Sent on behalf of President Arvind Gupta
Attached is a press release distributed Friday by the Research Universities Council of British Columbia (RUCBC) regarding a report on employment outcomes for students who graduated in 2008.
Among other things, the report confirms that those who graduated five years ago from B.C. universities at the start of the 2008 historic economic downturn have a significantly lower unemployment rate than the provincial average. Furthermore, the report provides concrete evidence that BC university graduates have skills employers are looking for. Once students get into the job market they are able to leverage those skills quickly and achieve much better outcomes over time.
More specifically, the report found two years after graduation, the unemployment rate among 2008 BC university graduates averaged 6.9 per cent. By 2013, the unemployment rate fell to 4.7 per cent – well below BC’s youth unemployment rate of 12.9 per cent and the provincial overall rate of 6.6 per cent.
The report uses BC Stats data and captures outcomes for students who completed an undergraduate degree from UBC, UNBC, Thompson Rivers, SFU, the University of Victoria and Royal Roads.
A report on the study in Friday’s Vancouver Sun featured a 2008 UBC graduate with a commerce degree who is now Lululemon’s quality operations manager. Matt Corker says his time at UBC provided volunteer and internship experiences that helped him get a job. “The most applicable skill was the ability to work with others and make critical decisions. I definitely have a strong desire to continue learning and that was fostered at UBC.”
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