Study title

Finnish University Graduates of Year 2003: Career and Employment Survey 2008

Dataset ID Number

FSD2574

Persistent identifier

urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD2574

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

• Aarresaari network of the Academic Career Services in Finland

Other Identification/Acknowledgements

• Ollikainen, Jyrki (University of Tampere. Department of Mathematics and Statistics)

Abstract

The survey charted the career and employment situation of people who had graduated from Finnish universities with a lower (BA/BSc or equivalent) or higher (MA/MSc or equivalent) degree in 2003. The survey was conducted five years after graduation.

The first part investigated the respondents' education and work history. They were asked whether they had, after graduation, participated in job-related training, careers guidance or had studied for or completed any additional professional qualification or higher education degree. The length of time in paid employment after graduation was queried, including both work in general and work commensurate with their level of education. Further questions covered the number of employers, number of separate employment contracts and offices, whether the respondents had been entrepreneurs, self-employed or freelancers and for how long, or whether they had been outside the labour market because of a family leave. Possible periods of unemployment, obstacles to getting a job (e.g. lack of experience, challenging labour market situation in their field, gender), and employment situation at the time of graduation were investigated. Those who had not been employed at the time of graduation were asked how long it had taken to get their first job. Characteristics of the first job after graduation were surveyed, including contract type, employer type, and type of work. The respondents were also asked whether the first job had required an academic degree, whether it had been commensurate with their qualification, and to what extend they had been able to utilise knowledge and skills gained during their university studies.

The next section focused on the respondents' current employment situation. Questions covered the type of main employer, type of work, monthly gross wage income, whether they could utilise the knowledge and skills gained during their university studies, whether the job was commensurate with their level of education, and if not, why they had accepted to take the job. The respondents were presented with a number of statements relating to their job (e.g. 'my work is important', 'I have too much work', 'my contract is not secure') and asked to what extent they agreed. The respondents with fixed-term contracts were asked about the reason why the contract was fixed-term, the duration of the contract, and whether the contract had been preceded by another fixed-term contract with the same employer.

The survey also explored the respondents' satisfaction with their degree and studies. Questions covered satisfaction with the degree from the point of view of career, how important certain skills and know-how were in the respondents' current job and how well their studies had developed these skills. The skills mentioned included, for instance, theoretical or practical knowledge of their field, problem solving, managerial skills, negotiation skills, project management, communication in English, etc.

Background variables included the university attended, gender, field of study, age group at the time of graduation, and information on the degree (level of degree, number of credits required for the degree).

Keywords

appointment to job; career development; educational certificates; employment; employment opportunities; graduates; tertiary education (first stage)

Topic Classification

• Social sciences (Fields of Science Classification)
• Higher and further education (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Employment (CESSDA Topic Classification)

Series

Career and Employment Survey of Finnish University Graduates

Distributor

Finnish Social Science Data Archive

Access

The dataset is (C) available only for research including master's theses.

Data Collector

• Aarresaari network of the Academic Career Services in Finland

Time Period Covered

2008

Collection Dates

2008-09 – 2008-10

Nation

Finland

Geographical Coverage

Finland

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Individual

Universe

Persons who graduated with a lower (BA/BSc) or higher (MA/MSc/Licentiate of Medicine) degree from Finnish science universities in 2003 (excluding graduates from the four art universities: Finnish Academy of Fine Arts, Sibelius Academy, School of Art and Design and Theatre Academy Helsinki)

Time Method

Longitudinal: Trend/Repeated cross-section

Sampling Procedure

Total universe/Complete enumeration

Each university posted the paper questionnaire to persons who had graduated from that university in the year 2003, asking people to return the filled-in questionnaire to the university. The participants were also given the possibility to answer an online questionnaire instead of the paper questionnaire. The responses were collected into one file in 2009.

Collection Mode

Self-administered questionnaire: Paper

Self-administered questionnaire: Web-based (CAWI)

Research Instrument

Structured questionnaire

Data File Language

Downloaded data package may contain different language versions of the same files.

The data files of this dataset are available in the following languages: Finnish.

FSD translates quantitative data into English on request, free of charge. More information on ordering data translation.

Data Version

3.0

Completeness of Data and Restrictions

During archiving, the section on Aalto University was removed as well as variables containing information on municipality and employer name (e.g. q1 and q22). Variable q20_3 was removed because of unclear values. To prevent identification, some background variables regarding the field of studies (such as major subject and degree programme) were removed. Open-ended responses to variables (e.g. job titles) were removed from the data.

Weighting

There are no weight variables in the data.

Citation Requirement

The data and its creators shall be cited in all publications and presentations for which the data have been used. The bibliographic citation may be in the form suggested by the archive or in the form required by the publication.

Bibliographical Citation

Aarresaari network of the Academic Career Services in Finland: Finnish University Graduates of Year 2003: Career and Employment Survey 2008 [dataset]. Version 3.0 (2018-04-16). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD2574

Deposit Requirement

Notify FSD of all publications where you have used the data by sending the citation information to user-services.fsd@tuni.fi.

Disclaimer

The original data creators and the archive bear no responsibility for any results or interpretations arising from the reuse of the data.

Related Materials

Kunhan kuluu viisi vuotta - ylemmän korkeakoulututkinnon suorittaneiden työurat (2011). Toim. Puhakka, Antero & Tuominen, Visa. Suomen akateemisten ura- ja rekrytointipalvelujen Aarresaari-verkosto.

Related Publications

Kunhan kuluu viisi vuotta - ylemmän korkeakoulututkinnon suorittaneiden työurat (2011). Toim. Puhakka, Antero & Tuominen, Visa. Suomen akateemisten ura- ja rekrytointipalvelujen Aarresaari-verkosto.

Minkkinen, Matti (2009). Työurille Tampereelta. Tampereen alueen korkeakouluista vuonna 2003 valmistuneiden työelämään sijoittuminen ja työmarkkinaliikkuvuus viisi vuotta valmistumisen jälkeen [verkkodokumentti]. Tampere: Tampereen yliopisto. http://tampub.uta.fi/tup/978-951-44-7902-1.pdf [viitattu 28.2.2011].