Among the challenges facing higher education institutions today, knowledge of the career paths and employment of graduates occupies a very important place, especially because of its strong academic, social, economic and cultural implications.
In addition, the importance of providing employability indicators and indicators relating to the degree of satisfaction with academic training is especially important as an instrument for defining policies to improve quality and for the affirmation and international competitiveness of the study cycles and qualifications provided by the University of Porto.
With this in mind, the U.Porto Employment Observatory was created, based so far on surveys of its graduates, with the aim of contributing to a better understanding of the processes of transition to work, the weight and influence of training not only on the lives of its graduates, but also on society, the economy and the culture of the country, and should serve as another instrument for defining strategic lines of development and the quality of the training provided in the various study cycles. The surveys have begun to be applied annually.
The Employment Observatory, which is centered in the rectory, is supported by a specialized technical and scientific team, an Advisory Committee, and, in parallel, makes use of the collaboration and active involvement of the offices that monitor this data (employment grants, for example).
You can find more information about the current Advisory Committee here.
Based on studies and surveys of its graduates, it aims to contribute to a better understanding of the processes of transition to work, the weight and influence of training not only in the lives of its graduates, but also in society, the economy and the culture of the country, and should serve as another tool for defining strategic lines of development and the quality of the training it provides in the various study cycles.
The analysis can lead to corrective actions in terms of adapting the training offer and improving the scope of the services provided in the area of promoting employability.
The importance of providing employability indicators and indicators relating to the degree of satisfaction with academic training is especially important as a tool for defining policies to improve quality and for the affirmation and international competitiveness of the study cycles and qualifications provided by the University of Porto.
Knowledge of the career paths and employment of graduates, of the difficulties and successes they have achieved, can have major academic, social, economic and cultural implications, making it possible, whenever possible, to redefine policies to improve the quality of training and improve the services provided in the area of promoting employability.
The survey applies to all graduates of the three study cycles who completed their studies in the reference year.
The information collected makes it possible to respond to the legal obligation to disclose periodic information on the professional situation of its graduates, as defined by the legal regime for higher education institutions (RJIES).
At any time you can request to exercise your rights to access, rectify, erase or limit the processing of your data by sending this request by e-mail to [email protected]. The exercise of these rights may be limited if it is no longer possible to identify the set of data that concerns you. If you consider that your data is not being processed legitimately, you also have the right to lodge a complaint with the National Data Protection Commission.
The dissemination of data (resulting from the various instruments defined) results in the production of a report based on the survey data (more detailed in the case of the University's internal bodies), and the production of infographics (short ones, to put on the website and disseminate - institutional news).
You can find the various surveys available here.
The questionnaire is sent by email and SMS (to the contact details provided by the respondent when they enrolled in the study cycle, as they are in the University of Porto's database). The survey will be sent between 18 and 24 months after the end of the studies.
The survey is implemented on an internal U.Porto platform and includes questions about their professional situation and the suitability of their academic training for their career path. The answers to the survey will then be shared with the Higher Education Policy Research Centre (CIPES), with which U.Porto has established a protocol to collaborate in designing the survey questions, analyze the anonymized data and produce the corresponding reports. All the information will be treated confidentially and will be accessed by a restricted group of people from U.Porto and CIPES. Only reports with the overall results of the analysis will be published, without any reference to the identity of the respondents. At any time you can request to exercise your rights to access, rectify, erase or limit the processing of your data, by sending this request by e-mail to [email protected]. The exercise of these rights may be limited if it is no longer possible to identify the set of data that concerns you. If you feel that your data is not being processed legitimately, you also have the right to lodge a complaint with the National Data Protection Commission (https://www.cnpd.pt/). If you have any further questions, please contact us by sending a message to: [email protected]. Questions about the processing of your data and the rights you can exercise in this regard can also be addressed to the Data Protection Officer at the University of Porto: [email protected].