The EUROGRADUATE survey is a key European initiative that provides comparable data on graduates’ career trajectories, skill development, and educational experiences across countries. While EUROGRADUATE already captures a broad picture of graduates’ pathways, the growing complexity of labour market demands places increasing emphasis on an improved and broader measurement of skills.
Against this background, the project develops and validates an improved tool within the EUROGRADUATE 2026 survey to better capture graduates’ competencies, especially for international comparisons. In addition to general skills, it places particular focus on digital and green skills, reflecting their high importance in today’s labour markets.
The project follows a step-by-step approach, including reviewing existing research, gathering feedback from graduates and experts, and testing the survey to ensure questions are clear and meaningful. The tool will be implemented in several countries through the EUROGRADUATE 2026 survey, covering graduates from different fields of study and career stages (one to five years after graduation).
By improving the measurement of skills, the project provides more precise and comparable data and supports higher education institutions, policymakers, and researchers in enhancing study programmes, shaping (educational) policies, and analysing graduate trajectories and labour market trends. At the same time, assessing competence using a brief instrument designed for standardised surveys remains a challenge and is subject to certain limitations. The project is led by the Centre for Research in Higher Education Policies (CIPES) in Portugal, in collaboration with the Centre for Higher Education Studies (CHES) in the Czech Republic, the Centre d’Études et de Recherches sur les Qualifications (Céreq) in France, and the German Centre for Higher Education Research and Science Studies (DZHW).
