University graduate satisfaction profile as an education quality criterion

Research background: Despite a fairly long tradition of measuring students’ assessment of the quality of obtained university education, there are still many unresolved issues in this area. The aim of the study: to theoretically substantiate the concept of a profile of graduates’ satisfaction with university educational programs including several parameters. The satisfaction profile serves as a criterion of the quality of education, at the same time reflecting students’ subjective assessment of the learning outcomes received at the university that they correlate with their expectations at the stage of admission. The concept is proposed in association with the monitoring of university graduates’ satisfaction with educational programs developed and tested as part of the research work at the Russian State Social University. Methods: graduate satisfaction is assessed using quantitative (questionnaires, the results of which are processed in SPSS) and qualitative (interviews) research methods. The proposed and tested method for the assessment of university graduates’ satisfaction with educational programs can serve as a basis for the development of university systems for monitoring graduates’ satisfaction with educational programs and education quality management and the satisfaction profile can become a universal criterion of education quality assessment not only in Russian but also in foreign universities. Results and novelty: The novelty and significance of the study results lie in the fact that the rating of educational process factors significant for graduates’ satisfaction provides information that can be used for successfully placing the direction of training in the market of educational services. Moreover, two ratings of the importance of the identified factors are constructed. The first one reflects the respondents’ direct assessment that can be used in advertising and information campaigns in the market of educational services. The second rating shows indirect assessment providing a more adequate image of the real impact of various factors on graduates’ satisfaction with educational programs; the results of this rating can be used in the intra-university quality management