A total of 3,493 academic engineers and architects graduated in Finland in 2023. Of them, 2,045 answered the TEK Graduate Survey. The response rate of the survey was 59%.

Of the respondents, about 68% were male and 31% were female. Less than 1% chose the option ‘other’.

77% of the respondents were Finnish. 4% of the respondents came from other EU countries and 18% from outside the EU.

The median age of the respondents was 28 years.

Before pursuing a master’s degree, 56% had completed a bachelor’s degree at the same university. 22% had obtained a bachelor's degree at a university of applied sciences and 18% at some other university.

32% of the respondents had studied or worked abroad during their studies.

23% of the respondents had registered as absent from their studies during one or more academic years.

39% of the respondents felt that their studies had not been delayed at all. 21% had experienced a delay of over 12 months.

Half of the respondents who had experienced a delay reported that working while studying was one of the main reasons for the delay. The next most common reasons were difficulties in finding a thesis job (23%), COVID-19 (21%), motivational issues (16%) and personal (e.g. health) reasons (15%).

The survey examines 30 areas of expertise to measure

1. the perceived importance of different areas of expertise for the graduate's career
2. the development of the areas of expertise in studies
3. the development of the areas of expertise due to work experience during studies

The areas of expertise can be examined individually or by dividing them into 6 groups (3–9 areas of expertise per group), where their order in terms of perceived importance (from most to least important) was:

1. Working life skills
2. Analytical skills
3. Social skills
4. Communication and information processing
5. Expertise and substance knowledge
6. Business and management

Working life skills were perceived to have developed the most also in studies, and expertise and substance knowledge were seen to have developed second most. Working life skills developed the most also due to work experience.

Business and management was the bottom group both in terms of perceived importance and its development in studies and at work.

The respondents were mostly satisfied with the support and guidance they had received during their studies. 81% of the respondents agreed with the statement "When needed, I have found a person from whom I can ask for help".

The respondents also felt that the electronic learning environments of the university had supported their studying quite well.

The stress experienced by students is reflected in the results of the survey. 34% of the respondents had been worried about coping during their studies either constantly or several times. The concerns about coping had caused e.g. difficulties sleeping and problems in personal relationships.

Not all students are satisfied with the level of inclusivity at the university. 23% disagreed (somewhat or fully) with the statement “I’ve become a part of the university community the way I want to be”.

60% of the respondents had completed their master’s thesis in collaboration with an organisation outside their university, typically a private company. 20% had completed their master’s thesis without collaboration.

47% had received a monthly or an hourly salary for their master’s thesis, and 15% had been awarded a scholarship. 20% had not received any extra funding or compensation for writing their master’s thesis.

About 60% were satisfied with the guidance they had received from the university and their partnering organisation when writing their master’s thesis.

63% had gained at least one year of work experience in their own field during their studies. Gaining work experience and study-related practice in one’s own field during studies is considered very useful.

Participation in social activities for students

Of the respondents, 25% had either participated actively in student activities or had been a board member or an official in a guild or some other student association. 47% had very seldom or never participated in student activities. Of the active participants, 47% felt that participating in the activities had been useful for their studies or their career.

Of the respondents, 79% stated that they already had a job or they knew where they would be employed after graduation. The quality of employment was high, for the most part. 74% of those who were employed had a job that corresponded well to their field of education, and 77% said that the job demands corresponded well to their level of education. The median salary of those who were employed was €3 600 per month.

Only 18% worked for an employer with whom they had no previous relation either through working there during their studies or writing a master’s thesis for the organisation. Jobs were most commonly found through public job advertisements, and the second most common source was personal networks.

21% of the respondents considered it likely that they will work somewhere other than in Finland within 5 years of graduating.

Graduating academic engineers and architects are generally highly satisfied with their studies. If they could choose again, 79% would choose the same basic degree and degree programme. 12% would choose a different university degree programme in the field of technology.