The latest QS global ranking for graduate employability has been released, with six Irish universities making the list.
Two Irish universities have made it into the top 100 in the world for graduate employability.
Trinity College Dublin (TCD) and University College Dublin (UCD) were ranked 91 and 87, respectively, out of 550 universities on the 2022 QS Graduate Employability Rankings.
This year’s list saw TCD move up one place from 92 to 91. UCD’s ranking fell from its previous score of 78 to 87, however it remains the top university in Ireland in terms of graduate employability.
In total, six Irish universities made it into the list. Dublin City University and University of Limerick both made the top 200, while University College Cork made it into the top 250 and NUI Galway was ranked in the 301 to 500 category.
QS has published the annual rankings for five years, with the exception of last year due to the pandemic. It ranks universities based on a number of metrics, including employer reputation, alumni outcomes, partnerships with employers, employer-student connections and graduate employment rates.
The top three universities on the list were all from the US. MIT took first place, while Stanford University and University of California, Los Angeles came in second and third.
“With students becoming increasingly conscious of the competitiveness of the global graduate jobs market, and of the ever-increasing financial costs of their educational investment, it is crucial that independent data of this sort is available to them to inform evidence-based decisions about their educational futures,” said Ben Sowter, director of research at QS.
For students hoping to graduate from one of the six Irish institutions featured on the list, there are positive signs that Irish universities are doing their best to prepare graduates for the world of work. Some on the list are attempting to address industry shortages by adding new courses to fill skills gaps in the jobs market.
University of Limerick recently introduced a cybersecurity apprenticeship to tackle the cybersecurity skills shortage in Ireland. The university has partnered with industry stakeholders to deliver a two-year Level 8 degree cybersecurity practitioner apprenticeship. The programme will produce its first crop of graduates in 2024.
Don’t miss out on the knowledge you need to succeed. Sign up for the Daily Brief, Silicon Republic’s digest of need-to-know sci-tech news.
