Review of Data Collection Duration for Graduate Employment Survey
Ministry of EducationSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns the proposed extension of the Graduate Employment Survey (GES) to five and 10 years post-graduation and the sharing of anonymized data with academics. Ms Raeesah Khan asked if these measures could enable longitudinal analysis for graduates from Private Education Institutions (PEIs) and Autonomous Universities (AUs). Minister for Education Lawrence Wong stated that MOE has piloted a five-year survey with polytechnics and will progressively extend this approach to AUs and ITE. Minister for Education Lawrence Wong noted that while PEIs face challenges with response rates, MOE is working to improve data collection. Finally, Minister for Education Lawrence Wong invited academics to collaborate with MOE to utilize GES data for research that provides broader societal benefits.
Transcript
43 Ms Raeesah Khan asked the Minister for Education (a) whether the Graduate Employment Survey (GES) can be extended to a five-year and 10-year period after graduation to enable longitudinal data analysis of wage outcomes for graduates of Private Education Institutions (PEIs) and Autonomous Universities (AUs); and (b) whether anonymised data from the GES for both AUs and PEIs can be shared with academics for research on the trends suggested by the data.
Mr Lawrence Wong: The Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) have been conducting the Graduate Employment Survey (GES) annually to monitor the employment outcomes of their graduates six months after graduation. The Committee for Private Education (CPE) started coordinating a similar GES with the Private Education Institutions (PEIs) since 2014.
In general, the longer after graduation the survey is conducted, the more difficult it is to reach out to graduates who are already working and secure a sufficiently high response rate to ensure that the findings are robust. Nonetheless, MOE recognises the value of tracking longer-term employment outcomes beyond the initial six months, and therefore recently conducted a pilot with the Polytechnics last year to survey graduates who graduated five years ago. We will progressively extend this approach to the Autonomous Universities and ITE.
For the PEIs, they have found it challenging to obtain response rates for the existing GES conducted six months after graduation that are comparable to those for the IHLs, as some of their graduates have declined to participate or are uncontactable. We will continue to reach out to them.
Academics who are interested in diving deeper into the GES data can get in touch with MOE, and we will work with them on how the data can be used for research that can shed light on the trends and bring broader benefits to our society.