Efficacy of Career Coaching at Autonomous Universities in Supporting Graduate Employment Outcomes

48 Ms Eileen Chong Pei Shan asked the Minister for Education (a) what is the percentage of students in autonomous universities (AUs) who have had at least one session with a career coach; (b) whether students who sought career coaching have had better employment outcomes; and (c) what performance metrics does the Ministry use to evaluate the efficacy of career coaching and other initiatives to support graduate employment.

Mr Desmond Lee: Our Autonomous Universities (AUs) provide a range of Education and Career Guidance (ECG) services to support both existing students and fresh graduates at different stages of their career planning and job search process. These include organising career and education talks, sharing the latest industry and hiring trends, equipping students with job search skills, like resume writing and interview preparation, as well as access to career coaching services to guide students in their career directions or education pathways.

The AUs use surveys and student feedback to track the performance of their ECG programmes and services. The Ministry of Education does not collect data from AUs on career coaching sessions conducted. In any case, it is difficult to directly attribute better employment outcomes to any specific ECG programme or intervention.