One of a number of findings from a survey of over 18,000 graduates by the Higher Education Authority (HEA).
Did you graduate with a bachelor’s degree from an Irish university in 2016?
Are you currently working and earning a salary of less than €25,000 per annum?
If you answered yes to both of those questions, you’re in good company, as two in every five students who graduated from an Irish university with a bachelor’s degree two years ago are in the same boat.
Of those graduates, those who studied Arts and Humanities are the least well paid, with 15% earning less than €13k per annum, while the largest proportion of graduates – Health and Welfare (32%), Education (32%), ICT (Information and Communications Technology) (29%), Engineering, Manufacturing and Construction (28%) and Natural Sciences, Mathematics and Statistics (21%) – are earning between €29k and €33k a year.
Overall, ICT, Engineering, Manufacturing and Construction and Health and Welfare graduates are the highest earners, with 38%, 28% and 28% of graduates respectively earning €33k or over.
18,200 students that graduated with level 8-10 qualifications in 2016 participated in this survey, What Do Graduates Do? The Class of 2016 – An Analysis of the First Destination of University Graduates, the 36th edition of the study.
Data was collected in March 2017 from these graduates to determine their situation nine months after graduation.
The study shows that 54% of students who graduated from an Irish university with a degree in 2016 are now employed in Ireland, 8% are employed overseas, 31% are in further studies, 3% are unavailable for work and under 5% are currently seeking employment.
Dublin and Cork are where most Irish university graduates are employed and the study shows that the employment prospects for those with a higher education qualification continues to improve.
Commenting on the study, Dr. Graham Love, Chief Executive of the HEA, said: “The evidence continues to point to a higher education qualification meaning that you are less likely to be unemployed and tend to have a higher starting salary.
“There is a challenge, however, for us to create more graduate employment opportunities outside of Dublin and Cork in order to ensure better regional development.”
You can read the study in full here.
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ with Aideen McQueen – Faith healers, Coolock craic and Gigging as Gaeilge
