This chapter discusses employment and education destinations after graduation and will also describe how outcomes vary across parameters, including sex and field of study. Graduate destinations are analysed both as a function of time since graduation and as a function of graduation year. For analyses looking at three years after graduation, the graduation year 2014 is used due to limited availability of outcome data for years subsequent to 2017. Descriptions of the destination definitions used are shown below. 

Note that the following destinations are mutually exclusive. In other words, a graduate can only belong to one of the following categories at a time. The total proportion of graduates in employment can be calculated by adding the proportion in 'substantial employment only' to the proportion in 'substantial employment and education'. Similarly, the total proportion in education can be calculated by adding the proportion in 'substantial employment and education' with the proportion in 'education only'. Further details are given in Background Notes and Methodology.

 

'Substantial employment only': Graduates are considered to be in 'substantial employment' if they have worked for at least 12 weeks in the year in question, earning at least €100 a week on average from their main employer, or demonstrate significant self-employment. To be in 'substantial employment only', the graduate has no record of enrolment in education in the year in question. 'Substantial employment and education': The graduate must meet the conditions of substantial employment but also have a record of enrolment in education (as defined below) in the year in question. 'Education only': The graduate must have a record of enrolment in higher or further education but do not meet the definition of substantial employment. For a detailed breakdown of education, see Background Notes and Methodology. 'Neither employment nor education': The graduate does not satisfy the criteria for substantial employment or education as described above but appears somewhere in the administrative data for this year, e.g. individuals have a record of some employment or receipt of benefits in the year in question. 'Not captured': The graduate has no record of employment, receipt of benefits or enrolment in education in the year in question.

 

In the first year following graduation, 62.2% of 2016 graduates were in employment and 63.2% were in education. The overlap between employment and education is 36.4%. Thus, the combined proportion in employment or education is 89%. Of the remaining graduates, 7.4% were in 'neither employment nor education', while 3.7% were 'not captured'.

Between 2010 and 2016, there was a substantial increase in the proportion of new graduates going into substantial employment, from 46.6% for 2010 graduates, to 62.2% for 2016 graduates, an increase of 15.6 percentage points. The proportion of graduates who were in 'neither employment nor education' fell over the same period, from 11.7% for 2010 graduates, to 7.4% for 2016 graduates.

In the first year following graduation, more than half (53.8%) of 2014 graduates were in employment and 63.8% were in education. The overlap between these categories is 31.8%. The combined proportion is 85.8%.

Over the following years, the proportion in employment increased from 53.8% in the first year after graduation to 67.4% three years after graduation. The share of graduates in education fell by 22.1 percentage points, from 63.8% one year after graduation to 41.7% three years after graduation. The combined proportion in employment or education fell from 85.8% one year after graduation to 82.2% three years after graduation, a decrease of 3.6 percentage points.

 

Females were more likely to be in employment, while males were more likely to be in education

Female graduates from 2014 were more likely to be in substantial employment in the first year after graduation than males, with 57% of females and 49.7% of males working in the first year after graduation, a difference of 7.3 percentage points. Three years after graduation, this gap narrowed to just 3.4 percentage points, with 68.9% of female graduates and 65.5% of male graduates in substantial employment.

Men were more likely to be enrolled in education, with 60.5% of females and 68.2% of males in education one year after graduation, a difference of 7.7 percentage points. This proportion reduces over time for both sexes, with the gap narrowing to 2.3 percentage points.

 

Three in four Level 6 graduates were in employment one year after graduation

Close to three in four (72.4%) 2016 NFQ Level 1 graduates were enrolled in education one year after graduation. There was a relatively low proportion in employment. However, it should be noted that Level 1 and 2 Certificates are often related to basic literacy and numeracy, and employment may not be the expected outcome for many courses at this level.

Amongst NFQ Level 5 graduates, more than two in three (67.1%) were in employment in the first year after graduation, while for Level 6 graduates, this proportion was even higher at 73.3%. The proportion of Level 6 graduates who were in education one year after graduation was low relative to other NFQ Levels at 40.3%. Amongst Level 5 graduates, this proportion was much higher at 66.8%.

 

Nine in ten ICT graduates were in employment or education one year after graduation

Health & Welfare and Services graduates in 2016 had high rates of employment in the first year after graduation, while Generic Programmes & Qualifications, Arts & Humanities and Information & Communication Technologies had relatively low rates of employment. However, some fields with low rates of employment had relatively high proportions in education. For example, four in five (81.3%) Information & Communication Technologies graduates were in education one year after graduation. In Natural Sciences, Mathematics & Statistics, this proportion was even greater, at 87.5%. 

In certain fields of study, a high proportion of those who are in substantial employment are also enrolled in education. This is particularly the case in Natural Sciences, Mathematics & Statistics, Information & Communication Technologies and Social Sciences, Journalism & Information. Thus, graduates from these fields of study might have a higher propensity for seeking out part-time employment as they continue their studies, and this should be borne in mind as the industry sectors of these graduates are examined in the coming chapters.