NKUA among the 500 Best Universities in the World for the Employability of its Graduates

https://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/employability-rankings/2022?qs_qp=topnav

According to the latest QS Graduate Employability Rankings, the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens received the distinction of ranking in the world’s top 500 Universities. Published by the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Organization, the QS Graduate Employability Rankings is a specialized assessment of Universities based on graduate employability and employment reputation; it is an innovation in the field of global rankings, designed to provide students internationally with a unique tool to compare University performance in terms of graduate employability outcomes and prospects.  

According to the results of this ranking, NKUA placed 301-500–and more specifically 304 internationally–having climbed 29 places compared to the previous edition of QS Graduate Employability Rankings, which was published back in 2020. Additionally, NKUA is one of the four Greek Universities included in this year’s ranking, the other three being the National Technical University of Athens (ranked 201-250), Athens University of Economics and Business (ranked 301-500), and Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (ranked 500+). 

The initial assessment for the current edition involved 758 Universities, 550 of which were finally singled out based on the employability of their graduates. For 2022 the American MIT ranked 1st worldwide, while there is only one European University in the top 10 of the lists, the University of Oxford in the UK.

Five carefully-chosen Indicators make up the score for each University and are the following:

• Employer Reputation (30%)

Over 75,000 worldwide responses to the QS Employer Survey provide the basis of this Indicator. The Survey asks employers to identify those Institutions from which they source the most competent, innovative, and effective graduates working in their companies and organizations. For each Institution assessed, 50% of the responses come from domestic companies and employers and the other 50% from foreign companies and employers.

• Alumni Outcomes (25%)

In the framework of this metric, 40,000 successful alumni name the Universities that produce individuals who, through their work, have a significant impact on their field of life and activity.

• Partnerships with Employers per Faculty (25%)

This Indicator comprises two parts. First, it uses Elsevier’s Scopus database to establish which Universities are collaborating successfully with global companies to produce reliable and applied research. The count only includes well-known companies that have designed at least two collaboration protocols over five years. This year’s ranking accounts for University collaborations with 2,000 top global companies, as listed by Fortune and Forbes. Second, it considers student/alumni placement-related partnerships that are reported by Institutions and validated by the QS research team.

• Employer/Student Connections (10%)

This Indicator involves summing the number of individual employers who have been actively present on a University’s premises over the past twelve months, providing students with an opportunity to network and obtain information on the labour market. Employer presence increases the chances of students participating in career-launching internships and research projects. This active presence usually takes the form of career fairs, company presentations, or other self-promoting activities.

• Graduate Employment Rate (10%)

This Indicator is the simplest of all, it is essential though for understanding how successful Universities are at nurturing employability. It involves measuring the proportion of graduates (excluding those opting to pursue further study or unavailable to work) in full- or part-time employment within 12 months of graduation.

In the words of the people behind the QS Graduate Employability Rankings: ‘As the world recovers from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the importance of graduating with the skills and qualities required by modern employers has arguably never been greater. Each of the universities ranked (…) has demonstrated an ability to produce graduates with the soft skills required for the modern workplace. Given the fierce competition for graduate roles around the world, students should be seriously considering how their university can prepare them adequately for full-time employment, by connecting them with global employers and ensuring they develop the necessary skills and knowledge’. 

The results of this ranking highlight the importance that the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens places on its graduates’ smooth transition into the labour market and their subsequent success. Our University, in support of students and graduates and for their effective connection with the labour market, continuously upgrades and updates the curricula, provides comprehensive guidance services through its Careers Office and implements student placement programmes in various companies and organizations. Additionally, through the Centre of Continuing Education and Lifelong Learning –and the training programmes this Centre offers–our University contributes to students’ and graduates’ adaptation to the ever-changing social and professional needs, which the traditional educational model cannot fully meet.

Professor M.-A. Dimopoulos
Rector of NKUA