NEWS
CONTENTS
Thoriso Maseng, the manager of the NWU’s Career Centre, discusses the results of the five most interesting results from the latest Universum Career Test survey. 8 125 NWU students and 2 833 NWU alumni participated in this survey.
Why did we participate?
“The Universum study allows us to understand our students’ preferences and talent profile, and tells us how they feel about the NWU and perceive our brand,” explains Thoriso.
“It also serves as a guide for continuous improvement, as it points out where we excel and where we can improve.”
Click on the circle for an infographic with more results.
More interaction with our alumni
The NWU has a 20% response rate for interacting with alumni, compared to the 15% average of the other participating universities.
Knowing better leads to doing better
Now that we know better, we will do better. This adaptation of American poet and civil rights activist Maya Angelou’s original quote* reflects our response to the latest Universum Career Test survey.
It is important to know what our stakeholders want, especially when it comes to curricula and career readiness. With the information gained from this survey, we can take their preferences into consideration, address their needs and improve our offerings and services.
About the survey
“The data feedback we received is based on a national benchmark – in other words, it focuses on students studying at various South African universities,” says Thoriso Maseng, the manager of the NWU’s Career Centre.
Nationally, 93 641 students participated in the survey, conducted between September 2020 and February 2021. A total of 8 125 NWU students participated, which is more than double the number of last year’s participants.
In addition, 2 833 NWU alumni participated out of a total of 38 435 alumni nationally. Compared to last year’s 814 NWU alumni, this was also a huge increase.
The NWU & U spoke to Thoriso about the results that stand out for him.
In Thoriso’s opinion, these are the five most
interesting results from this survey:
(Click on each result to read more.)
They see the NWU in a favourable light
Students and alumni have positive perceptions about the university.
The words they mentioned the most to describe the NWU were diversity, excellence, success, fun, best, inclusive and quality.
This shows we are making progress towards being a unitary and inclusive community. In the past, the responses of students and staff often included negative words, but there has been a shift in perceptions since 2019, with more positive words of association emerging.
They want to restart or continue their studies at the NWU
Some 60% of our students indicated that if they were to restart their studies, they would do it at the NWU. This is high compared to the 54% average of other South African universities and shows how satisfied NWU students and alumni are.
They rate our education as excellent
More than 70% of participating students and alumni associate the NWU with attributes such as educational excellence. This places the NWU among those universities most strongly associated with educational excellence.
They also feel positive about these matters
- Academic offerings, including our academic staff, variety of courses and access to study material (satisfaction rate of 60%)
- Safe campus and friendly, open environment (satisfaction rate of 80% and 70% respectively)
- Satisfaction with online classes during the Covid-19 pandemic; how quickly the NWU responded to the Covid-19-related challenges (Satisfaction rate of 7,7 on a scale of 10, compared to the national average of 7,4)
- Our students’ overall satisfaction (8,0 on a scale of 10)
They believe the NWU can further their careers
Our students see the university as a good reference for their future careers and employability, as well as a credible provider of ongoing education and professional development. They believe the NWU teaches skills employers are looking for.
Thoriso says he is satisfied with the overall results of the survey, but that does not mean the NWU should rest on its laurels.
“We have to use these results to continue improving our career services and adapting our curricula to keep up with the changing needs of employers. Our students’ attributes should make them more than employable and ensure they are among the most sought-after candidates in the labour market.”
The NWU & U
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Students benefit from our career services
The survey results show that the Career Centre’s services are very popular with our students. More than 84% of the respondents indicated that they use our services, compared to the 80% average of the other participating universities.
The feedback shows that during the past few years, the percentage of students using our career services increased from 26% to 33%.
“The effect of this can be seen in the level of preparedness among our students to take up new roles and make an impact in society as employees or entrepreneurs,” says Thoriso.
* “I did then what I knew how to do. Now that I know better, I do better.” - Maya Angelou