ALMALAUREA CONFERENCE 2004

Knowledge of the most relevant characteristics and significant ways in which university graduates enter the workplace constitutes an indispensable means of assessing not only the universities where they received their education, but the labour market, the research sector and public administration as well. Such assessments, if based on reliable and updated documentation, are all the more important.

The presentation of the 6th Study on University Graduate Employment Conditions, which also marks ALMALAUREA’s first ten years of existence, will be preceded by the reflections of a number of international experts on university-to-work transitions across Europe. ALMALAUREA’s aim with this conference, in accordance with the objectives laid down in the Bologna Declaration on the European space for higher education, is to make a contribution to greater comparability among national systems of higher education. It will address criteria and methods used for evaluating the quality of higher education and enhancing the employability of all new graduates.

Based on the large number of universities and graduates (45,000) involved and on the graduates’ interest and accessibility (83% responded to telephone interviews), and taking into account the time interval under observation (for the first time, data was obtained from graduates five years subsequent to their degrees; two previous intervals, one and three years, respectively, were also considered), the documentation presented in the 6th Study provides a reliable database, opening the way for further discussion and development.