Results of the career monitoring survey: Education at the University of Oulu meets the needs of modern working life

The results of the University Career Monitoring Survey 2023 show that a large proportion of master's graduates from the University of Oulu in 2018 and doctors who graduated in 2020 feel that education meets the requirements of working life. A large number of graduates would also recommend their education.
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As many as 67 % of those who completed a master's degree at the University of Oulu in 2018 say that their own working life corresponds to university education in terms of its level of difficulty. This is revealed in the results of the University Career Monitoring Survey. Of the master's graduates who responded, 66 per cent would recommend their education to others.

The results of the career monitoring survey concern those who completed a master's degree at the University of Oulu in 2018 and those who completed a doctoral degree in 2020.

Can you tell us about your skills?

The figures are also good for doctors. According to the results of the survey, 72 % of the doctors of the University of Oulu in 2020 feel that their current job corresponds to their level of education. 79 % of doctors are satisfied with their degree.

In terms of finding a job, master's graduates consider the ability to communicate their own competence to be the most important. Other work experience, the subject combination of the degree and practical training are also considered essential.

According to the master's and doctoral alumni who responded to the career monitoring survey, they are expected to have the ability to learn new things, problem-solving skills and cooperation skills at work. Initiative and the ability to operate in a multicultural environment are also considered important.

"The University of Oulu has done good work to develop education for a long time. At the moment, we are preparing measures for the new strategy period, for example, to streamline studies and promote students' wellbeing. We also want to enable the student's international experience during their studies," says Mirja Illikainen, Vice Rector for Education at the University of Oulu .

"We are also working to ensure that each of our degree programmes would provide students with generic skills that are important in working life more systematically in the future. The aim is to strengthen cooperation with working life so that our graduates would find employment even better in positions corresponding to their education and would also bring new expertise to meet the needs of developing working life."

The municipal sector employs master's graduates

According to the career monitoring survey, the municipal sector is the largest employer of master's degrees. For example, only a couple of per cent of the survey respondents are self-employed.

The average salary level of master's graduates from Oulu in 2018 has remained the same from the previous year's survey to last year's survey – approximately EUR 3800 per month.

The largest employer of the doctors who responded to the survey is the university. A couple of per cent are self-employed. 58 % of doctors are in permanent full-time employment and 37 % per cent in fixed-term full-time employment.

Doctor's salary over 4800 euros

The median salary of all doctoral graduates from Oulu in 2020 who responded to the survey is EUR 4850 per month. There are sectoral variations. For example, the median salary of a doctor of medicine is approximately EUR 6,000 per month.

The annual career monitoring survey is part of the career monitoring of the national Aarresaari network of universities.

The results of the career monitoring survey are used to develop education at the University of Oulu, and the results and the number of respondents also affect the funding received from the Ministry of Education and Culture.

The new survey collects the experiences of those who completed a master's degree in 2019, a bachelor's degree in early childhood education, a licentiate of medicine and dentistry, and those who completed a doctoral degree in 2021.

The survey is open until 9.12.2024. The survey has been sent by post and SMS. For more information, see the previously published article below this article.

The results of previous years can be viewed e.g. Maintained by the Finnish National Agency for Educationvipunen.fistatistical service, andTöissä.fi-Site. The results of the University of Oulu can also be viewed on the website:Master's degree career monitoringandCareer monitoring of doctors.

Further information:

Angela Suorsa
Suunnittelija, Ura- ja ohjauspalvelut
angela.suorsa@oulu.fi

Last updated: 4.11.2024