University of Vaasa graduates value their degrees – follow-up surveys offer valuable insights into career outcomes
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Sunna Vainiomaa, Specialist in Career Services, encourages graduates to answer the follow-up surveys – every response is valuable.
A report published by Akava (Confederation of Unions for Professional and Managerial Staff in Finland) in early 2025 highlighted a concerning trend: unemployment among university graduates has reached historically high levels. Despite this trend, graduates from the University of Vaasa have continued to enter the labour market successfully, according to the alumni follow-up surveys from 2024. These surveys examine graduates' employment outcomes one year and five years after graduation.
Alumni follow-up surveys are conducted annually and they provide valuable insights on how University of Vaasa’s degrees meet the needs of the labour market. At the moment, surveys are open for those who have completed a master’s degree in 2024 and 2020, or a doctoral degree in 2022.
Employment situation and income levels have remained strong
Among those who completed a master’s degree at the University of Vaasa in 2020, 94 % were employed, self-employed, or working as freelancers at the time of the survey. For those who graduated in 2023, the figure was 94 %.
Income levels have also remained strong among respondents. Alumni who graduated in 2019 earned an average monthly salary of €4,967, with a median income of €4,800. For 2023 graduates, the average monthly salary was €4,281, and the median was €3,900.
Skills valued in working life
Success in the labour market requires a broad range of skills, and the alumni follow-up surveys help the university to get up-to-date information about the current needs in working life. Graduates from 2019 identified the most important skills as the ability to learn and adapt, self-direction, collaboration, problem-solving, and organisational and coordination skills. Among 2023 graduates, the top skills were self-direction, learning agility, organisational and coordination skills, information retrieval, and problem-solving.
Open responses collected in the surveys further highlight the broader impact of university education:
"I loved my time at Vaasa Uni. Great support & resources. Loved the internship opportunities & flexibility to do 2 internships. Loved the way lectures were delivered. Student teacher interaction. Loved it.
Among 2023 graduates, 86 % felt their degree provided sufficient skills for their field. Additionally, 89 % believed their degree was respected by employers. Overall, 92 % of graduates were satisfied with the degree they had completed.
Alumni – help us develop our education by responding to the survey
The University of Vaasa once again invites its alumni to contribute to the development of education quality and career readiness. This autumn, the annual career monitoring survey has been sent to all those who completed a master’s degree in 2020 or a doctoral degree in 2022. In addition, those who completed a master’s degree in 2024 have been invited to respond to the university’s own employment survey.
– I hope that everyone who receives the survey will respond, regardless of their personal situation. Every response is important to us. We can obtain more programme-specific results when we have a sufficient number of replies, says Sunna Vainiomaa, Specialist in Career Services.
Graduates have received surveys in the autumn via email, text message, or traditional mail. By responding, alumni can provide valuable feedback on their degree, career path, and how well their university education has met the demands of working life.
Why Participate? The surveys explore:
- Satisfaction with the degree and career so far
- Factors that influenced employment
- Skills needed in working life
- Alumni assessments of how well their studies developed these skills
Text: Lassi Lepistö