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GRADUATE DESTINATION SURVEY

UNIVERSITY OF ZULULAND

Class of 2017

2 Graduate Destination Survey – Class of 2017

"The University needs to give media studies students and journalist an

opportunity to go to the workplace for the period of 6 months so that

they can obtain experience.” (UNIZULU Graduate)

"Graduates should be taught more about the work environment. Be

taught how to draft cv and the interview process." (UNIZULU Graduate)

"We as students need more practical lessons in this qualification. We

need to be more prepared when we go to the field." (UNIZULU Graduate)

"University of Zululand shaped me as well as my life to be strong

independent young woman." (UNIZULU Graduate)

“I am in Process of starting my own business because of University

effort. Over my understanding as I want to be an entrepreneur”

(UNIZULU Graduate)

“UNIZULU gave me challenges that make me a man I have today,

circumstances doesn’t matter but what matters are the results.”

(UNIZULU Graduate)

Report prepared by the Institutional Research Office

Institutional Planning DirectorateUniversity of Zululand

Email: [email protected]

©2019 Institutional Research Office

1 This study was originally adapted from the ‘Survey of Graduate Opinion on the Quality of University Education’ conducted at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Walker, A. (2005). Survey of Graduate Opinion on the Quality of University Education. Durban.

Research Proposal and Tool1

Ntsundeni Louis MapataganeVhutshilo Makananise

Report WritingPamela Mbatha

Herman Janse van Vuuren

Data AnalysisHerman Janse van Vuuren

Pamela Mbatha

Data Collection2

Pamela Mbatha

Critical ReviewNtsundeni Louis Mapatagane

2 This study received ethical clearance from the University of Zululand Research Ethics Committee on 7 May 2018, Reference Number: UZREC 171110-030 Dept. 2018/202.


List of TablesList of Figures

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

INTRODUCTION

LITERATURE REVIEW

- Employability- Graduate exit survey

METHODOLOGY

- Data collection- Data analysis- Statement of limitation

SECTION A: RESPONDENTS’ PROFILE

SECTION B: OPINION ON OVERALL STUDY EXPERIENCE AT UNIZULU

- Summary: opinion on overall study experience at UNIZULU

CONTENT ANALYSIS OF OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS

SECTION C: EMPLOYMENT

SECTION D: FURTHER STUDIES

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

REFERENCES

APPENDIX A: RESPONDENT QUALIFICATION PROGRESSION BY FACULTY

- Faculty of Arts- Faculty of Commerce, Admin and Law- Faculty of Education- Faculty of Science and Agriculture

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Table of Contents

5Graduate Destination Survey – Class of 2017

List of Tables

Table 1: Survey response rateTable 2: Main economic activity by facultyTable 3: Main economic activity by qualification

List of Figures

Figure 1: Response rate per facultyFigure 2: Respondents qualification obtained per facultyFigure 3: Gender of the graduate respondents compared with the populationFigure 4: Is this your first qualification?Figure 5: Residential arrangements of graduates while studyingFigure 6: Racial distribution of respondentsFigure 7: Main economic activity of respondentsFigure 8: Respondents’ satisfaction with their main economic activityFigure 9: Respondents’ main economic activity by facultyFigure 10: Respondents’ main economic activity by qualificationFigure 11: Opinion of qualification (A)Figure 12: Opinion of qualification (B)Figure 13: Opinion of qualification (C)Figure 14: Content analysis positive sentimentsFigure 15: Content analysis improvement (1)Figure 16: Content analysis improvement (2)Figure 17: Information regarding employment (Filtered: Employed respondents)Figure 18: Employment search time (Filtered: Employed respondents)Figure 19: Employment search method (Filtered: Employed respondents)Figure 20: Employment sector by faculty (Filtered: Employed respondents)Figure 21: Expectations of remuneration by faculty (Filtered: Employed respondents) Figure 22: Employment province (Filtered: Employed respondents)Figure 23: I feel that my studies at UNIZULU prepared me well for the workplace

(Filtered: Employed respondents) Figure 24: Main reasons for not finding employment (Filtered: Respondents

not yet employed)Figure 25: Respondent qualification progression (Filtered: Respondents studying further) Figure 26: Are you registered for full-time studies? (Filtered: Respondents

studying further)Figure 27: Institutions where respondents chose to further their studies (Filtered:

Respondents studying further)Figure 28: Institutions where graduates choose to further their studies by qualification

type (Filtered: Respondents studying further)Figure 29: I feel that my studies at UNIZULU prepared me well for further education

(Filtered Respondents Studying Further)

142528

1718192021222324252730313337384655555657585959

60

6264

64

65

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The mission of the University of Zululand (UNIZULU) is “To produce globally competitive graduates, relevant for the human capital needs of our country, by providing quality education which upholds high standards of research and academic excellence” (“UNIZULU Mission and Vision,” n.d.). For this reason, the Institutional Research Office conducted a study during graduation ceremonies in May 2018 to investigate the post-university activities and employment status of graduates who formed part of the 2017 academic cohort. In addition, the opinions of these graduates on the quality of the education they received from UNIZULU were measured. Key findings from the study include:

• An overall response rate of 73%, where the demographical representation of the sample was consistent with the demographic profile of the entire graduate population who completed their studies in 2017.

- Response rates per faculty indicated a high representation from all four faculties: Faculty of Arts (81%), Faculty of Commerce, Admin and Law (76%), Faculty of Education (67%), and the Faculty of Science and Agriculture (72%).

- Respondents identified their gender as female(60,51%), and male (38,96%).

- Respondents identified their race as African (98,1%), Asian/Indian (0,53%), Coloured (0,77%), and White (0,13%).

• The analysis for this iteration of the project largely reflected the results obtained from the Graduate Opinion Survey conducted in 2017 (Institutional Research Office, 2018).

• Respondents indicated their main activities six months after completing their qualifications as employed (22,15%), self-employed (1,17%), not yet employed (44,44%), and studying further (30,87%).

• The majority of the employed respondents (82,05%) found employment within six months.

• The majority of the employed respondents (76,26%) indicated that they were employed within the public (Government) sector.

• Most respondents (58,52%) who indicated that they were continuing with their studies were registered with the University of Zululand.

• Of the respondents who indicated that they were continuing with their studies, more respondents (38,35%) seemed to have enrolled for higher NQF qualifications, with some (34,41%) registered towards certificate programmes, typically after completing a degree level qualification.

• Overall, respondents agreed (82,86%) that they were satisfied with the quality of their qualifications.

- In addition, respondents agreed that UNIZULU assisted them to develop problem-solving skills (81,39%); sharpened their analytical skills (79,25%); developed abilities to work as part of a team (78,72%); developed communication skills (78,85%), and developed computer skills (75,01%).

• Additional suggestions for improvements highlighted through the content analysis included: improving safety and security on campus, development of infrastructure (classrooms, computer labs, student residences, etc.), and enhancing the curriculum and improvement on teaching methods.

Executive Summary


The current study reports on the Graduate Destination Survey (GDS) Class of 2017, conducted in 2018, following the Graduate Opinion Survey of the class of 2016 (Institutional Research Office, 2018). The University of Zululand (UNIZULU) conducted the Graduate Opinion Survey in 2017 to gather more information about its graduates in order to make informed decisions towards achieving its 2016-2021 strategic goals. As stated in the UNIZULU strategic plan, “the University is driven by the desire to place UNIZULU and its graduates among the foremost institutions and graduates in the country...” (University of Zululand, n.d., p. 3). In order to support this goal, making use of graduate information to inform evidence-based practices becomes crucial within the University. UNIZULU aims to contribute to the growth of the South African tertiary education sector and leverage off its rural, comprehensive character to respond to growth opportunities within the national context and the immediate surrounding area. Producing graduates of the highest quality is a core value of the University; thus, teaching and learning, research and community engagement remain priorities.

UNIZULU also aims to produce graduates who fulfil various roles as professionals and members of civil society with a balance of attributes. Such attributes include: an in-depth knowledge of their specialisation; being reasonably knowledgeable across various disciplines; revealing a strong sense of public good and social responsibility (citizenship); commanding intellectual integrity; possessing critical thinking skills; displaying reflective thinking ability; possessing functioning knowledge to confront complex problems; being attuned to cultural diversity, and understanding the complexities of life as an opportunity for critical engagement (University of Zululand, 2017).

Building on the Graduate Opinion Survey Class of 2016 (2018), the Institutional Research Office initiated the Graduate Destination Survey (GDS) in 2018 to support the vision of UNIZULU. The purpose of the GDS is to gather retrospective feedback from graduates regarding their current employment activities and learning experience at UNIZULU, which can be summarised within three overarching objectives:

i) Collecting wide-spanning information that will serve as baseline data to assist UNIZULU to integrate mechanisms for quality assurance, planning and resource allocation with the strategic intent espoused through its vision and mission.

ii) Taking the perspective of ‘student as client’, it is critical that the Institution gathers feedback from students and graduates to gauge whether their needs and expectations are met by the academic offerings, as well as the general support services.

iii) Finally, to make recommendations on possible areas of improvement, which may assist the University to meet its strategic objective of producing high-quality graduates, as stated in the Strategic Plan 2016-2021 document.

INTRODUCTION


One of the explicit purposes of higher education institutions (HEI) is to increase the skilled labour force of a country. The Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) (2013) states that the post-school system is mainly responsible for preparing skilled workers to contribute to the South African labour market. Additionally, graduates need to be prepared to earn sustainable livelihoods through entrepreneurial endeavours. The end goal of this preparation is for these graduates to contribute skills and knowledge to South Africa’s developing economy. This purpose is reiterated by Botha and Muller (2016) who argue that modern universities are responsible for the higher level of education and for the training of the labour force. The employability of graduates has thus increasingly become a measurement of this purpose. As described by Bhorat already in 2004, in the context of South Africa, joblessness seems to be growing among graduates, which has become a disturbing trend in the post-apartheid South African labour market (Bhorat, 2004; Letseka, Cosser, Breier, & Visser, 2010).

During the second quarter of 2018, the youth (15-34 years) unemployment rate was reported to be 38,8% as compared to that of adults (35-64 years) at 17,9% (Statistics South Africa, 2018). Noticeably, the unemployment rate reduces as the level of education is increased. Nonetheless, young graduates were more than twice as likely to be unemployed (11,9%) than SA adult graduates (4,4%). Furthermore, South Africa, over the past eight years, has witnessed an expansion in the number of total unemployed graduates from 4,4% measured in the first quarter of 2011, to 6,9% measured in the second quarter of 2018 (Statistics South Africa, 2018).

Employability

Employability of a graduate, according to Harvey (1999), can be understood as the propensity of the graduate to exhibit attributes that employers anticipate will be necessary for the future effective functioning of their organisation. From a government and employer perspective, employability is mainly concerned with ensuring that graduates are capable of contributing to “economic competitiveness in a global context” (Cranmer, 2006, p. 170). Harvey (1999) further emphasises that employability continues to develop because a graduate, once employed, does not stop learning (i.e. continuous learning). Employability can thus be defined in the context of universities as more than the ability to obtain employment, but in having the skills to drive organisations forward, and in the continued learning to empower learners as critical reflective citizens.

This view on employability seems to be supported in the findings by Saunders and Zuzel (2010), who found that employers valued personal qualities such as dependability and enthusiasm over subject knowledge.

LITERATURE REVIEW


This may indicate an industry attitude that is more subjective in their selection of employees than just employing those who have obtained a specific qualification. Students seem to be increasingly aware of such subjective requirements since it seems like graduate employability is increasingly important in how students select the university with which to study within international spheres (Artess, Forbes, & Ripmeester, 2011). Nonetheless, even in international spheres, there seems to be a gap between the skills that graduates have and those required by employers (Artess et al., 2011).

Although it should be noted that institutions typically create their own definitions of employability, there seems to be some agreement on how to enhance the employability of students/graduates (Artess et al., 2011). Internationally, Artess et al (2011) provided a broad overview of practices that enhance student or graduate employability. Although with a specific focus on the United Kingdom, they report practices of more than seven countries. Their findings indicate that students should be central to this process; however, awareness should be increased for students to take responsibility for their own skills development.

Initiatives to enhance the employability of students/graduates as discussed by Artess et al (2011) were broadly related to relationships with employers, curriculum development, and student recruitment. Some institutions hosted dedicated departments or units focused on providing support to various stakeholders (Artess et al., 2011), whereas these types of responsibilities may be more decentralised depending on the resources available. Furthermore, although international practices are cited as a guideline, there have been a number of developments within South Africa already addressing concerns related to the employability of graduates.

The focus of several institutions was to actively build a relationship with employers. This relationship would form the basis for including employers within different processes related to creating employable graduates. This included, formally or informally, involving employers as part of curriculum planning, work placements, skills provision, recruitment or campus events. Although the inclusion of employers was not necessarily consistently utilised across the sampled institutions (Artess et al., 2011), these provide possible topics of investigation to increase relationships with industry.

Within curriculum development initiatives, course content is developed either as part of a stand-alone module or permeated throughout a qualification to enhance the employability of students. Content would be developed to improve critical skills required by employers or to advance soft and hard skills graduates require to find employment, typically specific to a particular discipline (Artess et al., 2011), similar to the process of consultation currently followed with discipline-specific governing bodies or organisations during the development of qualifications.

Other initiatives within the curriculum include the development of practical experience components for students to gain experience while learning. Such a component may include placing students within an organisation or encouraging students to find volunteering opportunities for course credit. Alternatively, employers may present real-world problems to students as part of a competition, or credits within a module, where they will be required to assist in developing solutions. This provides a dual function for students to gain actual experience and networking opportunities, and for employers to interact with future graduates and to gain limited access to an additional labour resource (Artess et al., 2011).

Another interesting approach was to include a separate certification to track personal development efforts of students and provide tangible evidence to employers that students have attained certain employability skills. Throughout this process, students self-assess their skills and provide evidence of their involvement in various activities like attending colloquia, and can include involvement in volunteering or community engagement programmes. Students submit evidence in the form of assignments or portfolios aimed at


assessing the soft and hard skills stated above, where a certificate is issued once students provide sufficient evidence of learning (Artess et al., 2011).

Within some institutions, the skills development described above has also been hosted outside the formalised curriculum. Student societies and extracurricular activities acted as informal development opportunities for skills relevant to student employability (Artess et al., 2011).

Provision of resources included career counselling/skills provision (writing a CV, work interviews, job searches). Student recruitment included internships or work placements, the hosting of career fairs or other networking opportunities, or the development of online recruitment portals. Online initiatives had the added advantage of providing students with resources useful for their own development, information on career management, and as a platform to develop their CVs. An important note to make is that these forms of resources are often made available to university alumni to assist them after they have completed their studies (Artess et al., 2011). Similar initiatives are hosed within South Africa, for example, the Alumni Careers3 supported by several institutions such as the University of Witwatersrand4, University of Pretoria5 and the University of KwaZulu-Natal6. The Youth Employment Services (YES)7 was started as a national governmental project to assist young people to find internships and gain work experience.

Additional resources that might be made available could include the creation of partnerships for business incubation. This provides office space, library resources, and business support for students or graduates to kick-start entrepreneurial initiatives. Such initiatives may just include physical resources and advice or support for students through personal advice or peer support (product design and testing), but may include financial assistance (seed funds or investor relationships), and related workshops or ‘boot camps’ to assist students or graduates with this endeavour. Initiatives related to business incubation or designing prototype examples within South Africa include the Launch Lab8 hosted by the University of Stellenbosch in collaboration with Nedbank, or the MakerSpace hosted by the University of Pretoria Library Services9 and the UP Business Incubator10.

Graduate Exit Survey

Albertyn, Kapp and Bitzer (2009) describe the graduate exit survey as an important tool for HEI to ensure that they provide qualifications appropriate for the ever-changing demands of the globalised knowledge economy. Gathering information about university graduates has been used globally in studies to provide more information for the enhancement of teaching and learning as the core business of institutions of higher learning (Cape Higher Education Consortium, 2013). These surveys have typically been conducted by each individual institution; however, some tracer studies have been conducted in collaboration with institutions within proximity of each other (Cape Higher Education Consortium, 2013).

As previously discussed, graduate exit surveys have been conducted by various institutions to measure the effectiveness of HEI and to train students for future employment. One such study was conducted by the HSRC during 2005 and 2006, focusing on university graduates’ unemployment (Letseka et al., 2010). One

3 http://www.alumnicareers.co.za/ – accessed on 27 February 20194 https://www.wits.ac.za/alumni/careers/ – accessed on 27 February 20195 https://www.up.ac.za/alumni/article/269487/mentor-en-loopbaandienste –

accessed on 27 February 20196 http://alumniaffairs.ukzn.ac.za – accessed on 27 February 20197 https://www.yes4youth.co.za/ – accessed on 27 February 2019

8 https://launchlab.co.za/ – accessed on 27 February 20199 http://www.library.up.ac.za/makerspace/index.htm – accessed on 27

February 201910 https://www.up.ac.za/up-business-incubator – accessed on 27

February 2019


of the findings of this project was that the unemployment rate remained racially skewed among graduates. The authors referred to the findings that indicated that Africans have the highest unemployment rate; however, the results also indicated that the qualification type may have had an impact, as most of these graduates’ qualifications were in the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences. The study unpacked the disparity level of unemployment in institutions, race, and gender, and concurred that there were relatively more African graduates without employment, compared to white graduates (Letseka et al., 2010). A survey study entitled ‘Graduate Destination Survey’ by the Cape Higher Education Consortium (CHEC) found that students who graduate from a historically disadvantaged institutions seem to struggle more to find employment compared to graduates from historically advantaged institutions (Cape Higher Education Consortium, 2013). The CHEC study exclusively focused on institutions from the Western Cape Province, which indicates that there would be a gap in our knowledge of graduates from other HEI within South Africa.

As stated earlier, individual institutions do go through the process of measuring their graduate destinations. The University of Cape Town (UCT) is one of the institutions with the longest history of conducting graduation surveys since 1997 (Cape Higher Education Consortium, 2013). Within the latest report of UCT (Sonday, 2018), the results indicate that of the 3 297 survey respondents who graduated in April 2018, 39.4% were already employed, 45.3% were studying, 11.8% were still hoping to pursue further studies, while 19.7% were still seeking employment at the time of the April graduation. As 10% of those employed indicated they were self-employed, the UCT summary report concludes that there is an increase in graduates that are self-employed. Stellenbosch University, the University of Western Cape (UWC), and Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) were additionally cited to have conducted similar surveys prior to their collaboration on the CHEC project (2013).

A news article posted on the Mail & Guardian (Macupe, 2019) provided an overview of South African HEIs that conduct graduate exit surveys. From this article it seems as if 23 out of the 26 HEIs nationally actively conduct these studies, to track the employability of their graduates. While employment rates differed across institutions, with some citing over 80% employment after graduation, the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) cited the lowest rate of the reported universities at 32.5% (Macupe, 2019). The article, however, does not report on the number of graduates who continue with their studies, or who are specifically classified as unemployed.


METHODOLOGY

This report provides a descriptive account of the UNIZULU Graduate Destination Survey conducted among the 2017 Graduate cohort six months after completing their course. For the purposes of this study, a quantitative research paradigm was used to gather institutional data on graduates. A survey method was considered most appropriate as it allows one to gather data from a large sample within a relatively short amount of time. This survey represents the first instance of a larger project to collect graduate destination data across multiple years.

Collecting data across multiple years would allow UNIZULU to gain a more reliable understanding of their graduates’ destinations and levels of satisfaction that graduates associate with their qualifications. Conducting a trend analysis in future reports would allow the Institution to make possible inferences regarding the effectiveness of support measures that may be introduced within specific years. This may not be a proxy for monitoring or evaluation of the initiatives; however, it may provide a broad indication of where to start such an investigation.

Data Collection

This study gathered information about the graduate cohort of 2017 by distributing surveys at official UNIZULU graduation ceremonies during May 2018. This approach was deemed most appropriate due to considerations around response rate, previous studies that used similar methods, and considerations around accessibility of the study population. Thus, the total population of 2017 graduates who attended the graduation ceremony were targeted through this approach.

The graduation ceremonies took place at 10 sessions across five consecutive days and were held six months after students had completed their qualifications. As a result of the timeframe of this study, the data collected provide some insights into the employment status and current activity of graduates, in addition to the length of time graduates take to find employment. The survey further provided information with regard to student satisfaction with UNIZULU and may provide some insights into improving the services provided.

The instrument used for collecting data was a questionnaire revised from the graduate surveys previously used within UNIZULU (Dube, 2007; Institutional Research Office, 2018), and originally adapted from a graduate exit survey conducted at UKZN (Walker, 2005). The questionnaire was designed to accommodate both open and close-ended questions in order to obtain a perspective of students’ experiences relating to:


• The employment status and endeavours of UNIZULU graduates• Graduates’ perceived preparedness for the workplace and further studies• Graduates’ opinions on their satisfaction with UNIZULU and their opinions on the quality of the

university education they received• Graduates’ opinions on where UNIZULU need to focus on improving the Institution

The instrument was divided into four sections. Section A consisted of the participant profiles, including data such as gender, race and qualification. Section B dealt with the graduates’ current economic activities, subdivided into specific units. This section specifically considered information around the employment of respondents, or additional information from respondents studying further. Section C dealt with graduates’ opinions on their qualification as a whole. This report was subdivided into similar sections; however, the survey structure would not have a one-to-one correspondence with the order of reporting.

The survey used both close-ended and open-ended questions. Close-ended questions were used for graduates to indicate their biographic information, employment and study endeavours. The questionnaire made use of four-point Likert scale questions to measure the level of agreement or disagreement graduates held in regard to specific statements on their perception of services provided by UNIZULU. Answers thus ranged from 1 = ‘Strongly Disagree’ to 4 = ‘Strongly Agree’. Finally, an open-ended question was included to capture areas that graduates felt UNIZULU needed to improve on.

The surveys were distributed at each graduation session and were collected immediately after the conclusion of the ceremonies. The data from the surveys were then captured using a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet and cleaned in preparation for data analysis. Data capturing included unique numbers for each survey in order to track and recheck the information for mistakes. Such numbers would naturally not be linked back to participants due to the anonymity of the surveys. Data cleaning involved checking responses for possible input mistakes in addition to removing any surveys that did not provide enough data.

Several assumptions were made during the data cleaning and transformation phase of this study:

• Captured surveys were deemed usable if graduates completed the participant’s profile, as well as their main economic activity. Since the main purpose of this survey was to state what students were currently doing, these responses were included. If graduates did not include their current main activity but answered other questions in the survey around employment, studies, their satisfaction, or the open-ended question, these responses were retained. If no responses were recorded, or only scattered answers were provided, these responses were excluded from the analysis.

• If graduates indicated an employer or study institution without marking the ‘main activity’, they were respectively deemed as ‘employed or studying’.

• Graduates who indicated that they were unemployed (‘main activity’) but listed a study institution (which was not similar to their graduating qualifications), they were deemed to be ‘studying’.

• Graduates who indicated that they were studying further, but indicated that their studies were at UNIZULU for a similar qualification type to the one that they were graduating with, they were excluded from the analysis on further studies (i.e. a student who graduates with a ‘Postgraduate Certificate in Education’ who indicated that they were furthering their studies at UNIZULU studying towards a ‘PGCE’).

• Qualification types included all certificates, diplomas, degrees, honours degrees, master’s degrees, and doctoral degrees as distinct regardless of NQF exit level, or a number of credits. Thus, in aggregate, graduates who completed a degree (‘LLB degree’) were able to indicate that they continued to study


for a master’s (‘LLM’) seemingly without completing an honours level qualification. Additionally, not all students reported enough information to make assumptions on the qualification type that they qualified for, or continued to study. Their responses were indicated as ‘unclear’.

Data Analysis

The captured data presented below was analysed using descriptive statistical methods in Microsoft Excel. The descriptive methods used in this analysis specifically include frequencies and percentages to compare data that may not have equivalent sample sizes. Content analysis approach was used to calculate relative frequencies that certain topics were mentioned by respondents from the open-ended questions. The approach entailed assigning labels (codes) to each ‘unit of meaning’ in the text provided by graduates. Thus, graduates who spoke about the ‘quality of the curriculum’, in addition to the ‘safety on campus’ were assigned more than one code. This allowed the presentation of all highlighted areas of improvement. Naturally, the number of assigned codes would not be equal to the number of graduates who completed this question. This approach allows for a relative comparison of the specific issues mentioned. Relative comparisons are used to steer away from the belief that the physical number of times a topic is mentioned has intrinsic importance. Rather the analysis focuses on topics that are mentioned more often or less often when compared to other topics within the analysis. This will also allow some cautious inferences to be made, since the statements of a few graduates may not reflect the opinions of the entire cohort. Evidence for the qualitative analysis is provided by quoting segments from respondents’ answers according to the codes that were assigned. This provides the reader with examples of how the coding was applied to increase the trustworthiness of content analysis.

In total, 4 109 students completed their studies at UNIZULU in 2017. During the graduation ceremonies in 2018, a total of 3 060 graduates responded to the distributed survey. Following the data cleaning process, 2 993 responses were retained for the analysis. This resulted in a 73% response rate (Table 1). This response rate is 16% higher than the 57% response rate recorded during the Graduate Opinion Survey 201711.

Based on sample size calculations, a sample size of 352 would have sufficed to generalise responses to this population considering common assumptions with the Social Sciences, specifically a confidence level of 95%, and the margin of error of 5% (Nulty, 2008). The current sample size allows the confidence level to be increased to 99%, while the margin of error is measured at 1.23%. In layman’s terms, researchers can be 99% sure that the total population would have answered the questions in a similar fashion, and most often errors would not cause a difference with more than 1.23% in the responses. Although any inference from the current information is made tentatively on the entire population, it remains possible to make such comparisons as long as the number of responses on a particular question does not fall below 352 instances.

Table 1: Survey response rate

Graduates of 2018 Population Survey Respondents Response Rates (%)

Total 4109 2993 73%

11 Please note: The response rate in the Graduate Opinion Survey during 2017 was affected by the fact that not all sessions could be attended for data collection, and may have otherwise obtained a similar response rate reflected here.


Statement of Limitation

With regard to this survey, certain limitations need to be acknowledged. This study focused on describing the experiences of graduates, therefore, inferential methods of analysis were not considered at this time, somewhat limiting the interpretations that could be made from this data. The survey length and order of questions may have been a source of confusion since not all graduates completed the surveys past their ‘main activities’ (which was followed by employment information). The order of questions was purposefully selected to ensure that the most important information is seen first (i.e. ‘what are graduates’ destinations’).

Surveys have some limitations on the depth of information that can be gathered from respondents, as one does not have the methodological or practical ability to probe more on points of interest. The inclusion of open-ended questions intends to alleviate some of these limitations, however, too many questions (both closed and open-ended) would make a survey unmanageable for both the respondents and the researchers (Babbie, 2007). One makes some sacrifices in depth in order to reach a larger population within a short amount of time.

The data collection was conducted during the graduation ceremonies in May 2018. This limits the length of the surveys due to the duration of the ceremonies, in addition to the fact that each graduate would be engaged in order to take part in the ceremony. An opportunity was given to graduates who might have missed the chance of filling the survey and those who graduated in absentia. A box with questionnaires was left with the graduation officer to give to those graduates; however, very few individuals used that opportunity. Although online surveys could be sent to all graduates, the response rate of these surveys would typically be lower. Thus the paper-based approach was considered to be more practical for the purpose of this study.

Data for this study was collected at about six months after graduates completed their studies. Findings by Letseka et al (2010) indicated that a large number of graduates search for employment for a year or longer. Although the ideal would be for graduates to find employment as soon as possible after completion, it is currently unknown where graduates go after this six-month period.

Finally, this survey was only completed by respondents who had met the requirements of their qualification programmes. This would naturally mean that any questions on course quality or satisfaction may be biased towards more positive answers. These questions thus needed to be interpreted carefully, as respondents may be more satisfied with the offerings of UNIZULU because they succeeded. These questions were included nonetheless as graduates were assumed to be in a unique position to provide relevant answers to these questions. This unique position is with reference to their years of study at UNIZULU, which leads to the completion of their qualifications. In addition to having left the Institution, they were presumably required to demonstrate their new knowledge through searching for employment or continuing with studies. These questions might thus not necessarily provide ‘objective’ indications of course quality, but rather potential areas where students might need to be better prepared for future employment or further education.


SECTION A

RESPONDENTS’ PROFILEThe section below reports on the response rate and demographic profile of the UNIZULU graduates who responded to the Graduate Destination Survey in 2018. Where possible, respondent profiles are compared to the known characteristics of the population to provide additional information regarding the possibilities for generalisation of the data. Demographical information reported on includes respondents’ faculties, qualification type, first qualification status, residential status while studying, gender distribution, racial distribution, as well as their current main economic activity.

Response rates

As described earlier, a total of 2 993 (73%) UNIZULU graduates responded to the questionnaire. Respondent distribution across faculties indicated a relatively good representation of the target population. The response rate within the Faculty of Arts was the highest within this project (81%), reflecting the second largest number of respondents within this study, followed by the Faculty of Commerce, Admin and Law (76%) representing the third largest number of respondents, and the Faculty of Science and Agriculture (72%) representing the smallest groups of respondents. Although the Faculty of Education had the lowest response rate within this study (67%), the respondents from the faculty contributed about a third of the captured responses. These comparisons indicate that it may be possible to generalise the findings from this study across faculties. However, some caution remains due to more nuanced differences between disciplines.


Figure 1: Response rate per faculty

Even though a number of respondents did not complete every question within the survey, they were included due to the useful information they provided. Brief consideration was also made to the response distribution across faculties for the open-ended questions, which appeared as the last question in the questionnaire. The distribution of respondents indicates that faculty affiliations of respondents reflected the percentage distribution of sample and population. The largest group of respondents was again the Faculty of Education (52,31%), followed by the Faculty of Arts (40,76%), then the Faculty of Commerce, Admin and Law (27,94%), and lastly, the Faculty of Science and Agriculture (25%). It should be noted that due to the small number of responses, the generalisability of the content analysis remains tentative.

Qualification obtained per faculty

Respondents were requested to indicate the qualification they completed in 2017. Open-ended responses were captured and sorted into qualification types, prefaced by the letter ‘G’. Although such classification provides a crude example of data cleaning, it was not possible to derive more nuanced information from the majority of these responses. This view does, however, provide some indication of graduate destinations after the completion of qualifications. From the total number of respondents, the majority completed bachelor degrees across all four faculties. This finding is in line with expectations since the majority of the UNIZULU student cohort is registered for a degree type of qualification. The majority of the respondents indicated

2000

1800

1600

1400

1200

1000

800

600

400

200

0

100%

90%

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

Faculty of Arts

766

1648

1003

583

1097

814

Faculty ofEducation

Faculty of Science& Agric

Faculty of Comm,Admin & Law

81%76%

72%67%

692

499

Population 1003 766 1648 692

Sample 814 583 1097 499

Response Rate 81% 76% 67% 72%


that they were with the Faculty of Education (25,69%). The second largest group of respondents who indicated that they completed a bachelor degree were from the Faculty of Arts (21,68%), followed by the Faculty of Commerce, Admin and Law (14,43%), and lastly the Faculty of Science and Agriculture (11,96%). In addition, a large group of graduates indicated that they completed certificate programmes at UNIZULU during 2017 – almost all came from the Faculty of Education, comprising 7,42% of the total graduating cohort.

Figure 2: Respondents qualification obtained per faculty

No Response

G Unclear G PhD G

MastersG

Honours G Degree G Diploma

GCertificate

Grand Total

Arts 38 3 8 6 54 649 54 2 814

Commerce, Admin and Law 14 14 2 6 24 432 85 6 583

21.68%

14.43%

11.96%

25.69%

1.80%

2.84%

1.90%

0.00%

0.07%

0.20%

0.00%

7.42%

1.80%

0.80%

1.64%

1.10%

0.20%

0.20%

0.47%

0.67%

0.27%

0.07%

0.07%

0.10%

0.10%

0.47%

0.07%

0.27%

1.27%

0.47%

0.57%

1.40%

50%40%30%20%10%0%

GCertificate

GMasters

GDiploma

GPhD

GDegree

No Response

Arts

Education

Commerce, Admin, & Law

Science & Agriculture

GUnclear

GHonours


Figure 2: Respondents qualification obtained per faculty (Continued)

No Response

G Unclear G PhD G

MastersG

Honours G Degree G Diploma

GCertificate

Grand Total

Education 42 8 3 20 33 769 0 222 1097

Science and Agriculture 17 2 2 14 49 358 57 0 499

Grand Total 111 27 15 46 160 2208 196 230 2993

Gender

The gender distribution of respondents seemed to mirror that of the graduate population (University of Zululand, 2018). The majority of the respondents were female (60,51%). In total, 38,96% of the respondents were male, and a small number (0,53%) did not indicate (Figure 3).

Figure 3: Gender of the graduate respondents compared with the population

38.96%

0.53%

60.51%

39.64%

0.00%

60.36%

100%80%60%40%20%0%

Sample Population

No Response

Male

Female

Population Population (%) Sample Sample (%)

Female 2480 60.36% 1811 60.51%

Male 1629 39.64% 1166 38.96%

No Response 0 0 16 0.53%

Grand Total 4109 100.00% 2993 100.00%

*The 'G' letter preface to degree types indicate the qualification that graduates obtained during the specific ceremony


First qualification status

The majority of the respondents (80,52%) indicated that they were graduating with their first qualification. Whereas in total, 18.28% indicated that they had studied prior to completing their current qualifications, and 1,2% of the respondents chose not to answer this question. It is furthermore interesting to note that the majority of the respondents (93,04%) who completed a certificate programme were not graduating with their first qualification. This is understandable in that most of the respondents completing a certificate programme were graduating with a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE), in the Faculty of Education, that required the previous completion of a degree. However, the majority of the graduates who completed diplomas (96,43%), or a degree (94,11%) were graduating for the first time. Some respondents indicated that they were completing their first qualification while studying towards an honours or master’s degree. Although this might be possible through Recognition of Prior Learning, it may indicate that the respondents (a total of six) may have not fully understood or read the question.

Figure 4: Is this your first qualification?

Frequency Percentage

Yes 2 410 80.52%

No 547 18.28%

No Response 36 1.20%

Grand Total 2993 100.00%

18.28%

80.52%

1.20%

Yes No No Response


Residence

The majority of the respondents (58,54%) indicated that they had stayed off-campus whereas 35.88% indicated to have stayed on-campus while completing their qualifications (Figure 5). Since the questionnaire did not probe further into the living arrangements of graduates, the assumption is made that off-campus accommodations were rented in the vicinity of the University, or that graduates had to travel from their homes. This information is, however, currently captured by the Biographic Questionnaire hosted by SABIO to annually determine the accommodation arrangements of each entering first-year cohort.

Figure 5: Residential arrangements of graduates while studying

On-Campus Off-Campus No Response


On-campus 1074 35.88%

Off-campus 1752 58.54%



35.88%

58.54%

5.58%

Race

The racial distribution of respondents within this study seem to largely mirror that of the overall student population as reported in the UNIZULU Facts and Figures (University of Zululand, 2018). The respondents within this study were predominantly African/Black (98,10%), whereas respondents from other racial groups were less than 1% of the study sample (Figure 6).


Figure 6: Racial distribution of respondents


African/Black 2936 98.10%

Asian/Indian 16 0.53%

Coloured 23 0.77%

White 4 0.13%

Other 2 0.07%



100%80%60%40%20%0%

0.07%

0.77%

98.10%

0.40%

0.13%

0.53%

Other

Coloured

African/Black

No Response

White

Asian/Indian

Main economic activity

The main purpose of the current study was to gather information regarding the employment endeavours of the 2017 graduate cohort. In line with this purpose, the respondents were asked to indicate their main activity from the list of options. In total, 22,15% of the respondents indicated that they were employed at the time of graduation, whereas another 1,17% indicated that they were self-employed. The largest number of respondents indicated that they were not yet employed (44,44%), and presumably had been looking for employment since completion. In total, 30,87% of the respondents indicated that they were studying further while 1,37% of the respondents did not answer this question (Figure 7).


Figure 7: Main economic activity of respondents

100%80%60%40%20%0%

1.17%

1.37%

44.44%

22.15%

Self-Employed

No Response

Not yet Employed

Employed


Employed 663 22.15%

Self-employed 35 1.17%

Studying Further 924 30.87%

Not yet Employed 1330 44.44%



Satisfaction with the main economic activity

Respondents were asked if they were satisfied with their main activity. The information in Figure 8 shows how many respondents indicated that they were satisfied or not satisfied across each of the indicated activities12. In total, respondents indicated that they were satisfied with their main activity (50,75%); however, a third of the respondents (35,18%) indicated that they were not satisfied with their main activity (Figure 8).

Of the graduates who indicated that they had found employment (N = 647), the majority (74,51%) indicated that they were satisfied, whereas 19,91% indicated they were not satisfied. In turn, graduates who indicated that they were self-employed (N = 35) were not as likely to indicate that they were satisfied (40%) compared to the number who indicated that they were not satisfied (48,57%). This may indicate a disturbing trend that could be interpreted that graduates were not prepared for entrepreneurial activities after completing their qualifications. However, it may additionally indicate that graduates may not have been expecting to need to create their own employment opportunities, and may have preferred more ‘traditional’ employment (Figure 8).

12 The satisfaction scores within each activity adds to 100% in order to tentatively compare the information between each activity.

30.87%Studying Further


When considering the scores of respondents who indicated that they were not yet employed (N = 1 330), the majority indicated that they were not satisfied (61,65%), whereas only 18,12% indicated that they were satisfied. It may be confusing that graduates would indicate that they were satisfied with being unemployed. It is possible that they misunderstood the question; alternatively, they viewed it as an opportunity to search for the right job, or that they were receiving enough support to ameliorate their unemployment status (Figure 8).

The majority of the graduates who indicated that they were studying further (N = 923) indicated that they were satisfied (82.25%) with their main activity, whereas there were some respondents who indicated they were not satisfied (8,33%) (Figure 8).

It may be important to note that the question around satisfaction did not probe beyond the provided responses. However, graduates seemed to be more satisfied with activities one may expect were planned for (finding employment or continuing studies), whereas activities that may typically be unplanned did not receive high satisfaction scores (not finding employment, or needing to create a self-employment opportunity). It may thus indicate that graduates need to be prepared for possible outcomes after they had completed their qualifications.

Figure 8: Respondents’ satisfaction with their main economic activity

100%

90%

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%Not yet

Employed No Response Grand TotalSelf-employed StudyingFurtherEmployed

Yes 74.51% 40.00% 82.25% 18.12% 24.39% 50.75%

No 19.91% 48.57% 8.33% 61.65% 17.07% 35.18%

No Response 5.58% 11.43% 9.42% 20.23% 58.54% 14.07%

74.5

1%

19.9

1%

5.5

8%

40.0

0%

48.5

7%

11.4

3%

18.1

2%

20.2

3%

61.6

5%

24.3

9%

17.0

7%

58.5

4%

50.7

5%

35.1

8%

14.0

7%

82.2

5%

8.3

3%

9.4

2%


Main economic activity by faculty

The information displayed above provides the opportunity to make further comparisons between faculties. Such comparisons highlight faculty specific patterns that would not be evident from the overall analysis. To ensure that comparisons are not biased as a result of the number of respondents from each faculty, the graph (Figure 9) was created to calculate percentage scores within each faculty13. For this reason, the table of raw scores is included below as a reference point to the actual frequencies (Table 2).

Figure 9 below illustrates which main activities respondents from different faculties indicated in the survey. The graph illustrates that the disaggregated view of what graduates consider as their main activities per faculty is different from the discussion provided on the aggregated information. It should be noted that within all the four faculties, the number of unemployed graduates exceeded the number of graduates who found employment. Within the Faculty of Arts, graduates were much more likely to continue studying (59,09%) compared to other activities. This may indicate that graduates are aware that they are required to augment their learning after completion of their studies. Within the Faculty of Education, this pattern seems to be reversed with only 2,64% of graduates who continued with their studies. This finding may indicate that graduates expect to find employment after completing their studies since a teaching position typically does not rely on higher level qualifications. The findings from the Faculty of Commerce, Admin and Law as well as the Faculty of Science and Agriculture seem to share a similar pattern. Although findings in some aspects may differ as much as 10%, more than a third indicated that they continued with their studies whereas more than 20% within each managed to find employment. The rates of graduates who had not yet found employment were relatively high in all four faculties; however, the largest number of graduates were from the Faculty of Education (63,81%). This could provide UNIZULU with the opportunity to investigate the job searching behaviours of graduates reported on later in this report, in addition to the types of relationships that are formed with industries, in this instance specifically, with the various stakeholders who would employ graduates from the Faculty of Education.

Figure 9: Respondents’ main economic activity by faculty

13 Activities within each Faculty will add up to 100% to ensure that the data remains comparable between faculties.

1.00%

2.64%

30.72%

0.98%

59.09%

9.09%

1.00%

43.89%

25.65%

1.89%

33.45%

21.27%

100%80%60%40%20%0%

Arts EducationCommerce, Admin, & Law


Self-employed

Studying Further

Employed

13 Activities within each Faculty will add up to 100% to ensure that the data remains comparable between faculties.


1.82%

63.81%

1.60%

29.24%

0.40%

29.06%

1.03%

42.37%

100%80%60%40%20%0%

Arts EducationCommerce, Admin, & Law


No Response

Not yet Employed

14 The Main Activities reported on in each qualification graphed in Figure 10 will add up to 100% in order to compare between qualifications. It should be noted that this approach has a distinct limitation in that there were very few respondents within some of the categories.

Figure 9: Respondents’ main economic activity by faculty (Continued)

Table 2: Main economic activity by faculty

Arts Commerce, Admin & Law Education Science &

Agriculture Total

Main Activity N % N % N % N % N %

Employed 74 2.47% 124 4.14% 337 11.26% 128 4.28% 663 22.15%

Self-employed 8 0.27% 11 0.37% 11 0.37% 5 0.17% 35 1.17%

Studying Further 481 16.07% 195 6.52% 29 0.97% 219 7.32% 924 30.87%

Not yet Employed 238 7.95% 247 8.25% 700 23.39% 145 4.84% 1330 44.44%

No Response 13 0.43% 6 0.20% 20 0.67% 2 0.07% 41 1.37%

Grand Total 814 27.20% 583 19.48% 1097 36.65% 499 16.67% 2993 100.0%

Main activity by qualification

An additional disaggregation was done by qualification type; calculations graphed within Figure 10 were conducted within each qualification type14. The raw scores are presented in Table 3 to avoid biased interpretations of the data.

A tentative pattern may provide some support that graduates with higher levels of qualification are more likely to find employment (Statistics South Africa, 2018). However, graduates with higher qualifications


are typically older, study part-time and have more work experience. In addition, graduates who completed PhD studies in the current sample were likely to be employed while studying (8,53%), whereas full-time students were likely not to have the same employment opportunity. This may indicate that access to higher levels of study may be limited to graduates who had found employment opportunities conducive for further studies.

Furthermore, the majority of respondents (74%) who completed certificates indicated that they were not yet employed. The majority of graduates who indicated that they completed certificate qualifications stated that they had studied towards a PGCE. This may reiterate the finding discussed above that UNIZULU needs to consider job searching behaviours of graduates and the relationships formed by the Institution with organisations or stakeholders who would typically employ graduates with a PGCE. Graduates who completed certificate qualifications were additionally the least likely to continue with their education (8,70%)15, possibly indicating that they were expecting to find employment after the completion of this qualification.

The trend visible in Figure 10 below may suggest that it is not enough to only have a qualification to find employment. Although as indicated in Figure 9 above, the position of graduates is dependent on their field of study, this interpretation is consistent with findings from Statistics South Africa (2018).

In considering the number of respondents who indicated that they were self-employed, the graph depicted in Figure 10 suggests that instances are low across qualification levels. This may suggest that students at all levels may need to be motivated and prepared to consider entrepreneurial activities as an alternative employment option.

Figure 10: Respondents’ main economic activity by qualification

15 Not accounting for the graduates who completed PhD qualifications, as these are recognised to be the highest education level that can be obtained.

17.39%

38.13%

0.00%

2.17%

0.63%

0.00%

65.22%

38.13%

93.33%

15.22%

22.50%

6.67%

0.00%

0.63%

0.00%

100%80%60%40%20%0%

Employed

No Response

Self-Employed Studying Further

Not yet Employed

G5Masters

G4Honours

G6PhD


8.70%

33.38%

26.53%

2.17%

0.91%

2.55%

14.35%

19.70%

29.08%

71.74%

44.75%

40.31%

3.04%

1.27%

1.53%

100%80%60%40%20%0%

Employed

No Response

Self-employed Studying Further

Not yet Employed

G1Certificate

G3Degree

G2Diploma

Figure 10: Respondents’ main economic activity by qualification (Continued)

Table 3: Main economic activity by qualification

Employed Self-employed Studying Further

Not yet Employed No Response Total

Main Activity N % N % N % N % N % N %

G6PhD 14 0.47% - - - - 1 0.03% - - 15 0.50%

G5Masters 30 1.00% 1 0.03% 8 0.27% 7 0.23% - - 46 1.54%

G4Honours 61 2.04% 1 0.03% 61 2.04% 36 1.20% 1 0.03% 160 5.35%

G3Degree 435 14.53% 20 0.67% 737 24.62% 988 33.01% 28 0.94% 2208 73.77%

G2Diploma 57 1.90% 5 0.17% 52 1.74% 79 2.64% 3 0.10% 196 6.55%

G1Certificate 33 1.10% 5 0.17% 20 0.67% 165 5.51% 7 0.23% 230 7.68%

Unclear 10 0.33% 1 0.03% 10 0.33% 5 0.17% 1 0.03% 27 0.90%

No Response 23 0.77% 2 0.07% 36 1.20% 49 1.64% 1 0.03% 111 3.71%

Grand Total 663 22.15% 35 1.17% 924 30.87% 1330 44.44% 41 1.37% 2993 100.0%


SECTION B

OPINION ON OVERALL STUDY EXPERIENCE AT UNIZULUGraduates were asked to respond to several Likert type questions with regard to their overall impressions and satisfaction with their studies at UNIZULU. Question topics included the opinions of graduates relating to teaching and learning activities, attaining different skills, provision of academic support, and overall student experience. Responses may indicate areas where improvements might be made to ensure that students are prepared for the world of work and gain adequate support during their studies.

The analysis of the 27 questions is distributed across Figures 11-13 below. Each question was asked on a 4-point Likert type question, ranging from 1 = ‘Strongly Disagree’ to 4 = ‘Strongly Agree’. The approach differs from the Graduate Opinion Survey (2018) in that no neutral options were presented. Not presenting a neutral option has the advantage that respondents would not be able to passively provide neutral responses; however, some of the nuances may have been lost by removing a level of responses. Within the discussion points below the level of agreement was aggregated into a binary ‘Agree’ or ‘Disagree’ option. This aggregation assists in the legibility of the analysis and provides an overview of options, which were specifically agreed or disagreed to. The aggregation was conducted by combining the scores for respondents who picked ‘Strongly agree’, or ‘Agree’, into a single score. The same approach was taken with ‘Disagreement’ scores. Thus, at a glance, the reported scores would not reflect the frequencies visible within the reported figures.


Figure 11: Opinion of qualification (A)

3.47%

4.91%

0.80%

8.65%

1.60%

9.39%

4.38%

1.50%

2.77%

40.26%

44.34%

24.82%

40.13%

35.42%

37.02%

43.00%

35.42%

36.85%

38.82%

33.81%

59.00%

45.97%

30.81%

43.60%

33.34%

44.37%

46.01%

0.77%

0.87%

0.77%

0.60%

0.63%

1.24%

1.27%

2.27%

0.57%

16.67%

16.07%

14.60%

15.57%

15.34%

15.60%

16.40%

15.20%

15.07%

100%80%60%40%20%0%

Strongly Agree

No Response

Agree Disagree

Strongly Disagree

I consider my degree to be globally competitive and

locally relevant

UNIZULU provided me with an opportunity to participate in cultural, leadership, social

and sporting programmes

I would recommend UNIZULU to friends and family

UNIZULU provided me with an intellectually stimulating

environment

I am proud to be a graduate of UNIZULU

I feel that my studies at UNIZULU prepared me well

for further education

I would choose to study at UNIZULU again

I feel that my studies at UNIZULU prepared me well

for the workplace

Overall, i am satisfied with the quality of my degree/diploma


• Respondents agreed (82,86%) that they were satisfied with the quality of their qualifications whereas some disagreed (2,07%) with this statement. In total, 15,05% did not provide an answer to this question.

• Respondents (81,39%) indicated that their studies prepared them well for the workplace whereas (3,41%) disagreed; some (15,20%) did not provide an answer to this question.

• Respondents (81,39%) agreed that their study at UNIZULU prepared them well for further studies. In total, however, 2,21% disagreed and a number of respondents (16,40%) did not provide an answer to this question.

• Respondents (73,47%) indicated that they would choose to study at UNIZULU again whereas 10,93% disagreed. A number of respondents (15,60%) did not provide an answer to this question.

• The majority of the respondents (83,83%) indicated that they were proud to be UNIZULU graduates whereas 1,57% disagreed and 14,60% did not provide an answer to this question.

• Respondents (79,02%) indicated that they would recommend UNIZULU to friends and family while 5,65% disagreed. A number of respondents (15,34%) did not provide an answer to this question.

• Respondents (78,15%) agreed that UNIZULU provided them with an intellectually stimulating environment whereas 5,78% disagreed and 16,07% did not provide an answer to this question.

• Respondents (73,81%) agreed that UNIZULU provided them with opportunities to participate in cultural, leadership, social and sporting programmes. In total, 10,62% of the respondents disagreed and a number of them (15,57%) did not provide an answer to this question.

• Respondents (79,08%) indicated that they considered their qualification to be globally competitive and locally relevant. Some disagreed (4,24%) while a number of respondents (16,67%) did not provide an answer to this question.

Figure 12: Opinion of qualification (B)

3.61%

2.84%

3.14%

5.28%

45.14%

45.74%

48.31%

40.76%

33.68%

33.98%

28.33%

38.66%

0.50%

0.87%

0.70%

0.53%

16.57%

17.24%

17.21%

16.91%

100%80%60%40%20%0%

Strongly Agree

No Response

Agree Disagree

Strongly Disagree

I was given clear guidelines to complete the tasks i had

to perform

I was given reasonable time to understand the things i

had to study

I found the workload manageable

I knew what standard of work was expected from me


4.44%

1.24%

1.40%

1.34%

1.27%

38.59%

33.81%

36.25%

32.94%

42.87%

36.42%

44.90%

45.14%

45.91%

36.38%

0.97%

0.40%

0.53%

0.60%

0.27%

19.58%

19.65%

16.67%

19.21%

19.21%

100%80%60%40%20%0%

Strongly Agree

No Response

Agree Disagree

Strongly Disagree

My studies helped me to develop my computer skills

My studies helped me to develop my communication skills (i.E. Written and oral)

My studies sharpened my analytical skills

My studies helped to develop my abilities to work as a

team member

My studies helped me to develop my problem-solving

skills

Figure 12: Opinion of qualification (B) (Continued)

• Respondents (79,42%) agreed that they knew the standard of work expected from them throughout their studies. Some disagreed (3,68%) whereas a number of respondents (16,91%) did not provide an answer to this question.

• Respondents (76,65%) indicated that they found the workload manageable whereas some (6,15%) disagreed. A number of respondents (17,21%) did not provide an answer to this question.

• Respondents (79,42%) agreed that they were given clear guidelines to complete the tasks they had to perform during their studies. A few respondents (3,34%) disagreed whereas a number of them (17,24%) did not provide an answer to this question.

• Respondents (79,12%) agreed that they were provided with a reasonable amount of time to understand the study material. Some (4,31%) disagreed whereas 16,57% did not provide an answer to this question.

• Respondents (81,39%) agreed that their studies assisted them to develop problem-solving skills. In total, however, 1,94% disagreed whereas 16,67%, did not provide an answer to this question.

• Respondents (79,25%) agreed that their studies assisted in sharpening their analytical skills, whereas some (1,54%) disagreed. A number of the respondents (19,21%) did not provide an answer to this question.

• Respondents (78,72%) agreed that their studies assisted them to develop abilities to work as part of a team. In total, however, 1,64% of the respondents disagreed whereas a number of them (19,65%) did not provide an answer to this question.


• Respondents (78,85%) agreed that their studies assisted them to develop communication skills (i.e. written and oral), whereas 1,94% disagreed. A number of respondents (19,21%) did not provide an answer to this question.

• Respondents (75,01%) agreed that their studies assisted them to develop computer skills. A few respondents (5,41%) disagreed whereas a number of them (19,58%) did not provide an answer to this question.

Figure 13: Opinion of qualification (C)

5.15%

4.08%

3.14%

4.41%

23.76%

2.27%

7.82%

34.75%

41.50%

44.84%

44.47%

44.30%

24.12%

37.19%

38.29%

31.91%

30.07%

17.41%

30.30%

25.93%

40.23%

1.47%

0.77%

0.74%

1.90%

14.17%

0.67%

0.57%

20.35%

21.75%

20.55%

21.05%

20.31%

20.05%

19.75%

100%80%60%40%20%0%

Strongly Agree

No Response

Agree Disagree

Strongly Disagree

To do well in my degree/diploma, i did not really need to study, all i needed was a good

memory

To do well in my degree/diploma, i needed to give up some of my personal time or

study over weekends

The teaching staff worked hard to make my studies

interesting

The teaching staff gave helpful feedback on my progress

The teaching staff were good at explaining the content of

modules

The university staff made a real effort to understand difficulties students were having with their studies

The teaching staff motivated me to give my

best as a student


5.51%

22.95%

41.80%

22.12%

29.13%

17.24%

2.00%

17.11%

21.55%

20.58%

100%80%60%40%20%0%

Strongly Agree

No Response

Agree Disagree

Strongly Disagree

The environment provided by unizulu helped me to learn

effectively

To do well in my degree/diploma, i did not really need to study throughout the year, all i needed was to just work

hard around exam times

Figure 13: Opinion of qualification (C) (Continued)

• Respondents (77,41%) agreed that the UNIZULU teaching staff motivated them to perform at their best during their studies. A few respondents (2,84%) disagreed whereas a number of them (19,75%) did not provide an answer to this question.

• Respondents (70,23%) agreed that the UNIZULU teaching staff made a real effort to understand difficulties students were experiencing with their studies. Some of the respondents (9,72%) disagreed whereas a number of them (20,05%) did not provide an answer to this question.

• Respondents (74,54%) agreed that the UNIZULU teaching staff gave helpful feedback on their progress during their studies. A few respondents (5,15%) disagreed whereas some of the respondents (20,31%) did not provide an answer to this question.

• Respondents (75,14%) agreed that the teaching staff were good at explaining the content of modules whereas 3,81% disagreed. A number of respondents (21,05%) did not provide an answer to this question.

• Respondents (73,40%) agreed that the UNIZULU teaching staff worked hard to make their studies interesting while a few of them (4,84%) disagreed. In total, however, 21,75% of the respondents did not provide an answer to this question.

• Respondents (41,53%) agreed that they did not need to study hard, they only needed to have a good memory in order to do well in their respective qualifications. In total, however, 37,92% of the respondents disagreed whereas a number of them (20,55%) did not provide an answer to this question.

• Respondents (73,04%) agreed that to do well in their studies, they needed to give up some of their personal time or study over weekends. In total, however, 6,62% of the respondents disagreed whereas 20,35% did not provide an answer to this question.

• Respondents (39,36%) agreed that to do well in their respective qualifications, they did not need to study throughout the year, all they needed was to just work hard during exam times. A number of respondents (40,06%) however, disagreed whereas 20,58% did not provide an answer to this question.

• Respondents (70,93%) agreed that the environment provided by UNIZULU assisted them to learn effectively. In total, however, 7,52% of the respondents disagreed whereas a number of them (21,55%) did not provide an answer to this question.


Summary: Opinion on overall study experience at UNIZULU

Within the overall analysis of the Likert type questions, the majority of the respondents tended to agree with the provided statements. At first glance, most of the above findings are positive and presumably16

indicates that UNIZULU provided a satisfactory learning experience to graduates. Respondents indicated that they were proud to be UNIZULU graduates; they were satisfied with the quality of their qualifications, and they felt prepared for future employment and studies through their learning experiences at UNIUZLU. The level of the agreement remained positive for statements relating to the skills respondents developed and the guidance that they received throughout their studies. Even though the majority of the responses were overwhelmingly positive, some interactions may indicate areas of improvement.

Although the most agreed upon statement was that respondents were proud of graduating from UNIZULU (Agree = 83,83%), the statement that they would choose to study through UNIZULU again did not find the same support (Agree = 73,47%), also being the third most disagreed question overall. Even though disagreement scores were typically below 11%, areas that may improve from the above responses include opportunities to participate in cultural, leadership, social and sporting programmes, an understanding of the difficulties experienced by students, in addition to providing an environment for effective learning.

Respondents indicated that they were required to make use of their personal time and study over weekends in order to do well in their respective qualifications (Agree = 73,04%). In contrast, respondents agreed to the questions suggesting that they were not required to study consistently throughout the year, but that they only required a good memory (Agree = 41,53%), or only needed to study during examinations (Agree = 39,36%). These responses seem to contrast the idea that respondents experienced workload to be manageable (Agree = 76,65%). It is possible that respondents may consider their personal time and weekends within their study schedules, or that they only sacrificed this time during examinations. Alternatively, it may suggest that respondents unknowingly struggled with their time management, and relied on cramming sessions and their memory for examinations.

16 It is important to reiterate that the data was collected at graduation ceremonies, and may be positively biased due to a number of factors. The assumption is additionally made that respondents read each question carefully before responding, which may not always be the case with Likert type questions.


In order to ensure that all pertinent aspects of respondents’ learning experiences were covered, an open-ended question was asked at the end of the survey. Respondents were given an opportunity to freely write a response to indicate if there was anything more that UNIZULU might need to know about their experience, and they wished the University could improve upon. Responses were coded and categorised into broad topics via Content Analysis. The coded responses are presented graphically to relatively compare responses between faculties, and provide a relative indication to the magnitude of each code within the data17.

In total, 571 respondents answered the open-ended question. However, a number of responses did not provide any useful information (e.g. ‘N/A’, ‘No Comment’, ‘No’, ‘None’, etc.), and was coded with ‘N/A’, not reported here. Statements could have multiple codes assigned if the content was relevant to more than a single topic. A total number of 695 codes were assigned to 476 statements provided by respondents. The distribution of codes approximated the sample distribution of this study; however, in considering the smaller sample sizes within this section of the analysis, inferences should be made with caution. The codes are described below in turn from most frequently assigned to least frequently. The evidence is provided via verbatim quotes from respondents’ answers, where comments from different respondents are separated with a semi-colon. Although graphical differences on the prevalence of certain codes seem to be prevalent across faculties, the discussion is limited to the overall descriptions and quotations, in order not to divert attention away from the possible improvements suggested by the respondents. Since respondents provided both positive and negative examples, the positive sentiments are described first, before delving into suggested improvements.

CONTENT ANALYSIS OF OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS

17 Please note that the reported percentages only add up to 100% within each faculty. The reported percentages were calculated by dividing the frequency at which a code occurred within the data, by the number of assigned codes within each faculty. This provides an overview of how frequently a code was

assigned within a particular faculty. Calculations were made for each faculty separately to make relative comparisons. As a result of the ability to make such comparisons, the reported percentages cannot be further transformed reliably (i.e. by averaging or adding).


100%80%60%40%20%0%

Desire to continue learning

Personal development

Gratitude

Arts Education Science & Agriculture

24.90%

6.83%

2.81%

16.49%

7.73%

1.03%

12.61%

1.68%

2.52%

21.80%

3.01%

0.75%


Figure 14: Content analysis positive sentiments

Gratitude

Respondents made use of the open-ended question to express their satisfaction and gratitude for the services provided by UNIZULU during their studies. These expressions were interpreted as a positive reflection on the services of the University. This code was additionally the most frequently allocated code within this dataset. Some respondents indicated that they would not like to comment because everything is fine or that nothing is wrong, other respondents took the opportunity to express their gratitude and thanks to the Institution for providing the opportunity and experiences that shaped their futures.

Thank UNIZULU for giving me this opportunity; University of Zululand is the best university, the staff and members have good communication skills as well as hardworking; Thank You UNIZULU, you are the best; UNIZULU met personal requirements thank you; Just would like

to thank UNIZULU for my degree. I really appreciate it thank you.

Personal Development

Respondents described experiences of personal development throughout their studies at UNIZULU. They described their development as more than just academic learning, but as people who are stronger, more independent and have an increased understanding of the world. Some respondents additionally applauded UNIZULU because they were provided with opportunities to achieve their dreams.

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100%80%60%40%20%0%



6.77%

“ “University made me to be independent; University of Zululand shaped me as well as m life to be strong independent young woman; I am in Process of starting my own business

because of University effort. Over my understanding as I want to be an entrepreneur; UNIZULU gave me challenges that make me a man I have today, circumstances doesn’t

matter but what matters are the results.

The Desire to Continue Learning

Respondents expressed the desire to continue to study and learn. This desire was attributed to their learning experiences and interpreted as a positive influence that UNIZULU had on their development. This code was also attributed to statements where students expressed the desire to stay at UNIZULU for their postgraduate studies, although some expressed disappointment that some courses were not available at the Institution. It was nonetheless a positive indication that graduates had a desire to continue their learning, and that they would like to continue this education at UNIZULU.

UNIZULU enlightened me throughout the course, I would wish to proceed with further studies; I would like to recommend that all diplomas have Btech

programmes to further our studies in the university than to go to other universities; I had a very good supervisor, always available to help. That has motivated me to study further

towards my PhD; I’ve gained experience in African language and education, and i would like to further my studies in UNIZULU.

Figure 15: Content analysis improvement (1)

Improve learning experiences

Improve curriculum

Improve safety and security 6.02%

4.02%

6.02%

9.28%

2.58%

3.61%

1.68%

10.92%

5.04%

5.26%

4.51%

5.26%


Increase staff numbers

Prioritize postgraduates

Improve support services

Include WIL or placement opportunities in modules

Improve residence 3.61%

2.41%

5.22%

2.01%

3.09%

7.22%

3.09%

4.12%

3.09%

7.56%

5.04%

6.72%

3.36%

4.20%

2.26%

3.76%

6.77%

4.51%

2.26%

2.01%

Improve library resources 2.01%2.58% 3.36%6.77%

Figure 15: Content analysis improvement (1) (Continued)

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Improve infrastructure

Improve communication

Improve classrooms

Look into processes for student payments

Improve computer labs

Unspecified

1.20%

3.21%

2.41%

3.61%

2.06%

2.58%

2.06%

3.09%

3.09%

2.52%

4.20%

2.52%

1.68%

3.36%

1.68%

3.76%

3.01%

3.01%

3.01%

3.01%

3.76%3.21%

2.01%

0.80%




Improve Safety and Security

Calls to improve safety and security included both internal and external facilities. The main focus of these descriptions is the protection of students and ensuring their security and well-being. This is linked to the code that focuses on the provision of accommodation as this was cited as a possible solution to protecting off-campus students. However, descriptions did include concerns that the security at the residences needs to be improved. Although many of the descriptions were just requests to improve the safety and security of students, others cited safety issues as a barrier to their learning. They included descriptions of wanting to study for longer periods on campus or make use of the library after dark or at times that were outside of the current operations, but that their safety also needed to be ensured during these times. Another consideration of safety was for the students who needed to leave campus in order to return to where they were staying off campus but did not feel protected.

University need to provide security for off-camp students and allow PSD attempt to help off-campus students especially when they need help during night time; The University of Zululand should the safety of students who are residing off campus more especial during the exam time where students study in the library until late which makes them vulnerable

to danger…; I think UNIZULU can improve on providing students with accommodation because our brothers and sisters are not safe off campus.

Improve Curriculum

Respondents suggested that the study content of their courses could improve, in addition to the qualifications offered by the University. Specific suggestions were on the accreditation of degrees such as the BCom Accounting degree (accredited in 2018) to include skills such as communication, or computer literacy as a compulsory module, or offering more programmes at the Richards Bay campus. Some respondents furthermore questioned the relevance of some qualifications or content in light of their difficulties to find employment, stating that programmes that do not lead to employment need to be discontinued. Other suggestions were vague references to improve the curriculum of the University.

Improve curriculum on both campuses; Computer literacy must be a module in every qualification; I would like to recommend that all diplomas have Btech programmes to

further our studies in the university than to go to other universities; the LLB curriculum should be updated/developed to include relevant modules such as attorney bookkeeping

and management practice.

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Improve Learning Experiences

Respondents suggested that the academic services provided by the University could be improved. These suggestions included that teaching methods needed to be updated and become more interesting, and that interaction with staff and with supervisors needed to improve. Some of the suggestions included the availability of tutors, that the language used in class is understandable to all students, and to consider the timing of examinations. The code was further applied to more general suggestions such as that the academic services or teaching need to be improved. Several students stated that academic services need to be monitored.

Most of my hard work was not recognised and that had ineffective influence in my performance on some of my modules. However, I feel that some of the departments in

the university are incompetent and need evaluation; I wish that university could establish a program that will examine evaluate lecturing process as there are lecturers that embark on…; Education in UNIZULU is not fun, improvement in methodology and techniques that might accommodate different kind of people and race in South Africa, is need or must be practiced by this institute. We need more diverse lecturers and a variety of teaching and learning material; The lecturers mustn’t speak Zulu while teaching in the lecture halls.

Improve Residence

Respondents described the need to increase the capacity of the residences, to provide more students with accommodation during their studies. Several of these comments were linked to safety and security for students, stating that increasing accommodation on campus may increase safety for students. However, other suggestions included that residences needed to be improved for the comfort of students (increasing their ability to study in those spaces), as well as concerns around safety on campus. Concerns around safety are specifically captured by another code. Several students additionally iterated the need to prioritise postgraduate students when accommodation is provided.

The university must improve accommodation for students because it is not safe off-campus; UNIZULU need to build more residents to accommodate at least 50% of the

students; I wish the University can improve the residences students leave in. Some have broken windows, blocked sinks and uncomfortable beds; Please make arrangements for

post graduates to have on campus residences.

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Improve Support Services

Respondents described issues around poor service delivery and problems that they experienced with the support or administrative side of their learning, suggesting that support services needed to be improved. Some respondents described how these issues caused unnecessary delays in their study times before they were resolved. This code includes descriptions such as ‘Their service’, which may be interpreted as either administrative or academic in nature whereas descriptions that were specifically made with reference to the academic or learning environment was captured in another code.

System must stop playing with students because without us there is no University of Zululand. We see everything on the ground, it is just that we have no power as students. Black power; Improve on administration; 1. Poor registration, 2. Poor service at FAB, 3. Poor resident and safety and security; service delivery to students…; UNIZULU has very

poor services when it comes the needs of the students….

Increase Staff Numbers

Respondents highlighted that the University needed to consider appointing more staff members. Though these descriptions were at times department specific, overall comments indicated that staff members were not enough for the qualifications offered. Increasing staff members was also cited as a possible solution for the overcrowding of lecture venues (captured in the code describing the improvement of classrooms) as well as increasing students’ learning resources or bringing more variety to students’ learning environment.

The University should try to hire people who are qualified and competence; I wish the university has to improve the in the intake of the students. I feel and see like they take a lot of students and that is the cause of fully loaded classes. or they need to increase

the number of teaching staff; Make sure of all the faculties staff members are enough for degrees resources e.g. Laboratories are enough for each department; Student-lecture ratio.

Include WIL or Placement Opportunities in Modules

Respondents indicated the need to gain more work experience in order to assist them in finding employment after graduation. Although students gain in-depth theoretical knowledge from their studies at university, respondents indicated their awareness of their lack of practical experience within their fields of study. To address this, suggestions were made to include a practical component to the study programmes for

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students to experience the workplace and see what is in store, as well as to give them work experience required by the positions that they apply for. Some respondents included the need to be taught soft skills required to find employment such as drafting a CV or how to handle the interview process.

The University needs to give media studies students and journalist an opportunity to go to the workplace for the period of 6 months so that they can obtain experience. It is very much challenging to go out there and seek a job while you know nothing about your job; More practical work. Graduates should be taught more about the work environment. Be taught how to draft cv and the interview process; We as students need more practical

lessons in this qualification. We need to be more prepared when we go to the field.

Prioritise Postgraduates

Many of the comments captured within this code have also been captured under other codes related to finances, accommodation and improvement of facilities such as computer labs or library. Statements captured in this code specifically relate to calls for improving how postgraduate students are treated at UNIZULU. Several respondents iterated the need to prioritise postgraduates, provide increased support and improve communication with postgraduates in addition to providing more resources to reflect their level of study.

Yes there is, if UNIZULU will pay attention to postgraduate like other Universities regarding finance, accommodation I will be happy with my UNIZULU; I wish the University could give the postgraduate students first priorities in housing, financial support and all other

academic support facilities; Communication as a post graduate student i felt left out with events taking place at the university; The university should ensure funding, for master &

PhD students. The UNIZULU rooms are noisy and dirty sometimes. The postgraduate lab is small, the library closes when undergraduate students closes.

Improve Library Resources

Respondents suggested that library hours needed to be extended for students to have longer access to the facility, including weekends or holidays for postgraduate students. In addition, resources related to the library needed to increase by updating old books and ensuring that there were enough copies of books required in courses. Respondents additionally described the need for increased space in the library or improved designated spaces, for instance, for postgraduates. Students studying within the Law Department made suggestions of providing a law library designated for their discipline.

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The library should open for 24hours as students study at different times; They need to improve on book renewal in the library; The UNIZULU need to add more lecture halls,

computer labs, library and residences for students; …The closing time of the library should be extended and they should allow post graduate to go in with their bags at the same time

open during recess…; Make books more accessible to student at bookshop(more cheap than they are now) and in the library more copies because not all students can afford nor

get NSFAS, bursaries etc.

Unspecified

The ‘Unspecified’ code was applied to generic suggestions that the ‘environment’ of UNIZULU should be improved, or where respondents described ‘any’ improvements. Suggestions of more specific or ‘niche’ areas were included in this code, such as suggestions from one respondent to improve sport activities, or a suggestion from another for the University to arrange for entertainment focusing on religious affiliations.

I wish that the varsity may improve the sport activities (Athletics); I wish University of Zululand can continue to develop; Any improvement; May the leadership of this institution

remember that the decisions they take really affect us. May you also dedicate yourself towards improving the University.

Look into Processes for Student Payments

Respondents specifically highlighted issues around receiving payments from bursaries on time. Some suggestions were also related to the transparency and integrity of the system that needs to be investigated or improved.

Improve finances, We need to get our money in time; I wish my UNIZULU could improve in paying student debt early cause that makes us to go home without our degree certificate. I had a great experience in UNIZULU & it was good to gain so much experience here. I love my UNIZULU; I wish the constitution to pay the students outstanding funds early before corruption takes place; NSFAS of programme must be reliable to the student; UNIZULU is

difficult when it comes to financial issues.

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Improve Communication

Suggestions included improving communication both internally (with students) and externally (through marketing strategies). Respondents described instances where they were not informed about important processes, or that they felt the University could do more to improve communication with students. One student highlighted that they would prefer to have information emailed to them, rather than just have it placed on noticeboards.

I was not well informed when they were counting my modules so they tell me to register BA instead of PGCE. They wasted my time because I found out 7 days before graduation; Management should improve it ways of communicating with students; The university must

market itself. The research and projects done in the university. Just like global leading university. More academically inspiring content in the website...; It was very difficult to deal with non-teaching staff. Information was not sent to emails but places on notice

boards, not all of us are staying around….

Improve Computer Labs

Several respondents stated that UNIZULU needed to consider increasing the capacity of computer labs, stating that the facility was constantly occupied with classes, or did not have enough space for students who needed to complete their assignments. Respondents additionally commented that the operating time for computer labs needed to be extended in addition to requests for designated computer labs for postgraduate students or senior students at UNIZULU.

I wish University to improve on having more/extra computer lab...; Teaching resources e.g. overhead projectors and other computer rooms; Computer labs and resources; …

Look into the library and computer labs working hours which as research students i feel it should be opened 24 hrs …; Computer labs always have classes students wait so much

to do their tasks.

Improve Classrooms

Respondents highlighted that the University needed to consider improving classrooms by increasing the available spaces to accommodate students in large classes, in addition to improving the infrastructure and quality of classes. One respondent even suggested decreasing the intake of new students in order to decrease the instances of overcrowding in classrooms.

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… The University must enlarge classroom or lecture hall; The University should improve conditions on lecture venues; I wish the university to improve on the lecture halls. The

lecture halls are not big enough to accommodate all students which makes learning difficult because some students end up not attending and missing lectures and some learn whilst standing. which makes lessons to be less effective / not effective at all; The university should decrease the intake of students as it affects the process of effective learning,

classes are packed….

Improve Infrastructure

Several respondents highlighted that they would like ‘infrastructure’ or ‘facilities’ to improve. This code was attributed to vague descriptions that these aspects of UNIZULU needed to improve, or which questioned the effectiveness of these systems. One of the respondents specifically asked for a student centre to be built, whereas other descriptions included an extension of the Richards Bay campus, or upgrading old buildings.

I wish my University can improve infrastructures; Their facilities are not working effectively; More programmes at Richards Bay campus and extended buildings; Build a

student centre please; Yes the facilities are inadequate.

Figure 16: Content analysis improvement (2)

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100%80%60%40%20%0%



Limited funding

Awareness of social issues affecting students

Employment assistance for graduates

Improve technology on campus 2.01%

1.61%

2.01%

2.06%

3.09%

2.06%

2.58%

2.52%

1.68%

2.52%

2.26%

3.76%

0.75%

1.50%2.41%


Staff members need to be friendlier

Improve science labs

Improve registration process

Improve UNIZULU brand

Improvements to the graduation ceremony

Manage the strikes better

2.81%

0.80%

2.01%

0.80%

0.80%

1.03%

1.03%

1.55%

1.55%

2.06%

1.68%

0.84%

0.84%

0.84%

6.72%

0.75%

0.75%

0.75%

Improve resources

Qualification criteria 0.80%

1.61%

0.52% 0.84%

0.84%0.75%

Figure 16: Content analysis improvement (2) (Continued)

100%80%60%40%20%0%

Improve bookshop

Improve the transparency of services 0.40%

0.40%

1.03%

0.52% 1.50%

0.75%



Employment Assistance for Graduates

Some respondents iterated the need for assistance with employment after graduating. Calls were made to increase relationships with industry to have ready employment opportunities after they qualify, including possible internships or placement programmes. Some respondents expressed difficulties in finding employment while others also expressed doubts about their employment opportunities as a result of the qualifications they completed and held the University responsible for providing them with an education that was seemingly not useful to gain employment after graduation.


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“ “I wish the Faculty of Humanities [sic] implemented a Graduate Placement Programme, due to the scarcity of relevant employment available to said parties; Try to help graduates find work after completing their degrees; I think the university should visit its logo which says

restructured for relevance because I’m struggling to find a job with the Department of Education. I am being told that my major subjects are not in the demand; I wish UNIZULU can also in some way aid in negotiating for job/employment on student’s behalf…; Yes,

University of Zululand must close unnecessary courses because today we are not working which is your fault to run course that have no opportunities.

Limited Funding

Respondents stated that there were limited opportunities for funding and that the funding that was provided did not cover all the resources that were needed. Specific calls were made for postgraduate students to be funded, in which one of the respondents linked it with improving the research capacity of the Institution and to provide undergraduates with motivation to continue with their studies.

Funding are limited as a result we turn to go to other Universities to further our studies…; Provide enough funds to sponsor all postgraduate especially those pursuing their honours for

starters. To put postgraduate students as first preference to acknowledge their hard work and also helping to encourage undergrads…; Since am now doing the further education the

university does not take good care of their post graduates especially financially the post grads are suffering financially. I don’t know whether the university can do something on that.

Improve Technology on Campus

Comments were made about improving the use of technology on campus. Several suggestions were vague references to the improvement of the use of electronic devices or technological resources in classes (e.g. projectors). However, some references within this code were specifically related to improving Wi-Fi on campus and in residences.

The university to put more effort on the electronic device; Improve WiFi Around Campus; …Please upgrade your technology in every premises that are mostly used by students;

They must improve in resources and must be technological advance.


Awareness of Social Issues Affecting Students

Respondents iterated some issues that were not directly related to academic activities that impacted on their academic performance. Descriptions around food security or meals as well as more generic descriptions of students’ ‘difficulties’ were coded with this label. Additionally, suggestions such as; the University needed to take comments from students into consideration to improve their support within the organisation, were included.

Just a careful consideration of social issues affecting students that end up affecting their ability to study; The university needs to look at the issues of those students funded by the financial aid scheme NSFAS. They are the students that really suffer as they are always deprived of food money and they are the ones who always have their study fees not settled on time; The

university needs to improve on the effort of university staff towards the difficulties of students; Meet all the students need, safety and the relationship between them...

Improve Science Labs

Respondents suggested that science labs needed to improve, specifically with regard to the provision of equipment. Some respondents additionally described the lack of space and called for improvement in general.

University of Zululand need to be Improve in Science Laboratories; Improve equipment at labs and proper facilities of learning; The university facilities could use some improvement to meet the academic needs of students laboratories in the science department are not up to standards the lack essential equipment and as a result it affects the work of the

students this needs to be improved for future purposes; Yes at working laboratories I would encourage the university to purchase more equipment regarding that particular module especially in the laboratories sometimes students learn about things they don’t know or

never seen by naked eyes.

Improvements to the Graduation Ceremony

This code was assigned to the suggestions that graduation ceremonies needed to be improved. Improvements that were suggested included ensuring that invitations are sent on time, assisting with graduation attire, providing water for graduates in addition to making improvements to the decoration of the ceremony.

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Invitations to graduation day be conveyed to all students not only to those that didn’t have corrections to do; Help those who are unable struggling to have graduation attire

after all i thank good education; Decorate the chair for us(graduate). Provide water bottles for us; As graduates we must enter through the carpet because it is our day after all, graduates should be provided with refreshments; I would like the university to make sure that students gets their certificates during graduation ceremony because sponsors

will always pay them.

Improve Registration Process

Some respondents described inefficiencies regarding the registration process at UNIZULU, complaining about long queues and that paper-based interactions were still used. Suggestions were made to make registration completely online for students to avoid what is perceived as unnecessary waiting periods.

Instead of standing in long lines during registration at the beginning of the year, it would be better if students online; Change the registration method no more manual registration as

the numbers are increasing so online registration better; …The registration process is done by moving around with papers, that is not on during this day and age; UNIZULU need to

make sure that all students are obtaining their degree fairly. UNIZULU must check for grade 12 certificates before admitting students.

Staff Members need to be Friendlier

Some of the respondents indicated that staff members need to be friendlier, and consider the way they treat students.

The way staff treat the student must be improved; I wish they could improve on services to students not treat them like dogs, but with respect and dignity; UNIZULU has very poor services when it comes the needs of the students. The staff act as if the school belongs

to them, whereas we are paying customers. My 4 year experience was horrible I would not recommend the university to my siblings. The staff has a huge problem!!!!

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Manage the Strikes Better

A few respondents mentioned that the University needed to manage the causes leading to strike actions a bit better in order to prevent strikes or protests from interfering with their academic activities.

I wish they can improve in solving students issues before they lead to unresolved strikes that demolish properties; The number of days for striking protest should be decreased the strike disturbs studying very much; I personal would like to encourage the management to listen to students before they can even start burning the university property; UNIZULU to

improve on security measures when there is a strike action.

Improve the UNIZULU Brand

Some respondents highlighted their dissatisfaction about the public image of UNIZULU, describing the need to provide more information on the positive events within UNIZULU, and the research that was conducted. One respondent stated that despite the negative image, they were proud of the Institution, although they wished that the image could be improved, whereas another stated that the negative image affected their future as graduates from UNIZULU.

I wish the university can improve the image of the university; The university could improve on the marketing and public relations strategies so as to embrace internationalization; The university must market itself. The research and projects done in the university. Just like global leading university. More academically inspiring content in the website…; The level of bad publicity is very high about corruption at UNIZULU. I wish it could work hard to

eliminate those scandals, but I am very happy to be a product of UNIZULU; I am not happy at all about the bad publicity is believing taroggu [sic] media, especially the degree for sale scandal coz it our degrees will not be taken serious, university must create programmes for

unemployed graduates, so that we can not be trusted

Improve Resources

This code was attributed to descriptions that generically referred to the improvement of resources at UNIZULU. The distinction was made from generic descriptions to improve infrastructure since these descriptions did not seem to include physical buildings; these descriptions were too vague to provide a specific label to what respondents referred to.

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The university need to improve it resources and the teaching staff. The environment also need to be improved to accommodate all students in terms of their social economic backgrounds; Computer labs and resources; Environment materials; To put or give none

enough resources for study.

Qualification Criteria

Some respondents stated that some courses needed to consider qualifying criteria in order to increase access to higher degrees. One suggestion was about creating qualifications that provide an honours level qualification, while the other two described the difficulty of accessing higher degrees.

The University should make the 3years degrees BSc a honours degree like Bsc Agriculture and Nursing Science because it is unfair for students to go back home and take gap years

because they do not qualify for honours and the Bsc hydrology and geography should have more practical work because they need experience; …The university should open opportunities for honours in Bed not to take few for furthering their studies. I mean a

number of post graduate must be made big; I like UNIZULU to reduce points of masters from 65% to 60%. I would be glad if my request be considered as ‘i want to further my

studies to the masters of education to this campus; Reduce honours minimum requirement.

Improve the Transparency of Services

A few respondents stated that mismanagement of services needed to be stopped. One respondent stated that student documents needed to be checked upon registration to ensure a fair selection of students.

Address the issue of corruption. Avoid the leaking of question papers…; I wish that the university can reduce corruption; UNIZULU need to make sure that all students

are obtaining their degree fairly. UNIZULU must check for grade 12 certificates before admitting students.

“ “

““

“ “


Improve Bookshop

A few respondents stated that the bookshop needed to be improved. Specific descriptions were made around access to learning resources due to the price of books at the bookshop and issues related to limited bursaries. Another topic of discussion included bursary payments, or delays in the payment of bursaries. Issues about bursaries are specifically captured in another code.

I think the university needs to negotiate the prices of books in the bookshop. Because books are too expensive compared to other bookshops. As a result, we as students end up failing to purchase enough resources to help or boost learning; Make books more accessible to student at bookshop (more cheap than they are now)…; Perhaps reduce the amount of or rather the

price of books at the bookshop will be of outmost benefit to the students because the amount given by NSFAS is not enough to cover all the books so my advise is to reduce the prices of

books at the bookshop; The university must improve the library as well as the bookshop.

“

“


SECTION C

EMPLOYMENTThe following section places focus on the questions directed to respondents who formed part of the graduate cohort of 2017 that indicated they were employed. Questions relating to this subsample provided details about the employers and contract details of respondents in addition to the job searching behaviour of employed respondents. As previously discussed, in total, 22,15% respondents (N = 663) indicated that they had found employment before the graduation ceremony held in May 2018 (Figure 7). For this reason, the results below have been filtered to only include respondents who indicated that they were employed.

Respondents were asked to provide further details regarding their employment contracts and relationship with their employers. In total, 68,63% of employed respondents indicated that they were employed on a full-time basis, whereas 21,87% of the responses were interpreted as employed part-time. In addition, 41,18% of employed respondents indicated that they were employed on permanent contracts, as opposed to fixed-term or temporary contracts (45,1%)18. The majority of employed respondents (75,41%) indicated that their jobs were related to their studies, whereas for 12,52%, jobs were not related to their courses. A number of employed respondents (25,34%) indicated that their employers assisted them financially during their studies, presumably through bursaries or sponsorships while 59,58% made use of other means of funding for their qualifications (Figure 17).

18 It should be noted that the difference between full-time employment and permanent employment may not be fully understood by graduates. As a result, it is possible to find some inaccuracies in the data.


15.08%

13.73%

12.07%

9.50%

59.58%

45.10%

12.52%

21.87%

25.34%

41.18%

75.41%

68.63%

100%80%60%40%20%0%

Yes No No Response

Employer assisted with studies

Employment related to studies

Employed full-time

Permanently employed

Figure 17: Information regarding employment (Filtered: Employed respondents)

Employment search time

Employed respondents were asked how long it took them to find employment. About half of the employed respondents (50,38%) indicated that they found employment within three months after completion. Just under a quarter of employed respondents (23,83%) indicated that it took them between three and six months to find employment whereas a few (5,58%) indicated that it took more than six months to find employment (presumably those who started looking for work early). A number of respondents (7,84%) indicated that they were employed during their studies, presumably as part of a bursary/sponsor opportunity or graduates who were not studying full-time. A number of employed respondents (12,37%) did not provide information with regard to the time it took them to find employment (Figure 18), suggesting that the largest number of employed respondents seemed to have found employment within three months after completing their qualifications.

Figure 18: Employment search time (Filtered: Employed respondents)

100%80%60%40%20%0%

5.58%

50.38%

12.37%

23.83%

7.84%

> 6 Months

< 3 Months

No Response

> 3 < 6 Months

Employed while studying


Employment search method

Respondents’ employment search methods were investigated by asking employed respondents to indicate the method through which they found employment. The largest number of employed respondents (30,92%) indicated that they found their positions through job advertisements. This was followed by those who were recruited at university (17,65%), then those who made use of personal contacts (14,93%), and a number of those who used employment agencies (8,75%), while a few used social media (3,77%). In total, 7,54% indicated ‘other’, and 16,44% did not provide an answer to this question (Figure 19). From this information, it seems as if more traditional methods of finding employment remain prevalent among graduates; however, other job searching methods do seem to be utilised by some of the employed respondents. This question, however, only provides information on successful searching methods, but it remains unknown as to which other options employed respondents made use of and which methods were used by graduates who had not yet found employment.

Figure 19: Employment search method (Filtered: Employed respondents)

50%40%30%20%10%0%

7.54%

14.93%

30.92%

16.44%

8.75%

17.65%

3.77%

Other

Personal contact

Responded to job ad

No Response

Employment agency

Recruited at university

Social media

While considering the interaction between the time it took employed respondents to find employment and the search methods they used, all of the methods seemed to work more effectively within the first three months after completion. Provided that a large number of respondents indicated that they had not yet found employment (Figure 7), it becomes concerning that there were not more employed respondents who indicated that they found work closer to the graduation dates.

Employment sector

Employed respondents broadly indicated sectors within which they found employment as reported here per faculty19. The majority of employed respondents (N = 577) indicated that they were employed within

19 To ensure the legibility of the graphical representation, non-responses for both questions were excluded from the depiction in Figure 20.


the public (Government) sector (76,26%) followed by the private sector (21,14%); the least number of employed respondents indicated that they were working for an NGO (2,60%). When considering the disaggregated data at the faculty level, there seems to be a difference within the sectors in which employed respondents are working. The overwhelming majority of employed graduates from the Faculty of Education found employment within the public sector (94,48%) (Figure 20); this may be expected considering that a large number of teachers are employed by the Department of Education. A similar trend seems to be evident for graduates within the Faculty of Science and Agriculture who found employment within the public sector (73,04%) (Figure 20). Similarly, the Department of Health is an employer of nursing graduates; however, a larger number of employed respondents within the Faculty of Science and Agriculture found work within the private sector (23,48%). In contrast, almost equally, employed respondents in the Faculty of Arts and the Faculty of Commerce, Admin and Law found employment in the public and private sectors. Although the number of employed respondents who indicated that they were working for an NGO was in the minority, respondents from the Faculty of Arts seemed to be much more likely to consider this sector as an avenue of employment (12,90%) (Figure 20).

Figure 20: Employment sector by faculty (Filtered: Employed respondents)

0.69%

94.48%

4.83%

0.91%

50.00%

49.09%

12.90%

43.55%

43.55%

3.48%

73.04%

23.48%

2.60%

76.26%

21.14%

100%80%60%40%20%0%

Arts

Total

Commerce, Admin, & Law EducationScience & Agriculture

NGO

Private

Public (Government)

The expectation of remuneration per faculty

Respondents who were employed were asked to indicate the extent to which their remuneration expectations were met. Respondents were provided with a three-point scale to indicate if their remuneration was ‘Below Expectation‘, ‘Met Expectation‘, or ‘Above Expectation‘. The information is graphically disaggregated to faculty level20. Overall, the majority of employed respondents (N = 553) indicated that their expectations were met (58,77%), whereas 33,45% indicated that their remuneration was below what they were

20 In order to ensure the legibility of the graph, and provide a faculty level comparison, non-responses were excluded.


expecting. A few respondents (7,78%) reported that their remunerations were above what they were expecting (Figure 21). Within this project, remuneration packages were not directly assessed, and it remains unknown how much employed respondents were paid. However, it seems as if the majority of the respondents’ expectations reflected the employment context whereas a number of respondents seemed to have expectations that did not reflect the employment context. It may not be possible to judge these expectations as ‘realistic’; however, it seems as if graduates may need additional relevant information to prepare for employment after completion. From the disaggregated information, it seems as if the expectations of employed respondents within the Faculty of Education, for the most part, reflected the remuneration they received (68%). On the other hand, the majority of the employed respondents from the Faculty of Commerce, Admin and Law were expecting larger remuneration packages (55,45%) (Figure 21). Providing students with career information may assist them to both search for work with realistic expectations, and start making preliminary preparations for their financial futures even after finding employment.

Figure 21: Expectations of remuneration by faculty (Filtered: Employed respondents)

23.27%

8.73%

68.00%

55.45%

3.64%

40.91%

40.00%

8.33%

51.67%

33.33%

9.26%

57.41%

33.45%

7.78%

58.77%

100%80%60%40%20%0%

Arts

Total

Commerce, Admin, & Law EducationScience & Agriculture

Below expectations

Met expectations

Above expectations

Employment province

The majority of employed respondents (57,62%) indicated that they found employment in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. About a quarter of the employed respondents indicated that they found employment outside KwaZulu-Natal provincial borders (24,28%), most notably Gauteng and Mpumalanga. A few employed respondents (1,21%) indicated that they were employed outside of South Africa’s borders (e.g. Swaziland, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho and Nigeria), presumably international students returning home after completing their studies (Figure 22).


UNIZULU prepared me well for the workplace

All respondents were asked to report on their agreement to the statement ‘I feel that my studies at UNIZULU prepared me well for the workplace’ (Figure 11). When filtered to only include employed and self-employed respondents (N = 698), the majority agreed (78,66%) with this statement (Figure 23). Although the figure is slightly (2,73%) lower than the agreement from the total respondents (81,39%) (Figure 11), it should be noted that the percentage of non-responses was higher within this subsection of the sample compared to the overall population, thus influencing the response distribution within this analysis.

Figure 23: I feel that my studies at UNIZULU prepared me well for the workplace (Filtered: Employed respondents)

Reasons not employed

Respondents who had not yet found employment were asked to indicate possible reasons they believed attributed to their struggle of finding employment. Responses for this question were filtered to only include respondents who had not yet found employment (N = 396)21. Respondents indicated that there were limited jobs in the field (37,37%); they had no work experience (25,25%); the economy was weak (5,81%); they

100%80%60%40%20%0%

1.00%

31.81%

46.85%

17.77%

2.58%

Strongly Disagree

Agree

Strongly Agree

No Response

Disagree

Figure 22: Employment province (Filtered: Employed respondents)

100%80%60%40%20%0%

24.28%

1.21%

16.89%

57.62%

South African province (Other)

International

No Response

Kwa-Zulu Natal

21 Response option to this question included ‘furthering studies’. This option was not included in the discussion above, to avoid unnecessary complications compared with responses to the ‘main activity’.


were taking a gap year (3,79%); their qualifications were not in demand (2,02%), or that they did not have a work permit (1,26%). In total, 8,08% in this analysis chose the ‘Other’ option, explaining that they were looking for employment. It is, however, concerning that 16,41% of the respondents indicated that they were not looking for employment (Figure 24).

Figure 24: Main reasons for not finding employment (Filtered: Respondents not yet employed)

100%80%60%40%20%0%

8.08%

1.26%

3.79%

25.25%

5.81%

16.41%

2.02%

37.37%

Other

No work permit

Gap year

No work experience

Economy is weak

Not looking for employment

Qualification is not in demand

Limited jobs in field


SECTION D

FURTHER STUDIESThe following section places a focus on respondents from the graduate cohort of 2017 who indicated that they were furthering their studies. Questions related to this subsample provide a preliminary indication of where graduates go to continue their studies, details of the institutions, and courses they enrol for. As previously discussed, in total, 30,87% respondents (N = 924) indicated that they were furthering their studies during 2018 (Figure 7). As a result, responses to the questions below were filtered to only include respondents who indicated that they were continuing with their studies. An additional filter was applied to selected questions to remove instances where respondents indicated that they were studying towards a qualification that was similar to the qualification that they were receiving22.

Respondents were asked to indicate the qualification they were receiving during the graduation ceremony. The data provided was classified within several ‘levels’ of study, prefixed by the letter ‘G’ (GCertificate, GDiploma, GDegree, GHonours, GMasters, GDoctoral)23. Respondents who indicated that they were studying further were later asked about the programmes they were enrolled for during 2018. Data was similarly classified by prefixing the letters ‘SF’, and compared graphically below to provide a broad overview of degree progression (Figure 25).

Consistent with expectations, Figure 25 indicates that respondents (N = 863) seemed to continue with their studies at higher NQF levels (interpreted from instances where respondents indicated degree to honours, or honours to master’s, etc.). However, a number of respondents seemed to enrol for certificate level qualifications after the completion of their degrees. In contrast, respondents who completed certificate or diploma level qualifications were less likely to continue with studies. This finding was interpreted in

22 Some respondents indicated that they were graduating with a specific qualification (e.g. degree, certificate, diploma), in addition these respondents indicated that they were studying towards a similar qualification, at UNIZULU. These instances were considered to be too similar and may have acted to skew the results. It may be possible that some of the respondents did not fully understand the questions, or may have unique situations not captured within this study.

23 Classifications were made based on the name of qualifications, not NQF level. As a result, degree level programmes (360 credit degrees) that may lead to honours, and those (480 credit degrees) that may lead to masters, are classified under the same label. Although this classification is less nuanced than the qualification classifications used within the Programme and Qualification Mix (PQM), only a few of the respondents provided enough information to make such a distinction. Qualifications that could not be classified based on their descriptions were coded as ‘Unclear’.


that respondents augment their qualifications by studying towards a certificate (typically a Postgraduate Certificate in Education, PGCE), before attempting to enter the job market. The measured progression from degree to certificate is thus understandable since a postgraduate certificate requires the completion of a degree or diploma as a prerequisite to admission whereas some students may also attempt to use their diploma studies to enter into other qualifications. A small number of respondents (1,51%) who completed a degree qualification indicated that they were again enrolled for a degree programme (typically at another institution) (Figure 25).

Overall, respondents seem to progress with their qualifications if they do decide to further their studies (Figure 25). It is, however, currently unknown whether respondents initially registered for their qualifications with the intention to augment their qualifications or whether it results from what they learn during their studies or personal contexts. Faculty level disaggregation of this data can be seen in Appendix A.

Figure 25: Respondent qualification progression (Filtered: Respondents studying further)

4.06%

4.06%

0.70%

3.71%

34.41%

0.70%

0.35%

13.90%

1.04%

0.93%

1.51%

0.12%

0.23%

0.70%

22.13%

No ResponseSF1Certificate

SF2DiplomaSF3Degree

SF4HonoursSF5MastersSF Unclear


SF3DegreeSF5Masters

No ResponseSF3Degree

SF4HonoursSF5Masters

G3DEGREE

G2DIPLOMA

G1CERTIFICATE

50%40%30%20%10%0%


Figure 25: Respondent qualification progression (Filtered: Respondents studying further) (Continued)

0.46%

4.17%

1.74%

1.51%

0.70%

0.12%

1.39%

0.23%

0.23%

0.23%0.70%

50%40%30%20%10%0%

No responseSF1Certificate

SF2DiplomaSF3Degree

SF4Honours


SF5Masters

No responseSF6PhD

No response

NO RESPONSE

G4HONOURS

G5MASTERS

G UNCLEAR

Studying full-time

In total, the majority of the respondents continuing with their studies (N = 863) indicated that they were studying full-time (74,51%). A few respondents indicated that they were not registered for full-time studies whereas 21,21% did not provide an answer to this question (Figure 26).


Further study institution

It was important also to understand where respondents (N = 863) decided to continue their studies. The majority of the respondents (58,52%) indicated that they were registered at UNIZULU. In total, 22,94% of respondents were registered at other South African universities (Figure 27). It is interesting to note that of the respondents registered at other universities, 12,51% of the respondents were registered at UKZN, a smaller number of respondents (4,17%) were registered at the University of South Africa (UNISA) and 2,32% were at UCT.

Figure 27: Institutions where respondents chose to further their studies (Filtered: Respondents studying further)

Yes No No Response

74.51%

4.29%

21.21%

100%80%60%40%20%0%

58.52%

0.70%

17.84%

22.94%

University of Zululand

Other training Institution

No Response

South African University

Figure 26: Are you registered for full-time studies? (Filtered: Respondents studying further)


Further study qualification by institution

As indicated above, most respondents who indicated that they were continuing with their studies chose UNIZULU. However, when considering the qualifications for which respondents (N = 709) were registered, it seems as if the largest number of the respondents articulate vertically, although 30,61% were registered for certificate programmes. However, respondents who chose to continue with their studies at other South African universities were more likely to have registered for a certificate programme (15,51%), presumably augmenting their qualifications.

Figure 28: Institutions where graduates choose to further their studies by qualification type (Filtered: Respondents studying further)

0.00%

2.40%

5.08%

0.00%

4.80%

0.71%

0.56%

15.51%

30.61%

0.28%

3.10%

25.25%

0.00%

0.00%

0.85%

0.00%

1.97%

8.04%

0.00%

0.14%

0.71%

50%40%30%20%10%0%

Other training institution

South African University

University of Zululand

SF1Certificate

SF5Masters SF6PhD

SF2Diploma SF3Degree

SF4Honours

SF Unclear

UNIZULU prepared me well for further studies

All respondents were asked to report on their agreement to the statement ‘I feel that my studies at UNIZULU prepared me well for further education’ (Figure 11). When filtered to only include respondents who were studying further (N = 863), the majority agreed (88,06%) with this statement (Figure 27). This figure was higher (6,67%) than the agreement from the total sample (81,39%) (Figure 11). It should be noted that the percentage of non-responses is lower within this subsection of the sample compared to the overall population, thus influencing the response distribution within this analysis.


Figure 29: I feel that my studies at UNIZULU prepared me well for further education (Filtered Respondents Studying Further)

50%40%30%20%10%0%

0.70%

39.51%

48.55%

9.85%

1.39%

Strongly Disagree

Agree

Strongly Agree

No Response

Disagree


The project was fortunate to gain a high number of respondents in addition to the demographic analysis that indicated that the findings were representative of the demographic profiles of the entire graduate cohort for the class of 2017. Both positive remarks and areas for improvement were highlighted in the analysis. The analysis for this iteration of the project largely reflected the results obtained from the Graduate Opinion Survey conducted in 2017 (Institutional Research Office, 2018). Although HEIs are increasingly becoming responsible in accounting for the employability of their graduates, it is important to ensure that students need to take responsibility for their skills development (Artess et al., 2011). Thus, building on this project, especially the collected data and literature review, the following recommendations are made:

Key Findings Recommendations

Graduate employability

Within this study, it was found that a large number of graduates had not yet found employment (six months after completion). The majority of those graduates who had found employment were working in the public sector, whereas only a few had created their own employment opportunities.

With regard to increasing the employability of UNIZULU graduates, the follow-ing recommendations are made:

• Connections with industry stakeholders, including stakeholders from the private sector, must be made or strengthened at departmental or qualifica-tion level.

• There must be formal or informal inclusion of industry stakeholders within the process of curriculum development to ensure the relevance of course content to future employers.

• Soft skills necessary for finding employment (such as networking, search methods, CV development, interview skills, etc.), or skills relevant for creat-ing self-employment opportunities must be included within course curricula where possible. This will ensure that graduates are prepared for extended periods before finding work and that they are additionally prepared for the temporary or non-permanent nature of employment.

• Where relevant, practical experience or Work Integrated Learning (WIL) must be included to foster industry partnerships, and for students to gain work experience while studying. As stated within the UNIZULU Strate-gic Plan “Develop strategies to manage and implement WIL in ways that enhance the curriculum and add to the employability of the graduate” (University of Zululand, n.d., p. 14).

• There must be the development of recruitment platforms for students in their final year, or graduates looking for work in ways such as:

- Maintenance of an Online Alumni Portal, where graduates can log in, view and update their own information.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS


Key Findings (Continued) Recommendations (Continued)

- Possible partnerships with online career portals, to ensure students and alumni are able to search for relevant career opportunities:• http://www.alumnicareers.co.za/• https://www.mygraduate.co.za/• https://www.sourceme.co.za/

- Partnerships with industry stakeholders to host networking days or career fairs for students to interact with possible employers.

• A service focused on entrepreneurial assistance for students and alumni who require support to create their own employment opportunities must be developed, possibly through these means:

- Services may include business incubation, business advice, assistance with investor relationships, or entrepreneurship training.

- Linking alumni to relevant employment information and further education opportunities, through online initiatives, and possibly information leaflets distributed at graduation ceremonies.

Graduates continuing with their studies

A large number of graduates decided to continue with their studies. Many continued to study towards a specific certificate or PGCE. It is currently unknown whether graduates are not getting employed or whether progression towards PGCE is planned.

With regard to graduates who continue with their education, the following recommendations are made:

• Promote vertical articulation for graduates who continue their education.• Create alternative short programmes for graduates who wish to augment

their education, focusing on industry relevant skills.

- Investigate the possibility of including certifications for students to become involved in additional community engagement projects, or extracurricular training.

• Increase the focus on student societies as an alternative form of student development.

Overall experience

Graduates indicated that there were select areas that required improvement to enhance their experiences at UNIZULU. These included the improvement of safety and security on campus, infrastructure development, curriculum and teaching methods. Within this project, there were some additional difficulties in measuring learning experiences of graduates due to the survey focusing on qualification level responses, whereas learning takes place in a modular structure.

Although the majority of the respondents indicated that they had positive experiences at UNIZULU, there are always areas that can be developed.

• Continue to develop the University infrastructure to enhance safety and security of students and staff.

Other specific requests highlighted within the content analysis include:

- The development and enhancement of classes and computer labs (to limit instances of overcrowding and lack of access).

- Development and enhancement of student residences or accommodation.

• There must be a review of teaching methods and course content to enhance the learning experience of students, including that of content remaining relevant and updated and teaching methods capturing and sustaining students’ attention.

• University-wide module evaluations must be included to monitor students who succeed and those who drop out. Provide more immediate information to drive success.


REFERENCES

Albertyn, R., Kapp, C., & Bitzer, E. (2009). Profiling exiting postgraduate students\’ performance and experiences. South African Journal of Higher Education, 22(4), 749–772. https://doi.org/10.4314/sajhe.v22i4.25814

Artess, J., Forbes, P., & Ripmeester, N. (2011). Supporting graduate employability: HEI practice in other countries. Nature, (40), 127.

Babbie, E. R. (2007). The Practice of Social Research (11th ed.). Belmont, California: Thomson Wadsworth.

Bhorat, H. (2004). Labour Market Challenges in the Post-Apartheid South Africa. South African Journal of Economics, 72(5), 940–977. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1813-6982.2004.tb00140.x

Botha, J., & Muller, N. J. (2016). Institutional Research in South African Higher Education: Intersecting Contexts and Practices. Stellenbosch: Sun Press media.

Cape Higher Education Consortium. (2013). Pathways from University to Work: A graduate destination survey of the 2010 cohort of graduates from the Western Cape Universities.

Cranmer, S. (2006). Enhancing graduate employability: Best intentions and mixed outcomes. Studies in Higher Education, 31(2), 169–184. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075070600572041

Department of Higher Education and Training. (2013). White Paper for Post-School Education and Training. Building an expanded, effective and integrated post-school system. Pretoria. Retrieved from www.dhet.gov.za

Dube, L. (2007). Survey of Graduate Opinions on the Quality of Education at the University of Zululand.

Harvey, L. (1999). Employability: Developing the relationship between higher education and employment. Quality in Higher Education, 1–14.

Institutional Research Office. (2018). Graduate Opinion Survey.

Letseka, M., Cosser, M., Breier, M., & Visser, M. (2010). Student retention & graduate destination: Higher education & labour market access & success. Cape Town.

Macupe, B. (2019, February 8). Teaching, science grads get jobs. Mail & Guardian, p. 16.


Nulty, D. D. (2008). The adequacy of response rates to online and paper surveys: What can be done? Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 33(3), 301–314. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602930701293231

Saunders, V., & Zuzel, K. (2010). Evaluating employability skills: Employer and student perceptions. Bioscience Educationo, 15(1), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.3108/beej.15.2

Sonday, A. (2018). Survey reveals UCT graduates are increasingly entrepreneurial.

Statistics South Africa. (2018). Quarterly Labour Force Survey: Quater 1: 2018. Retrieved from http://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/P0211/P02112ndQuarter2018.pdf

University of Zululand. (n.d.). Strategic Plan 2016-2021.

University of Zululand. (2017). Facts & Figures 2016/2017.

University of Zululand. (2018). Facts & Figures 2017/2018.

UNIZULU Mission and Vision. (n.d.). Retrieved March 8, 2019, from http://www.unizulu.ac.za/about-unizulu/mission-and-vision/

Walker, A. (2005). Survey of graduate opinion on the quality of university education. Durban.


RESPONDENT QUALIFICATION PROGRESSION BY FACULTYFaculty of Arts - Respondents Continuing Education by Qualification Type: N = 434

2.53%

0.23%

0.69%

2.30%

1.15%

1.15%

3.69%

49.31%

13.36%

1.15%

0.69%

17.97%

1.61%


SF5Masters

No responseSF3Degree

SF5Masters


SF2DiplomaSF3Degree


G4HONOURS

G2DIPLOMA

G3DEGREE

0.23%

2.53%

0.46%

0.23%

0.23%

0.46%

50%40%30%20%10%0%


SF2DiplomaSF4Honours

No responseSF6PhD

NO RESPONSE

G5MASTERS

APPENDIX A


Faculty of Commerce, Admin and Law - Respondents Continuing Education by Qualification Type: N = 184

17.39%

4.89%

0.54%

3.80%

23.91%

20.65%

1.09%

10.33%

2.17%

1.63%

1.63%


SF2DiplomaSF3Degree



SF3Degree

SF3Degree

G3DEGREE

G2DIPLOMA

G1CERTIFICATE

2.72%

1.09%

2.72%No ResponseSF1Certificate

SF5Masters

G4HONOURS

1.09%

1.09%

1.09%

1.09%

1.09%

50%40%30%20%10%0%

SF1CertificateSF2DiplomaSF4Honours

SF6PhD

No Response

NO RESPONSE

G5MASTERS

G UNCLEAR


Faculty of Education - Respondents Continuing Education by Qualification Type: (N = 29)

3.45%

3.45%

50%40%30%20%10%0%

SF1Certificate

SF5Masters

NO RESPONSE

G4HONOURS

27.59%

10.34%No ResponseSF4Honours

G3DEGREE

6.90%

20.69%

27.59%No ResponseSF4HonoursSF5Masters

G1CERTIFICATE


0.93%

0.93%

8.80%

5.56%

0.93%

40.28%6.02%

0.46%

18.06%

2.78%

1.85%

0.93%

0.46%

9.26%

0.93%

1.39%

0.46%

50%40%30%20%10%0%

SF1CertificateSF2DiplomaSF3Degree

SF4Honours


SF3DegreeSF4HonoursSF5Masters


SF5Masters


SF3Degree

No ResponseSF6PhD

NO RESPONSE

G3DEGREE

G4HONOURS

G2DIPLOMA

G5MASTERS

Faculty of Science and Agriculture - Respondents Continuing Education by Qualification Type: N = 216

UNIVERSITY OF ZULULAND

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Institutional Planning DirectorateUniversity of Zululand

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GRADUATE DESTINATION SURVEY - university€¦ · enrolled for higher NQF qualifications, with some...

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