Domestic graduates from Australian higher education institutions recorded the highest full-time employment rates since the survey commenced in 2016, according to the Quality Indicators for Learning and Teaching (QILT) 2023 Graduate Outcomes Survey (GOS) National Report released this week.
Benefitting from Australia’s strong labour market, the proportion of domestic graduates employed full-time four to six months after course completion rose slightly in 2023 after a sharp increase in 2022.
The GOS is completed by graduates of Australian higher education institutions approximately four to six months after finishing their studies. The GOS measures short-term employment outcomes including skills utilisation, further study activities, and graduate satisfaction.
Over 116k surveys were completed for the 2023 GOS, from 126 participating institutions.
Other key findings from the GOS include:
Full-time median annual salary
Median salaries increased year-on-year for all levels of graduates, although postgraduate coursework graduates recorded a steeper increase of 5.5 per cent. In comparison, undergraduate media annual salaries rose by 4.4% and postgraduate research graduates by 4.2%.
Gender pay gap
The gender pay gap for full-time annual salaries was greatest for postgraduate coursework graduates, with the male median full-time annual salary $13k higher than females. This difference was smallest for postgraduate research graduates (with males earning $2k more).
Underemployment
The definition of ‘underemployment’ in the GOS is the proportion of graduates employed part-time (less than 35 hours per week) who would prefer to work more hours.
The proportion of graduates who were employed part-time but wanted to work more hours was relatively low, although there was a slight increase at the undergraduate level from 2022 to 2023. This level of underemployment corresponds with the high rates of full-time employment in the same years.
The reasons cited for not working more hours were:
- No more hours available in current position
- Studying
- No suitable jobs in area of expertise
The full 2023 Graduate Outcome Survey National Report is available on the QILT website. All charts included in this article have been taken from the report.
