New research aims to dispel the myth of the overeducated, underemployed university graduate.
The study, conducted by the Research Universities’ Council of British Columbia, found that graduates from B.C. universities had an unemployment rate of 4.7 per cent five years after finishing their studies, more than two-and-a-half times better young people who didn’t attend university.
It adds that university grads are earning good wages, averaging an annual salary of $48,000 after two years in the workforce and $60,000 five years into their career.
Grads are also working in jobs related to their field of study. Virtually all employed grads with degrees in areas such as health, engineering and education were working in their chosen field. More than 90 per cent of employed arts and sciences grads held jobs connected to their studies.
The numbers are all the more impressive, the study argues, since it tracked students who graduated in 2008, the year of the economic crisis, a particularly tough time to be in the job market.
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