1. RMIT’s standing in QS Graduate Employability Rankings 2017 edition
Angel Calderon, Strategy and Governance, 23 November 2016

2. RMIT ranks in the 71-80 band globally
Key takeaways
RMIT is ranked in the band and is the 7th highest Australian ranked university
RMIT is 2nd among ATN and Victorian institutions.
The results highlight two areas of strength for RMIT:
Employer reputation and 
Partnership with employers - manifested by industry collaboration via publications and student internships
These two areas are also the most heavily weighted in this ranking.
QS launched on 23 November its inaugural Graduate Employability Rankings.
This ranking comprises five indicators:
Employer Reputation
Alumni Outcomes
Partnerships with Employers
Employer - Student Connections
Graduate Employment Rate
Summary of methodology is on page 3
Employer Reputation: RMIT ranks 83rd globally and is 5th in Australia
Alumni Outcomes: RMIT ranks in the 100+ band and is 6th in Australia
Partnerships with Employers
Employer - Student Connections
Graduate Employment Rate
In another ranking (recruiters’ view on best institutions for students), RMIT is =7th among Australian universities – see page 11

3. About the QS Graduate Employability Rankings
This ranking features 200 institutions globally, of which 13 are from Australia.
In total, QS considered 300 institutions.
Swinburne and Griffith were also considered but excluded from the top 200.
Institutions opted in to participate in this ranking.
The QS Graduate Employability Ranking aims to measure
Institutional reputation among employers
How institutions nurture high achievers
How connected institutions are companies
Attractiveness of institutions' recent graduates to employers

4. RMIT’s performance by indicator
Global rank
Australia rank
Comment
83rd
5th
RMIT performs well on the QS Employer Reputation Survey, which is a pivotal part of the World University Rankings.
Employer reputation (30%)
Alumni outcomes (20%)
100+ band
6th
RMIT is relatively weak on this dimension. Of the 13 Australian universities in the top 200, 11 are in the same band as RMIT. Opportunity to improve by leveraging on RMIT’s large alumni network.
Employer – student connections (15%)
100+ band
6th
Of all indicators, this is RMIT’s weakest result. This result reflect the active presence of employers on campus to recruit students. Opportunity to improve by greater presence of employers at student fairs and campus visits.
Partnership with employers (25%)
38th
5th
RMIT’s performs best on this indicator. Part of the data for this indicator is sourced from Scopus to establish collaboration with industry. It also examines to what extent an institution has links with companies to provide employment and internship opportunities to students.
QS World University Rankings published annually by QS Quacquarelli Simmonds since 2005.
Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), published annually by Shanghai Jiatong University since 2003
Graduate employment rate (10%)
65th
8th
RMIT also performs well on this metric, which measures graduate employment either full-time or part-time.

5. RMIT stands 7th in Australia: 2nd in Victoria and ATN
Swinburne and Griffith were also considered but they ranked outside the top 200
Slides 6 to 9 provide further details for Australian universities.

6. Employer reputation
RMIT has traditionally performed well on this dimension despite increased competition from Australian universities.
Employer reputation is worth 30% of the overall score.
It is measured using a global survey, in which graduate employers are asked to identify the institutions producing the best graduates in their field. The opinions of over 37,000 employers were considered.
The universities of Cambridge, Oxford, MIT, Standford and Centrale Supelec are the top five performers on this indicator.

7. Alumni outcomes
RMIT’s performance is relatively weak on this dimension.
Leverage opportunities exist for RMIT given it has one of the largest alumni networks in the world.
Alumni outcomes is worth 20% of the overall score.
QS has sourced the alma maters of those included in 61 lists of highly successful individuals, each measuring desirable outcomes in a particular walk of life. QS analysed the educational pathways of 21,000 of the world’s most innovative, creative, wealthy, entrepreneurial, and/or philanthropic individuals, to establish which universities are producing world-changing graduates.
The universities of Stanford, Oxford, Lomonosov Moscov State, Tokyo and Cambridge are the top five performers on this indicator.

8. Partnerships with employers
RMIT’s performance is strong on this indicator.
RMIT’s research collaboration with industry is consistent with the Australian average (17-18 papers ). Also, RMIT’s industry partnerships per faculty (155.7) are well above the Australian average (42.9).
Partnerships with employers is worth 25% of the overall score.
Two components are considered. First, the number of distinct global companies collaborating with each institution in at least three research papers indexed by Scopus. Employment-related partnerships not related to research are also considered. Second, scores are adjusted in proportion to the number of faculty members employed.
The universities of MIT, Waterloo, Politecnico di Milano, Leuven Katholieke and Arizona State are the top five performers on this indicator.

9. Employer / student connections
RMIT’s performance is weak on this indicator.
Methodologically, this is a weak indicator given the likelihood of volatility from year to year. Globally there is not a standardised way to collect this information.
Employer / student connections is worth 15% of the overall score.
Of the top eight institutions globally that perform best on this indicator, only Caltech is in the top 50 and Arizona State is in the band. The remaining six are 101+ band.
There is not a distinguishable features that identifies institutions that perform best on this metric.

10. Graduate employment rate
RMIT’s performance is positive on this indicator.
RMIT’s score is likely to improve next year as the preliminary 2016 GOS suggests that the proportion of RMIT’s domestic graduates in employment improved from 78.9% in 2015 to 84.7% in 2016.
Graduate employment is worth 10% of the overall score.
This indicator refers to the percentage of a university’s graduates that are employed up to twelve months after graduation. The graduate employment rate is the ratio of students employed full time within 12 months after graduation to students from the same class unemployed but seeking employment in the same period.
Politecnico di Milano, KAIST, Sungkyunkwan, IITM and Moscow State Inst of International Relations are the top five performers on this indicator.

11. Additional observations
Is there a distinguishable feature about the top institutions?
There is not a common feature that defines institutions that do well on this ranking other than the fact that some are large, well-endowed and prestigious institutions from a range of countries and regions.
Universities from 35 different countries are covered in this ranking.
Is this a ranking of impact?
It is early days to know. QS is committed to continue publishing this ranking annually.
Number of participating institutions is likely to increase in years to come.
Can we use our ranking for marketing purposes?
Definitely. Themes of employability or work readiness are widely used to recruit students.
This ranking also confirms our strong connections with industry.
What about THE Global University Employability Ranking?
This ranking was done by a human resources consultancy company called Emerging and a research group called Trendence and published by Times Higher Education.
THE published the list of the top 150 institutions. Five of them were Australians.
THE’s ranking is based on two components: Employers’ / recruiters’ view and company directors’ views on student readiness for work
Separately, THE published a list of the universities that were the best in the mind of recruiters.
RMIT ranks =7 in Australia for best preparing students for work.
RMIT is listed only on the recruiters’ view.
How come RMIT features in the top in QS Graduate Employability Rankings but no in THE Global University Employability Ranking?
QS and THE use very different methodologies.
Traditionally RMIT has featured in all rankings published by QS.

12. Times Higher Education: Global University Employability Ranking
The ranking is based on two components: Employers’ / recruiters’ view and company directors’ views on student readiness for work
5 Australian institutions included in the top 150
RMIT appears in one component (employer / recruiter view) but not in the global which comprise of the employer / recruiter and company directors views.
The list on the right refers to the employers’ / recruiters’ views about the best institutions at preparing students for the workplace.
RMIT is ranked =7th and is the only ATN.