Study reveals how people evaluate the quality of their education

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Graduate positive attitude towards her education quality — A study reveals that the more relevant the study program is in people’s lives and work, the greater their belief that they received a valuable education.

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The idea that work and education must be intimately linked is growing stronger every day. A recent study states that the more relevant the study program is in people’s jobs and life, the greater their belief that they received a valuable education.

Gallup and Strada Education Network surveyed 78,091 people between the ages of 18 and 65, who have studied at least some university subjects and who currently have employment. The objective of the study was to weigh the relevance of education in people’s lives.

Key findings:

People think that the economic expense generated by a career is worth only if courses they took have to do with the work activities they are currently doing.
The relevance of the educational program in the daily tasks of the respondents directly influences the perception of quality and value of education.
Consumers of education consider that their life is more thriving if they currently perform tasks that have to do with the courses they studied.

The assessment of educational relevance predicts with greater certainty the satisfaction of consumers, compared to other estimates such as graduation rates, attendance rate or non-payment of tuition. Also, specialists assert that universities can know the degree of satisfaction of their educational offer more accurately than any measurement of demographic characteristics.

This study seems to address seemingly obvious issues. However, many of the educational institutions seem to ignore the perceptions of their graduates and thus ignore the real need of the students: to acquire solid skills to succeed in their jobs. It is worth investigating graduates satisfaction to design better academic programs.

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