The 2015 Global Employability University Rankings, published today, have ranked Trinity College Dublin in the world’s top 150 universities worldwide. Trinity is the only Irish university to be ranked.
The rankings asked international recruiters from large international companies – notably, none of which were Irish – what they look for in university graduates, before asking them to rank worldwide universities based on graduate-employability.
Thousands of institutions across the globe were looked at, with only 150 ranked. Trinity came in at 119th in the rankings and was the only Irish institution placed in the top 150.
The unique ranking system, which asked recruiters from 21 countries across the globe, was put together and administered by French and German human resources and research firms Emerging and Trendance and shows just how highly Trinity’s graduates are regarded amongst the international recruiting community.
Whereas other rankings measure academic performance and research levels, the Global Employability University Rankings focuses more on the practical skills which graduates can immediately take from university into the workplace, emphasising the attractiveness of certain graduates to employers.
Trinity is currently examining the skills and employability of its graduates as part of a large-scale project, The Trinity Education Project, which is seeking to examine and revise Trinity’s curriculum. On November 9th, the project’s steering group, led by the Provost and Vice-Provost, met the top employers of Trinity graduates to discuss the kinds of attributes Trinity students should have, and how they can be embedded into how students study in Trinity.
In a press statement, Trinity’s Careers Advisory Service Director, Sean Gannon, said that these rankings recognise Trinity’s appeal to international recruiters and companies as a source of key talent in the international market. Thus the rankings have affirmed the idea that Trinity graduates are among the most employable in the world, placing them above their Irish counterparts.
He said: “The Global Employability University Ranking confirms what employers both internationally and nationally value in our graduates – their confidence, problem solving and communication skills, as well as their global outlook. The rankings also give added impetus to the College’s strategic planning objective of opening up new conversations about the curriculum and seeking wider views on 21st century skills and how we can collaborate with employers to provide them.”
In October, Trinity became the first Irish university to be ranked in the top 100 for the arts and humanities, and the first Irish university to be ranked in the top 100 in life sciences. However, the College has fallen in university-wide rankings this year. Trinity fell 22 places to 160th internationally in the Times Higher Education rankings and fell seven places to 78th internationally in the QS World University Rankings.
