From study to work : methodological challenges of a graduate destination survey in the Western Cape, South Africa

Abstract

Current literature proposes several strategies for improving response rates to student evaluation surveys. Graduate destination surveys pose the difficulty of tracing graduates years later when their contact details may have changed. This article discusses the methodology of one such a survey to maximise response rates. Compiling a sample frame with reliable contact details was foremost important, but may require using additional sources of information other than university records. In hindsight, graduates should have been contacted prior to introduce the survey and mention its importance, while email and postal reminders appeared to have a limited effect on non-respondents. Due to varying response rates between participating universities, online responses were augmented with a call centre administering the survey telephonically to nonrespondents. Although overall differences between online and telephonic responses appeared to be small, certain question items may need to be treated with caution when conducting telephonic surveys. The article concludes by highlighting some of the benefits of the Western Cape graduate destination survey.