Search results

The job satisfaction of university graduates can serve as an indicator of success in their professional development. At the same time, it can be a measure of higher education systems’ effectiveness. The purpose is to assess the relationship of university graduates’ socio-demographic characteristics, aspects of their degree program, experiences in the labor market and current working conditions and their job satisfaction.

The data were collected from a survey conducted at 11 Chilean universities with 534 graduates. An ordinal logistic regression model was fit to calculate job satisfaction probabilities for different graduate profiles.

The results show that sex, field of study, gross salary and horizontal match are related to graduates’ job satisfaction. Men and graduates in education and humanities are more likely to report being satisfied with their current job. Those graduates receiving higher salaries and those who are horizontally well-matched report higher levels of job satisfaction.

This study contributes to expanding knowledge about the job satisfaction of university graduates. Specifically, based on the results obtained, it introduces the idea of aspiration fulfillment as a possible determinant of job satisfaction in different fields of study. This can serve as a starting point for research that delves into differentiated expectations for graduates from different disciplines.

This paper aims to investigate how graduates’ perceptions of self-service technology and perceived job performance can be used to assess university service quality. Also, this study examines the mediating role of perceived job performance on the effect of university service quality on graduates’ satisfaction and loyalty.

A quantitative methodology was adopted where university graduates’ perceptions of self-service technology and job performance were used to assess the level of the university’s service quality. Through a cross-sectional survey, data were collected from 280 university graduates employed in Chinhoyi town, Zimbabwe, during the period between August and December 2021.

This study’s findings indicate that self-service technology influences university service quality which in turn impacts on graduates’ perceived job performance, satisfaction and loyalty. Graduates' perceived job performance was also found to partially mediate the effect of university service quality on satisfaction and loyalty among graduates.

This study’s results are instrumental to enable university’s management in developing economies to adopt and improve self-service technologies as this enhances university service quality and graduates’ perceived job performance, satisfaction and loyalty.

This paper provides new insights, that is, the incorporation of graduates’ perceptions of self-service technology and job performance in assessing the university’s service quality. This research further clarifies the function of graduates’ perceived job performance in mediating the effect of university service quality on graduate satisfaction and loyalty. This study further adds to our understanding of tools, criteria and methods for assuring university service quality.

The purpose of this paper is to improve future teacher training by assessment of university graduates’ satisfaction with their preparation in Basic Education teaching.

This descriptive study employed a self-administered survey questionnaire to a representative sample of 235 graduates between 2014 and 2016 from three universities in Chile. The questionnaire generated information about the graduates’ background (age, gender, parents’ education and prestige of secondary school attended); an evaluation of three dimensions of their degree program (instructional quality, infrastructure and employability), and experiences in the labor market (including salary). Analysis of variance was used to assess relationships between satisfaction, and other variables.

In general, graduates were satisfied with all aspects of their training. Satisfaction levels were higher from those assumed to have lower expectations. Contrary to this hypothesis, university prestige is not directly related to satisfaction. Instead, expectations and employability moderate the effect of prestige.

The sample is not representative of the 59 universities in Chile nor of the many other degree programs offered in those universities.

Program directors concerned about improving the public reputation or prestige of their program will benefit from efforts to improve the quality of the program and its infrastructure, and relevance for entrance into the world of work.

This study provides information not previously available about graduate satisfaction in teaching degree programs in Chile.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of service quality on graduates’ satisfaction as perceived by Middle East University (MEU) graduates.

This research is cross-sectional and aims to explore the effect of service quality dimensions (academic staff, administration, classrooms and library services) on graduates’ satisfaction. Data were collected from 399 graduates. After confirming validity, reliability and normality of the data, and the correlation between variables, multiple regressions were used to test the hypothesis.

The results show that all service quality dimensions are highly implemented by the MEU. The relationships between all service quality dimensions and graduates’ satisfaction are strong. Finally, results show that all service quality dimensions affect graduates’ satisfaction.

To generalize the results of this research, further studies are recommended to be carried out on other universities especially in Jordan. Testing the perception and satisfaction of other universities, stakeholders will help to improve service quality and to gain suitable competitive strategies.

Service quality is a key driver for universities’ sustainable competitive advantage; therefore, dimensions of service quality should be included within universities plan, strategies and daily activities.

Considering service quality in higher education improves countries’ economic development, quality of life and well-being. All corporate social responsibility pillars (social, economic, environmental responsibilities and national and international regulation and norms) should be adapted and adopted within services quality systems and programs.

Most of previous studies were carried out to test the students’ perception while this research is dedicated to explore graduates’ perception regarding service quality offered by the MEU.

The aim of this research is to attempt to reveal the difference between what fresh graduates expect and their actual experiences pertaining to the working environment.

Using a set of self‐administered questionnaires, data were collected from 128 graduates. They were asked to indicate their preferences on organizational culture, leadership, communication, decision making, team working, motivation, and development. Using the same dimensions, the respondents then reported their actual experiences, thus enabling gaps to be determined.

The results from paired‐sample t‐tests suggest that significant expectation gaps exist in all the areas surveyed. While communication, decision making and motivation are found to be significantly related to job satisfaction, none of the seven variables is found to be significantly correlated to organizational commitment.

The study focuses only on a rather limited sample size of Malaysian graduates; therefore it cannot ensure generalization of results obtained.

The resulting expectation gaps, and their influence on the graduates' job satisfaction and organizational commitment, have implications for the important roles played by employers, higher learning institutions, and graduate themselves.

This study makes significant contributions in three key areas. First, it is perhaps one of the earliest studies to comprehensively address the issue of expectation gaps using a myriad factors. Second, it is also one of the few that examines the influence of the expectation gaps on job satisfaction and commitment. Third, instead of focusing on employees as a whole, which has been the practice of prior research, this study concentrates only on fresh graduates who have been in the workforce for less than two years.

Education-job mismatches, especially overeducation or vertical mismatch, are generally found to lower the worker’s job satisfaction, which may generate the counter-productive behaviors, such as high rates of absenteeism and turnover in developed countries. The purpose of this paper is to examine the impacts of educational mismatches from their both forms and dimensions (match, overeducation, horizontal mismatch and double mismatch) on the job satisfaction among university graduates in Cambodia.

To deal with the sample selection bias owing to the unobserved job satisfaction of unemployed graduates, this paper applies the Heckman probit model on a survey conducted with 19 higher education institutions in Cambodia.

Results indicate that a half of graduates suffer at least one type of educational mismatch and the both forms of mismatches adversely affect the job satisfaction with the strongest impact from the double mismatch case.

The authors take into account the sample selection bias, but are not able to deal with the unobserved heterogeneity, such as individual competences and preferences. With the panel data, it would be possible to isolate those individual fixed effects.

The findings underline the importance of improvement in the quality of higher education in Cambodia that seems to play a main role in this education-job mismatch problem. Creating the occupational counseling for the high school students would be also helpful to orientate students to the majors strongly needed by the labor market.

This paper focuses on all forms and dimensions of mismatches and takes into account the sample selection bias in the context of a low-income country where the increasing rate of enrollment in higher education seems to be accompanied by an increasing rate of education-job mismatches. Previous research works focused mostly on overeducation and in developed countries.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the perceived progress of graduates who have been recruited by organisations and to assess their expectations and corresponding satisfaction levels. Drawing on the psychological contract and graduate development literature, the objective of the study was to compare the opinions of graduates from an organisation that offers a graduate development programme (GDP) to graduates from an organisation that does not offer such a programme.

In this paper there are interviews with HR managers, coupled with the design and distribution of a questionnaire to 126 graduates in two organisations with a response rate of 71 per cent (89 completed questionnaires).

Interesting findings emerged from the research that suggest that while GDPs do have merit, they do not appear to result in graduates who are more satisfied. In fact the opposite appeared to be true. From the sample, it emerged that organisations that employ these programmes have graduates who are less satisfied than their counterparts in organisations with no such programmes.

A number of practical implications and recommendations were identified from the study, including the importance of monitoring graduate expectations and satisfaction levels, introducing short‐term development plans, re‐evaluating the terms of reference of the GDP and providing specific training for supervisors/managers of graduates. To ensure that GDPs play a positive part in ensuring the organisational commitment of the graduate, they must be carefully developed and managed.

The paper offers insights into satisfaction levels regarding GDPs.

The object of this study is to formulate, establish and apply a suitable and reliable tool for measuring the course experience satisfaction of Master graduates. A questionnaire was formulated, based on similar tools, and adjusted to the reality of Hellenic Higher Education, in order to measure the satisfaction of graduates in three Master programmes in the area of health care management.

Master graduates of the study (n=162), 2003‐2007 admission years, filled in the questionnaire either electronically (web‐based) or by phone interview. The overall response rate was 50.6 per cent. In total, 37 statements were used for the measure of satisfaction while other questionnaire parts recorded the demographic, occupational and educational characteristics of the graduates.

Analysis revealed seven factors, listed as teaching, skills, assessment, feedback, social opportunities, facilities and organization of the course. Gender and first degree content do not affect the produced total satisfaction score. Married participants scored higher than those that are single in three factors and older participants scored higher than younger ones in two factors. The University of Crete's graduates scored higher than other graduates in two factors.

The paper is the first attempt to assess satisfaction, based on the grounds of quality, for Master programs in Hellenic State Universities. In this study are presented the first results and conclusions of the application of the developed questionnaire. Further results, relative to graduates' occupational status changes and professional development, are currently under investigation.

Service quality and satisfaction in the ODL setting related to students’ accomplishments (performance, loyalty and career) were reconsidered. It was aimed at exposing the moderating role of satisfaction on service quality and accomplishment. It was also of interest to scrutinize how, in what routines determinants engaged interdepended. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

This study utilized an exploratory design. It was qualitatively identified first that service quality included tangible, empathy, assurance, reliability, responsiveness and referral factors. It preceded to satisfaction (perceived from academic, operational and managerial attitudes). Satisfaction led to accomplishment. Quantitatively, service quality, satisfaction and accomplishment were identified as independent, moderating, and dependent variables, respectively. Respondents, 500 Universitas Terbuka graduates, were randomly pursued to accumulate data by a survey. Methodically, importance-performance analysis (IPA) and customer-satisfaction index (CSI) were used to figure out satisfaction and their importance degree. Nine hypotheses were developed and examined using structural-equation modeling to visualize the loading factors.

Replies from 163 respondents were completed. Seven of nine hypotheses were validated. It was distinguished that reliability influencing satisfaction, they were empathy, assurance and responsiveness; excluding tangible and referral. Satisfaction influenced performance, career, and loyalty. IPA-CSI analysis recognized 15 (of 21) attributes as the pillars of service quality.

Despite the qualitative framework was improperly approved by quantitative procedure, they were methodically reliable. It was supported by the fact that nine cut-off values of goodness-of-fit requirements harmonized. Additional inquiry is therefore required to tail off variances by integrating a more appropriate approach, amplifying theoretical coverage, and/or extending population/sample size.

The purpose of this paper is to address the problem of job satisfaction determinants of higher education graduates across six selected study domains.

Based on the theoretical considerations, derived from human capital theory and signalling theory, the authors formulate the model explaining job satisfaction as a broad measure of labour market success. Explanatory variables include various socio-demographic characteristics as well as market environment and process of learning, modes of teaching and study programme characteristics. Data used in the analysis comes from two special surveys of European research projects REFLEX and HEGESCO. Principal component analysis method and OLS regression were used to estimate model parameters.

The results of our research show the important role of characteristics of educational process, as well as individual graduates’ early work-related experience in predicting job satisfaction. Differences in job satisfaction determinants across domains may be to some extent explained by the differences in the labour market characteristics for graduates in given discipline. Variety of education-related characteristics taken into account in the empirical analysis of determinants of job satisfaction is a key valuable contribution to the research in the field.

Research findings indicate the areas of potential actions aimed at improving future job satisfaction which can be undertaken by higher education institutions’ management bodies.