Employability and professional success: A study about economy and business graduates

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to suggest determinants and variables that affect employability, entering the labour market and professional success.   

Design/methodology/approach: Our analysis has been conducted among Economy and Business graduates in Catalonia. The data was collected from the Agencia Catalana per a la Qualitat Universitària (AQU) survey that was carried out in 2014; the results were published in 2017.

We have defined two dependent variables: the amount of time spent in finding a first job and the salary level two years after concluding graduate studies. We have defined eight independent variables. The independent variables are related to academic, economic and social questions as well as to those aspects related to the labour market. We analysed the relationship between, dependent and independent variables using correlation analysis.

Findings: Our results show that academic variables are not important in relation to the duration of entering the labour market. Nevertheless, the socio-economic variables and previous experience in the labour market play an important role. If our analysis focuses on professional success, the factors related to the academic and socio-economic backgrounds and the type of professional contract will play a decisive role. The labour situation is very important to guarantee professional success. Precarious job conditions pose an obstacle in professional advancement. The relationship to work experience before finishing graduate studies is not clear.

Originality/value: The study that we have carried out in this paper, aims to alert future employees about the factors that improve employability and professional success. In this way, graduates can plan their professional life.