This week, a national report revealed the Australian universities providing the best student experience, resources, support and skills development.
The 2019 Graduate Outcome Survey – Longitudinal gives an insight to short and medium-term employment and salaries three years after completing their studies.
It found that more than nine out of ten university graduates are in full-time jobs three years after finishing their degree.
One of the top performers in this area was Flinders University, which was shown to have the second highest employment rate of any Australian university for postgraduate students.
Three years after completing a degree, 98.2% of Flinders postgraduates are employed – 94.6% of them in full-time employment.
The results were also exceptionally strong for Flinders’ undergrad students’, whose overall employment three years after completion is 93.1%, with 88.2% in full time employment.
Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Students) Professor Clare Pollock pointed to the high salary of the University’s postgraduates and undergraduates.
“Flinders’ postgraduate median full-time salary of $81,200 closely mirrors the national average of $81,400, and our undergraduate median salary of $60,000 matched the national average and was best in South Australia,” Professor Pollock said.
“Strengthening the employability and earning ability of our undergraduates and postgraduates has been a priority for Flinders, and we are pleased with our consistently strong performance.”
Professor Pollock said the key reason for this strong result is the relevance of the University’s “future focussed and future proofed” courses.
“Our courses have a strong emphasis on embedding employability skills throughout the course so that graduates are prepared to adapt to change,” she said.
“We’re focused on giving our students exceptional learning opportunities to ensure they emerge with well-developed talents in critical thinking, communication and teamwork, and we encourage our students to want to make a difference through their actions.
‘A nationally unique learning experience’
Professor Pollock pointed to the challenges posed by rapid changes taking place across the employment and technology landscape, highlighting the need to properly prepare graduating students with the skills they need to succeed in a variety of industries.
“We are determined to ensure our students have the capability to achieve, wherever their career path might lead,” she said.
“Flinders is nationally unique in offering Innovation and Enterprise studies across all courses so that our graduates have an edge in the employability market.”
Professor Pollock added that the University’s “rich range” of business and industry partnerships are equipping students with hands-on experience, ensuring its graduates are work-ready and highly prized by employers.
“Our commitment to enterprise means we support our graduates to not just pursue jobs, but to invent them,” she said.
An example of this, said Professor Pollock, is the University’s New Venture Institute, which has been named the Asia Pacific’s leading university business incubator.
“The Institute has fostered more than 300 start-ups and upskilled more than 3000 people with enterprise skills,” she said.
“Flinders is helping to create a highly skilled future workforce making a significant contribution to our collective prosperity through both employability and the generation of new jobs.”