Graduates of new technological universities are more likely to be employed within months of graduating compared with graduates from traditional universities.
The figures are contained in a Higher Education Authority (HEA) study which tracked thousands of students from the class of 2023 to see if they were in employment or further study nine months after graduating.
Technological universities recorded employment rates of 82-87 per cent among their undergraduate honours degree graduates while traditional universities had employment rates of 64-85 per cent. This reflects the fact that a greater proportion of traditional university graduates pursue further study after graduating.
The study also shows a wide variation in earning among graduates who were willing to share their salaries.
The bulk of graduates (70 per cent) earned up to €40,000, although significant numbers (30 per cent) earned in excess of this amount. Earnings were higher among postgraduate students. While more than half of these graduates earned more than €40,000, 10 per cent earned over €80,000.
The lowest earnings were recorded among graduates with ordinary degrees or advanced diplomas.
Nine months after graduation, the overwhelming majority (92 per cent) of those employed were working in Ireland. Dublin was the most common area of employment (41 per cent), followed by Cork and Galway.
Overall, 80 per cent of third-level graduates across all higher education institutions were in employment nine months after graduation. This is down from 83 per cent for the class of 2022 and 82 per cent for the class of 2021.
Unemployment rates among graduates increased from 4 per cent for the class of 2022 to 6.5 per cent for the class of 2023. The figure was 8.1 per cent for the class of 2020.
HEA chief executive Dr Alan Wall said employment rates for graduates were “still at a very high level”.
The survey was conducted among a nationally representative annual poll of graduates across the higher education system earlier this year.
Employment is highest for education graduates, such as teachers (90 per cent) and lowest for arts and humanities graduates (65 per cent), although the latter are more likely to pursue further study such as a postgraduate qualification.
Much smaller proportions of students (11 per cent) are in further study nine months after graduation. This is up from 10 per cent for the class of 2022 and down from 12 per cent for the class of 2021.
The proportion pursuing further study is highest for arts and humanities graduates (21 per cent), natural sciences, maths and statistics graduates (17 per cent), and lowest for information and communication graduates (5 per cent).
The number of graduates doing other activities such as travelling, volunteering or engaged in home duties has increased slightly from 2.3 per cent for the class of 2022 to 2.5 per cent for the class of 2023.
Overall, the class of 2023 produced almost 71,000 graduates, 55 per cent of which were female and 45 per cent male.
Just over 50 per cent graduated from undergraduate honours degree programmes while 28 per cent graduated from taught masters programmes.
Among undergraduates, more than six in 10 considered their course “very relevant” or “relevant” to their job.
The most common sources of employment include recruitment sites, already having worked there (including work experience) followed by personal contacts.
