This chapter looks at the employment destinations of QQI graduates in the years after graduation and examines how these destinations vary across learner characteristics, such as sex and field of study. Note that only those graduates in 'substantial employment only' or 'substantial employment and education' are included here. 

The proportion of graduates in employment in the first year following graduation increased over the period examined, from 46.6% for 2010 graduates to 62.2% for 2016 graduates, an increase of 15.6 percentage points. 

The proportion in employment generally increases in the years following graduation. In the first year after graduation, 53.9% of 2014 graduates were in employment. Three years after graduation, more than two in three (67.5%) were in employment, an increase of 13.6 percentage points.

 

The gender employment gap decreased in the years following graduation

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

 

Highest employment rates for Services, Health & Welfare, and Agriculture graduates

The proportion of 2016 graduates in employment in the first year after graduation was highest in the fields of Services, Health & Welfare and Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries & Veterinary.

Four fields of study showed a significant difference in the proportions of male and female graduates in employment. These were Business, Administration & Law, Social Sciences, Journalism & Information, Information & Communication Technologies and Natural Sciences, Mathematics & Statistics. In each case, the proportion of females in employment was approximately 10 percentage points greater than that for males.

Note that the proportion of female Engineering, Manufacturing & Construction graduates is not shown due to low numbers.

Wholesale & Retail Trade, Accommodation & Food Service Activities and Health & Social Work were the largest sectors for employment in the first year following graduation over the period examined. 

One in four (25.2%) 2016 graduates were working in Wholesale & Retail Trade, compared to 30.2% of 2010 graduates one year after graduation. Of the 2010 substantially employed graduates, 18.3% were working in Health & Social Work, the second largest sector for employment. By 2016, this rate had dropped to 16.5%. Instead, the second largest sector for employment for 2016 graduates in the first year following graduation was Accommodation & Food Service Activities, employing one in five (18.8%) graduates.

 

Health & Social Work was the most common sector for graduates in 'substantial employment only'

Of the 2016 graduates in 'substantial employment only', Health & Social Work was the most common sector for employment in the first year following graduation. This was followed by Wholesale & Retail Trade, at 21.9% and Accommodation & Food Service Activities, at 14.4%. 

For those in 'substantial employment and education', Wholesale & Retail Trade was the most common sector for employment, employing 27.5% of graduates. One in five (22%) graduates were working in Accommodation & Food Service Activities, while 12.2% were working in Health & Social Work.

Most fields of study see a concentration of graduates in one or two specific NACE sectors, while graduates from other fields go on to work in a diverse range of sectors. Natural Sciences, Mathematics & Statistics had the highest rate of employment in either Wholesale & Retail Trade or Accommodation & Food Service Activities at 70%. However, Natural Sciences, Mathematics & Statistics had the highest proportion of graduates in 'substantial employment and education' one year after graduation at 54.2%. It is noteworthy that employment may refer to part-time work that fulfils the minimum requirements of substantial employment, as defined in Background Notes and Methodology.

Close to half (47.5%) of Health & Welfare graduates from 2016 were working in Health & Social Work one year after graduation. One in three (32.6%) Engineering, Manufacturing & Construction graduates were working in Industry or Construction. Almost one in three (30.3%) Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries & Veterinary graduates were working in Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing one year after graduation.