There had long been worries about the employability of bachelor graduates in Europe – particularly in Germany. New research indicates that such worries were overstated. The study Mit dem Bachelor in den Beruf (entering the labour market with a Bachelor degree) found that half of all bachelor graduates from Fachhochschulen and a quarter of those from universities went directly into employment. After one year of employment, the majority of those graduates are happy with their task profile, career prospects and remuneration. However, the majority of bachelor graduates still continue on to the master level.

The study was produced by the Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft, the Institut der Deutschen Wirtschaft and the Hochschul-Informations GmbH (HIS), for the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. It addresses the employability, current labour market situation and future perspectives of bachelor students and graduates. The results are based on a survey, carried out in the second half of 2010, of 10 000 bachelor students and graduates as well as students in long pre-Bologna programmes and 1 500 companies.

There was, however, also criticism. Most responding students and employers felt that the Bologna reform had not been used for curricular renewal. Rather, the respondents felt that programmes lacked “practice-oriented” elements and that curricula were overloaded.

Stifterverband (in German)