Filenews 8 July 2025 - by Evangelia Sizoupoulou
High levels of employability are recorded for graduates of Cypriot Higher Education institutions as well as significant percentages of full and stable employment, but at the same time the mismatch between their qualifications and their jobs is high.
These are the findings, among others, from the second cycle of the National Higher Education Graduate Follow-up Survey (CYGraduates).
This research is carried out in the framework of the Directorate of Higher Education's project "Development of a National Graduate Tracking Mechanism and Design and Implementation of an Employers' Skills Survey", which is part of the Recovery and Resilience Plan of the Republic of Cyprus.
In the findings, which were presented yesterday to the Ministry of Education, the following interesting points are recorded:
⦁ High levels of satisfaction from attending Higher Education.
⦁ High employability rate (93% for 2017-18 graduates, five years after graduation and 87% for 2021-22 graduates, i.e. one year from graduation).
⦁ Significant rates of full and stable employment.
⦁ High mismatch rate between qualifications and jobs.
⦁ The need for targeted interventions to upgrade skills during the employment of graduates and to strengthen the connection between Higher Education and the labour market.
Among other things, in the analysis of the findings of the survey, it also refers to the skills developed by the graduates in the context of their studies:
⦁ A high percentage of graduates were recorded in both groups who stated that they significantly developed self-management skills.
⦁ Especially those who came from the fields of study of Health and Information and Communication Technology (ICT), also reported significant development of hard skills.
⦁ Graduates, mainly from the fields of study of Social Sciences and Journalism, also reported the development of horizontal skills (soft skills).
⦁ However, there was a need for the development of specific horizontal skills, such as effective communication.
⦁ Although graduates reported that they have developed their digital skills to some extent, there is room for improvement.
⦁ Graduates from the field of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) reported that the biggest contribution of their curriculum was to the development of digital skills.
⦁ Overall, graduates from all fields stated that their curricula contributed to the development of their digital skills to a lesser extent than other categories of skills. This highlights the need for Higher Education curricula to integrate more effectively topics related to the development of digital skills.
Regarding the course of graduates after completing their study program, more than 10% of both groups of graduates decided not to enter the labour market and continue their studies in Higher Education.
In her address, the Minister of Education, Athena Michaelidou, underlined the importance of the systematic collection and utilization of data for the formation of a more flexible and effective Higher Education Education System that meets the needs of the labor market.
The Director of Higher Education, Terpsa Konstantinidou, highlighted the role of these surveys, which aim to provide scientific information on the supply of skills from the Higher Education education system and the demand for skills from the labor market.
