Post-graduate trajectories of young South African graduates

Abstract

What graduates end up doing after they leave university has become of increasing concern and interest over the last few decades. In these times of increased participation in higher education, growing economic uncertainties and neoliberal politics, an increasing number of stakeholders are interested in graduate outcomes. While parents and students seek access to universities with better employment prospects, financial constraints continue to influence university access with increasing cost-sharing policies. University managers on their part have used graduate tracer studies as marketing tools and a proxy for academic or institutional quality. From the perspective of the employers, though, the notion of core employment skills is increasingly becoming a fluid concept due to changing technological advances and hence changing professional demands.