A The majority of Unicamp alumni are employed, consider the training received at the University to be adequate, occupy prominent positions, work in the area in which they graduated and have an above-average educational level. The data comes from a survey carried out by the Student Support Service (SAE), the body that coordinated the 11st Unicamp Former Student Meeting, which took place on the 1.530th. Of the 555 former students who participated in the event, XNUMX returned the completed questionnaire . The survey has no statistical value and was prepared with the aim of being the first stage of systematic mapping that SAE intends to carry out with former students.

Survey shows that 88,2% of University graduates are employed
and that 39% completed postgraduate studies

The survey shows that 88,2% of respondents are employed. In a job market that tends to shrink, this index can be considered very high. Only 2,5% of respondents are currently unemployed. Another 9,3% chose to continue their studies.

It is not only the high employability rate that draws attention when tabulating the questionnaire. The numbers show that the former student is well placed in the hierarchy of his positions and prove Unicamp's vocation in the area of ​​entrepreneurship. The percentages of interviewees who run their own business (17,1%) or hold management positions (9,7%), management (14,9%) or management (6,6%), when added together, reach 48,3. 43,5%. Employees make up 1,8%. Retirees are 6,4%. The remaining XNUMX% of respondents chose not to answer about the role they perform.

Good market placement can be explained by three interrelated factors. The first is the high level of former student satisfaction with the training received at Unicamp, considered adequate by 88,5% of those interviewed. Only 0,5% stated that the University's teaching model was inadequate in relation to professional practice, while another 7,5% responded that the teaching was adequate “in terms”. Another 3,5% did not respond.

Another factor is the degree of loyalty of the interviewees to the course they chose. According to survey data, 70,5% work in their respective areas of training. The rest were divided between the 17% who answered “in terms” and 9,1% who said they were working in a field other than the one chosen during graduation. This can be explained by the multidisciplinary nature of the courses offered by Unicamp, especially when the former student chose to continue their training at postgraduate level. Of those interviewed, 3,4% did not answer the question.

In fact, a significant number of former students made this choice. The total number of those who have completed or are studying a master's degree (39,3%), doctorate (22%) and post-doctorate (10,9%) reaches 6,4%. These numbers corroborate another characteristic of the University, which has the highest proportion of postgraduate students compared to undergraduate students in the country: 48% and 52%, respectively. The percentage of those who only studied undergraduate studies at Unicamp, according to the survey, is 58%; another 2,7% did not answer the question about their level of education.

In the opinion of the Dean of Undergraduate Studies, Professor Edgar Salvadori from Decca, the survey numbers confirm that Unicamp's academic proposal, which favors strong teaching-research interaction, is highly congruent. “This high employability rate is an indication that we have a differentiated undergraduate education”, assesses De Decca, highlighting the University’s massive investment in research and scientific initiation grants. “Today we have approximately 1,2 undergraduate scientific initiation scholarship holders.”

The dean also notes that the adoption of the exclusive dedication regime, in which 87% of Unicamp's teaching staff are included, helps students to have a solid education. It is also important, considers De Decca, the fact that quality is a common trait in different courses and periods. An emblematic example, mentions the dean, are the evening course programs which, unlike what happens in other institutions, deserve the same attention as daytime courses. “This is an important element. The less economically advantaged entrant, as statistics show, has the opportunity to complete an excellent degree, placing themselves on an equal footing with their daytime peers when they enter the market.”

De Decca highlights the effectiveness of the student assistance program, without which, he believes, many students would have difficulty staying at the University due to a lack of financial means. According to a recent survey, 13% of the university's funding is directed to scholarships that help or exempt students from expenses with transportation, food and housing, among others, which is well above the national average. This helps explain, according to the pro-rector, the low dropout rate recorded. “The survey data reflects the correctness of the policies adopted by Unicamp. They make the student take a leap in their training, from the moment they enter to the moment they leave.”

The coordinator of the Student Support Service (SAE), professor Maria Teresa Rodrigues, said she was surprised by the results of the survey. Three data caught the attention of Maria Teresa, who coordinated the 1st Meeting of Former Students: the level of employability, the number of entrepreneurs and the recognition, by those interviewed, of the importance of the training received at Unicamp.

“We already had some clues about this situation, intuitively detected in events we organized, but we were unaware of its scale. The research served to endorse them”, observes the SAE coordinator. Maria Teresa emphasizes that the survey does not reflect a general picture, and therefore will be extended to all 4,5 former students registered in the SAE database. The teacher reveals that the priority today is to expand this contact network, a job she classifies as “complex and time-consuming”. The objective of prospecting, according to her, is to obtain detailed answers and, ultimately, to know what they expect from Unicamp.