National Alumni Survey 2017 well underway
It’s that time of year again. Questionnaires have gone out to UM alumni asking them about their position on the labour market. Anyone who graduated from Maastricht University in 2011/2012, 2006/2007 or 2015/2016 has received an email or letter with the request to share their experience as part of the UM’s alumni research.
This research yields rich and valuable data, showing for example how alumni look back on their studies 1.5, 5 or 10 years after their graduation. The findings reveal what their employment prospects are, which jobs they obtain, which knowledge and skills they possess and what they value and aim for in their professional careers.
Collection of important data
The UM’s alumni research provides information that is useful for a range of stakeholders. It can help prospective students with their study choice: what are the employment prospects of various master programmes, and what occupations can one expect to enter after graduating from these programmes? With this in mind, results from the UM’s alumni research is used twice a year to inform prospective students attending the UM Master Open Days.
Additionally, it provides the UM and its faculties with information about their graduates, which can be used for policy purposes. Partly based on the findings of the UM’s alumni research, employability has become one of the UM’s three strategic focal points.
Data collection
The UM’s alumni research consists of two related projects. The first is part of the National Alumni Survey (NAE), conducted under the auspices of the Association of Universities in the Netherlands (VSNU). It sends out questionnaires to alumni from several Dutch universities about 1.5 years after graduation. The VSNU works together on this survey with DESAN Research Solutions, which carries out the data collection.
Secondly, alumni from the UM are followed up later in their career, and asked to fill in questionnaires about 5 and 10 years after graduation. This research is conducted jointly by the Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market (ROA) and DESAN Research Solutions.
Content of the UM’s alumni research
The questionnaires deal with the following main topics:
- Transition and preparation of the master programme for the labour market.
- Success in the labour market, in terms of employment, salary and occupation, as well as job satisfaction and the degree to which one contributes to society.
- Acquired knowledge and skills.
- Satisfaction with the master programme, in terms of content and preparation for the labour market (in NAE).
