Education and employment in two Chilean undergraduate programs

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to determine which of the two variables would be a more reliable proxy for quality of university training: graduates’ satisfaction with their degree program, or institutional prestige. Design/methodology/approach Graduates of professional psychology and teaching programs from three Chilean universities responded to a questionnaire asking their perception of different aspects of their degree program and experiences in their first employment. The three universities differ significantly in the proportion of applicants admitted, and in their prestige. Findings Salary levels are highly related to profession, but unrelated to graduates’ ratings of quality of curriculum or teaching methods. Overall satisfaction with the university experience is not linked to job satisfaction. Job satisfaction, on the other hand, is highly influenced by salary and secondarily by instructional practices and perceived work relevance of the degree program. Research limitations/implications This study is based on data from 3 of Chile’s 60 universities, and graduates of two programs. Most employment in the two professions is regulated by labor agreements. Generalizability of results is limited. Graduates may not have been employed enough to demonstrate their capacities. Practical implications The findings offer more evidence that prestige ratings are an unreliable indicator of the quality of formation offered by universities. If the government seeks to reduce income inequality, public subsidies of higher education should be based on program quality rather than on institutional prestige. Originality/value The findings are directly relevant to the current debate in Chile about what might and what might not help to reduce severe economic inequality.

Vol. 3 No. 1 (2022): JOURNAL OF ENTREPRENEURIAL INNOVATIONS

“…This study understands perceived job performance as their own assessment of job performance by university graduates. Espinoza et al (2019) describe job performance as the ultimate reliant variable of service quality within universities. Plantilla ( 2017) is of the opinion that individual skills play a pivotal role in enhancing employee job performance.…”

“…The declining level of service quality within universities is alleged to be contributing to graduates' performance challenges (Martin & Parikh, 2017). Massive enrolment of students which has seen an upsurge in the lecturer-student ratio has been attributed to poor service delivery within the higher education sector (Espinoza et al, 2019). Additionally, university education is now regarded as a profitmaking business with some institutions enrolling large numbers at the expense of quality (Shea & Parayitam, 2019).…”

Formación y desempeño profesional de profesores en el nivel escolar: Percepciones de los empleadores

“…Desde esta perspectiva, se explicaría el cuestionamiento de los empleadores a ciertos profesores noveles que vienen con las ideas forjadas al alero de la institución universitaria. Esto es consistente con los hallazgos publicados en fecha reciente (Espinoza et al, 2019), que informan que los titulados de Pedagogía en Educación Básica en Chile expresan un desacople entre la formación académica y la práctica docente real. Con todo, resulta evidente que una implementación efectiva de las planificaciones en el aula requiere de un cierto tiempo de experiencia, de manera que la propia práctica pedagógica permita potenciar y validar el uso de esta herramienta (Feixas, 2004).…”

“…Por otra parte, diferentes estudios han concluido que existiría un desajuste entre las competencias que se obtienen en la educación superior y aquellas que demanda el sector productivo (Carnevale et al, 2012;Espinoza et al, 2019;Fenesi & Sana, 2015;Robst, 2007), dando origen a nuevos requerimientos en la formación académica (Department of Labor, 2000). Surge de esta forma, la identificación de un conjunto de competencias genéricas que forman parte de los perfiles de egreso de cualquier título profesional impartido por una institución universitaria.…”

AI-Based Employment Situation Analysis of Innovative Talents in the New Media Era

“…It is imperative to integrate educational management resources at all levels and to provide a scientific basis for macro decisionmaking. Employment rate and quality of college graduates can be improved through the analysis of prior employment data, the mining of the major variables influencing employment, and the provision of decision assistance for decisionmakers [1][2][3]. The primary purpose of analyzing employment data is to discover some basic patterns and hidden knowledge behind the data [4][5].…”