, coming to a HEI near you soon!

Read more about the Eurostudent survey

Webinar on Response Rates and Stakeholder Engagement

HEA Statistics hosted a webinar on response rates and stakeholder engagement for higher education institutions in January 2022.  Speakers included:

• Neha Agarwal, Head of Research and Insight, Higher Education Statistics Agency, UK
• Karen de Man, Alumni Relations Officer, Erasmus University Rotterdam
• Gavin Connell, Head of Careers, University of Limerick
• Dawn O’Connor, Careers Officer, Dun Laoghaire IADT
• Marie Kielty, Head of Career Development Centre, TU Dublin Tallaght Campus

We shared some fascinating insights on the challenges of engaging graduates in surveys after they have left college, and how best to reach out to graduates and other stakeholders in sharing and making best use of graduate survey data.  We’d like to thank our speakers for their time and expertise!

Key deadlines, events and reports

Student Records System Deadline:  The 1 March SRS returns are due in on 31 March 2022.  HEIs should contact the statistics section of the HEA with any queries on the data, and information for HEIs is available on the HEA website.

Graduate Outcomes Survey Census Date:  The census date for the 2022 Graduate Outcomes Survey is 31 March 2022.  There are new promotional materials available for HEIs to use: you can find out about all things Graduate Outcomes Survey here and you can follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Graduate Outcomes Survey Info-Byte:  What are the barriers to further study or employment faced by graduates?  Check out our Info-Byte.

Forthcoming publication on progression: The latest analysis of first- to second-year progression is due to be published in Q2 2022, looking at students who progressed in both 2018/19 and 2019/20.

Eurostudent: The Eurostudent 8 survey will take place across Irish higher education institutions in Q2 2022.  The main aim of the Eurostudent project is to collate comparable data on the social dimension of European higher education. It focuses on the social and economic conditions of student life. It also investigates temporary international mobility. The project provides reliable and insightful cross-country comparisons.  These include data on a number of issues that affect Irish students such as commuting patterns, accommodation, income, expenditure and student well-being.

Upcoming Research Policy Series: We will be launching a new research policy series in the coming weeks, stay tuned for more details.

View our statistical publications