Job satisfaction

When job satisfaction was compared with the extent to which the education requirements of the job matched the graduate's credentials, a clear pattern emerged: the better the match the higher the job satisfaction. Average job satisfaction scores were highest among doctorates followed by graduates at the master's level. Those with bachelor's degrees and graduates of colleges and trade or vocational schools had slightly lower scores.

Graduates of cooperative programs

Cooperative education provides participating students with a link to the labour market before graduation. During work assignments, students acquire relevant and valuable experience and knowledge of what employers need and expect from employees. Cooperative programs have the potential to make the transition process more efficient and evidence tends to support this. However, in 1986, few students -- 3% of all university and college graduates -- participated in such programs. At the university level, participation in cooperative programs was concentrated in engineering and applied sciences (13%), mathematics and physical sciences (12%), and commerce, management, and administration (3%). Among college graduates of cooperative programs, 7% were graduates of engineering and applied sciences and 3% of business and commerce Compared with other graduates, a higher proportion of those who had participated in a cooperative program found full-time employment, and a considerably smaller percentage were employed part-time or unemployed. The proportion of graduates not in the labour force was almost identical for the two groups. Median annual earnings were higher for cooperative program graduates. Cooperative program graduates in commerce, engineering, and mathematics had higher estimated earnings than others in these fields who had not participated in cooperative programs. A similar overall pattern was found among college graduates except in the field of business and commerce, where cooperative program graduates earned on average $1,000 less annually than their nonparticipating counterparts.