MERIT - Master of Science in Research on Information and Communication Technologies Survey of Employability

Transcription

1 MERIT - Master of Science in Research on Information and Communication Technologies Survey of Employability Asuncion Moreno, Lise Vierning, Alejandro Rodríguez Date: January 19th 2011

2 1. Motivation One objective of the Erasmus Mundus Master Courses is to promote cooperation and mobility programmes in the field of higher education for: the enhancement of quality in European higher education; the promotion of the European Union as a centre of excellence in learning around the world; the promotion of intercultural understanding through cooperation with Third Countries as well as for the development of Third Countries in the field of higher education. In 2004, the Master of Science in Research on Information and Communication Technologies (MERIT 1 ) was approved as one of the Erasmus Mundus Master Courses. MERIT is a multitrack research-oriented master program based on a flexible curriculum that covers a wide area of knowledge in the field of Information and Communication Technologies. The institutions participating in the consortium are: Technical University of Catalonia (coordinating institution), located in Spain, Technical University of Turin, Italy, Catholic University of Louvain, located in Belgium and Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, located in Germany. All of these institutions belong to the CLUSTER (Consortium Linking Universities of Science and Technology for Education and Research The Master Course covers Information and Communication Technologies in a broad sense, including fundamentals such as electromagnetism, signal processing, and information theory, and applications such as communications, remote sensing and image and voice processing. The language of instruction is English and the program includes local language courses up to 6 ECTS per academic year. The master is organized in three 15-week semesters in which students take courses, followed by a fourth semester devoted to the completion of the Master Thesis, which is an original research work in the specialization field selected by the student. During the first three semesters the student registers a total of 90 ECTS in courses. The Master Thesis corresponds to an effort of 30 ECTS, which means that by the end of the second year the student completes 120 ECTS. The student mobility is organized on a yearly basis so that the student spends the first academic year in one institution and the second year in a different one. The student registers 60 ECTS in each institution, which are fully recognized by its counterpart so that, after successfully completing 120 ECTS, the student is awarded with the master degree of the two institutions where he or she has carried out the academic and research activities. 1

3 The program is research oriented, and thus concentrates on the development of research skills. Graduates of the Course may want to pursue careers in a research institution by completing a Ph.D. degree, joining industrial R&D departments or perhaps starting a technology spin-off company. Therefore, strong emphasis is placed during the Master Course on the student s personal work programme, which is focused on developing research skills. Admission is subject to the approval of the MERIT Academic Committee and is restricted to 40 students. All students should have completed a Bachelor s degree in Electrical or Telecommunication Engineering or related field. Admission criteria include the applicant s study and academic merits, motivation and English language skills. Each admitted student is assigned a specialization track, a compatible mobility plan and an advisor. The student to professor ratio is less than one. Since the beginning of the MERIT Master, four classes have graduated: Class of 2007, 2008, 2009 and Currently, MERIT is working in the EM Agreement. In order to test the suitability of MERIT to the intended EM goals, the MERIT coordinator carried out a survey of employability among the graduated MERIT students. 2. Survey description The objective of the survey was to evaluate if the competences acquired by students within the MERIT Master Programme were enough for them to pursue careers in a research institution by completing a Ph.D. degree, joining industrial R&D departments, starting a technology spin-off company or to facilitate a successful entry to the labour market. Among those competences we mention: - have demonstrated knowledge and understanding that is founded upon and extends and/or enhances the understanding and knowledge typically associated with a Master s level, and that provides a basis or opportunity for originality in developing and/or applying ideas, often within a research context; - can apply their knowledge, understanding and problem solving abilities in new or unfamiliar environments within broader (or multidisciplinary) contexts related to their field of study; - have the ability to integrate knowledge and handle complexity as well as formulate, even with incomplete or limited information, judgments that include reflecting on social and ethical responsibilities linked to the application of their knowledge and judgments;

4 - can clearly and unambiguously communicate their conclusions, as well as the knowledge and rationale underpinning these, to a specialist and non-specialist audience; - have the learning skills to allow them to continue to study in a manner that may be largely self-directed or autonomous. A questionnaire was elaborated. The questionnaire was divided in three parts: The purpose of the first part was to obtain information about the institutions where the student participated, his/her citizenship and his/her graduation year. The purpose of the second part was to determine if the student continued with further studies and where. Finally, the third part contained questions to broadly get an idea of the current employment situation of the former students, if any, and the geographical area where they are employed. Finally, the students were asked to answer some general questions as MERIT alumni. An was sent to all EM MERIT students, 47 in total. The text of the follows: Dear former MERIT Students My name is Lise and I am the MERIT Master Assistant at UPC. I hope you are all doing well. We have finished the Erasmus Mundus Action 1 and would highly appreciate your feedback to a short survey, in order for us to evaluate the employability of former MERIT Students. The survey can be found at the following link If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate contacting me. Thank you very much in advance! Best regards, Lise Annex1 shows the questionnaire.

5 3. Results 27 responses were received. The summary of the responses is as follows: When did you finish the MERIT Master Programme? Year Answers Percentage % % % What is your country of citizenship? Country Answers Percentage Albania 1 4% Bangladesh 1 4% China 4 15% Ecuador 1 4% Ghana 1 4% India 3 11% Iran 1 4% Iraq 1 4% Kosovo 1 4% Malaysia 1 4% Mexico 1 4% Nepal 1 4% Pakistan 6 22% Taiwan 1 4% Ukraine 1 4% Vietnam 2 7%

6 At what MERIT Institution did you spend your first year? KIT 10 37% UPC 6 22% UCL 7 26% PdT 4 15% At what MERIT Institution did you spend your second year? KIT 7 26% UPC 7 26% UCL 5 19% PdT 8 30% Studies 1. Are you currently studying or did you continue studying after you finished the MERIT Master? Yes 16 59% No 11 41% 1 a). If yes, please let us know what you are studying or studied PhD 15 94% Other master 1 6% Other 0 0%

7 People may select more than one checkbox, so percentages may add up to more than 100%. 1 b). If yes please indicate in which region Africa 0 0% Asia and Pacific 0 0% Europe & Middle East 16 59% Latin America 0 0% USA & Canada 0 0% Employment History 1). Are you currently employed? Yes 21 78% No 6 22%

8 1 a). If yes, in which area(s)? Education 12 55% Small or Medium Industrial Enterprise (SME) 3 14% Large Industrial company 7 32% Government 1 5% Other 2 9% People may select more than one checkbox, so percentages may add up to more than 100%. 1 b). If yes please indicate in which region(s) Africa 0 0% Asia and Pacific 3 11% Europe & Middle East 18 67% Latin America 0 0% USA & Canada 0 0%

9 Correlations between further studies and job The following table shows the number of Responses to the questions: *Are you currently studying or did you continue studying after you finished the MERIT Master? *Are you currently employed? Currently employed Further studies Yes No Yes 12 9 No 4 2 The following table shows the correlation between what the student is currently studying or continued studying after he or she finished the MERIT Master and the area he or she is currently employed in. Further Employment area Studies Education SME LE Government Other Unemployed PhD Master 1 No The following table shows the correlation between the 2 nd year university and the studies followed after the student finished the MERIT master 2 nd year University Further Studies PhD Master No KIT 5 2 PdT 3 5 UCL 4 1 UPC 3 1 3

10 The following table shows the correlation between the 2 nd year university and the area where he or she is currently employed 2 nd year Employment area University Education SME LE Government Other Unemployed KIT PdT UCL UPC Do you feel that the MERIT Master Programme has helped you achieve your goals? Yes 25 93% No 2 7% Are you in contact with other MERIT Students? Yes 24 89% No 3 11% If you want to add any comments feel free to do so See answers in Annex 2

11 Number of daily responses 4. Conclusions A high percentage of the students continue/continued with other studies, preferably a PhD degree. All the students follow/followed their PhD studies in the Europe & Middle East area. Most of the students found a job in a related area. The two main employment areas are within education and big industrial companies. There is a high correlation between PhD students and employment within the education area, possibly because many of these students found jobs in the same department where they studied their PhD. Most of the students that are not studying a PhD, are working in a big company, either in the Europe & Middle East area or in a lower percentage, in the Asia & Pacific area. A majority of students think that MERIT helped them achieve their goals and they continue in contact with other MERIT students. In general, they are satisfied with the MERIT Master Programme. Areas of improvement would be to reinforce the alumni contacts and alumni website, and to accelerate the master diploma delivery.

12 Annex 1 Survey Survey of Employability of MERIT students The MERIT Coordinators would highly appreciate if you could take a minute to fill out this short survey in regards to the employability of MERIT students. Your input will help us get an insight into where our former students are today professionally. * Required When did you finish the MERIT Master Programme? * What is your country of citizenship? * At what MERIT Institution did you spend your first year? * Karlsruhe Institute of Technology KIT (former UKA) Technical University of Catalonia UPC Université catholique de Louvain UCL Politecnico di Torino PdT At what MERIT Institution did you spend your second year? * Karlsruhe Institute of Technology KIT (former UKA) Technical University of Catalonia UPC Université catholique de Louvain UCL Politecnico di Torino PdT

13 Studies In this section we will ask you questions in regards to your studies. 1. Are you currently studying or did you continue studying after you finished the MERIT Master? * Yes No 1 a). If yes, please let us know what you are studying or studied PhD Other master Other: 1 b). If yes please indicate in which region Africa Asia and Pacific Europe & Middle East Latin America USA & Canada Employment History In this section we will ask you about your employment history 1). Are you currently employed? * Yes No 1 a). If yes, in which area(s)? Education Small or Medium Industrial Enterprise (SME)

14 Large Industrial Company Government Other: 1 b). If yes please indicate in which region(s) Africa Asia and Pacific Europe & Middle East Latin America USA & Canada Do you feel that the MERIT Master Programme has helped you achieve your goals? * Yes No Are you in contact with other MERIT Students? * Yes No If you want to add any comments feel free to do so Thank you very much for your cooperation Submit

15 Annex 2 Answers If you want to add any comments feel free to do so To be more precise upon completion of the MERIT programme I was offered a fellowship by the National Science Foundation of Belgium viz. FNRS to pursue a PhD from UCL, Belgium. This besides I had offers of PhD from 2 other Universities in Germany and a Govt. organization in Germany. I therefore feel that MERIT has prepared me in the right direction to fulfil my career objectives. very happy I was the part of this programme The mobility issues and certificate issues has to be solved with the priority. They should be delivered at very easiness and on time. Rest were great. I would like to express my thankfulness to MERIT master program. Obtaining Erasmus Mundus scholarship to pursuit my master study at MERIT program has played a major role in my career. I am grateful to the program in general and the professors whom I had the opportunities to interact with in particular for helping me enrich my knowledge and build good interpersonal skills. My experience with MERIT studies has brought me to a better future. Thank you. Very good structured masters program. I take pride to be an alumni and to have been a part of it. This program has made it easier for me to integrate myself culturally in Europe. I will definitely recommend this program to any aspiring student wanting to pursue research from my country. I was working Near Munich for about one year and then lost my job. I am searching for a new job again. I work in the area of Microwave engineering. When I studied in the MERIT consortium, there were not many courses in this direction and switching the universities was a bit different and difficult from coursework point of view. I made several comments about coordinating coursework among universities and not to fix it by the universities. Every candidate should have the right to take the courses of its desire in any of the host countries, but surely I won t/can t take the decision made by the professor/academic leader of the institute to allow the candidate to work under his/her supervision. "Nice program! well support! The only complain is about the late degree awards! I have been waiting a long for me degrees so far and I just recently received my degree from PDT and not from UPC yet! For graduate students this is an important issue whether they want to study PhD or want to work. It was an excellent program and filled with lots of opportunities of learning, meeting new people and making new friends. I feel proud to have been a part of it!

16 This program has given me the opportunity to see the other side of the world (which is not possible for me without a full scholarship) and to evaluate all my strengths and weaknesses. Academically, the program exposes students to world class education, but the most important thing to me was the chance to pursue higher ambitions that are not possible at home. For me MERIT has opened me new opportunities by letting me having a European degree, but it didn't help me to get a job in Europe because of the complicate rules and crisis in Europe. I think that there should be a meeting a couple months before graduation or creating a bulletin showing the opportunities to stay in one of the partners institutions to continue the PhD, and presenting the requirements as well as possible scholarships. A similar approach can be followed if the universities have some industry partners, so the people that want to go for a job would get in contact with company well in advance and then they can incorporate immediately after graduation. MERIT was a great experience. It equipped with the technical knowledge and expertise I was looking for, and alongside, it exposed me to the ways of effective learning. Today, I consider myself a better and faster learner than before. Moreover, MERIT helped me foster a good social circle, with friends and acquaintances across the globe, which has improved my life in a number of ways. MERIT, indeed, has been a remarkable experience. Although there is a forum for the past student, i.e. EM Alumni, however, I do not see people communicating or it s more or less one way communication. As such Merit Program did not help me to get any job opportunity in Europe. In my opinion Merit Consortium Board should think over this point I mean any special job opportunity for Merit student, only then it motivate the others candidate to apply for this program

17 When did you finish the MERIT Master Programme? What is your country of citizenship? At what MERIT Institution did you spend your first year? At what MERIT Institution did you spend your second year? 1. Are you currently studying or did you continue studying after you finished the MERIT Master? 1 a). If yes, please let us know what you are studying or studied 1 b). If yes please indicate in which region 1). Are you currently employed? 1 a). If yes, in which area(s)? 1 b). If yes please indicate in which region(s) Do you feel that the MERIT Master Programme has helped you achieve your goals? 2010 India KIT UCL Yes PhD Europe & Middle East No Yes Yes 2008 Ukraine UCL UCL No Yes CTO at internet Europe & Middle East Yes Yes base entertament projects company 2008 Taiwan UPC UCL Yes PhD Europe & Middle East Yes Large Industrial Europe & Middle East Yes Yes company 2010 Albania KIT PdT Yes PhD Europe & Middle East Yes Education Europe & Middle East Yes Yes 2009 Nepal UPC UCL Yes PhD Europe & Middle East Yes Education Europe & Middle East Yes Yes 2008 Bangladesh KIT PdT Yes PhD Europe & Middle East Yes Education Europe & Middle East Yes Yes 2009 Vietnam UPC UCL Yes PhD Europe & Middle East Yes Education, Europe & Middle East Yes Yes Researcher at a medical center 2009 China KIT UPC No Yes Large Industrial Europe & Middle East Yes Yes company 2009 India UCL KIT Yes PhD Europe & Middle East No Yes Yes 2008 China UCL KIT No No 1 Europe & Middle East Yes Yes 2008 Pakistan UPC KIT Yes PhD Europe & Middle East Yes Education, Europe & Middle East Yes Yes Industrial Small or medium company (SME), Large Industrial company 2009 Iran PdT UPC Yes PhD Europe & Middle East Yes Education Europe & Middle East Yes Yes 2008 Ghana KIT PdT No Yes Large Industrial Europe & Middle East Yes No company 2010 Pakistan PdT UPC Yes PhD Europe & Middle East No Yes Yes 2009 Malaysia UCL KIT Yes PhD Europe & Middle East Yes Education Europe & Middle East Yes Yes Are you in contact with other MERIT Students?

18 2009 Iraq KIT UPC Yes Other Europe & Middle East No Yes Yes master 2009 Pakistan PdT KIT Yes PhD Europe & Middle East Yes Education Europe & Middle East Yes Yes 2008 Mexico UCL UPC Yes PhD Europe & Middle East Yes Education Yes Yes 2008 Ecuador UPC PdT No Yes Industrial Small Europe & Middle East Yes No or medium company (SME) 2010 Pakistan KIT UPC No Yes Education Asia and Pacific Yes Yes 2010 Pakistan PdT KIT No No Yes Yes 2008 Pakistan KIT PdT No Yes Large Industrial Asia and Pacific Yes No company 2009 India UCL PdT No Yes Large Industrial Asia and Pacific No Yes company 2010 Kosovo UPC PdT No Yes Government Europe & Middle East Yes Yes 2009 China KIT UPC No Yes Large Industrial Europe & Middle East Yes Yes company 2008 China KIT PdT Yes PhD Europe & Middle East Yes Education Europe & Middle East No Yes 2009 Vietnam UCL KIT Yes PhD Europe & Middle East Yes Education Europe & Middle East Yes Yes