Training and Employment: An Empirical Study of Industrial Relations Graduates : Université de Montréal

The author relates the experience of the Ecole de relations industrielles of the Université de Montréal in a recent research project with the following objectives:

- to better understand the labour market of graduates in Industrial Relations,

- to analyse the link between the industrial relations programme and job aspirations of graduates.

The sample was composed of 1200 former students, including 427 degree holders, having studied during the period 1946-1978.

Results obtained revealed several interesting points, among them:

a very low level of unemployment exceeding one month, and especially noticeable, where it occurred, among women and bachelor degree holders,

a predominance of graduates employed in the various industrial sectors,

over-representation of graduates in administration and under-representation in teaching,

a substantial group of graduates in the category of general administration,

two employment categories appearing most frequently: director of personnel (15%) and personnel officer (14.5%),

general satisfaction concerning their university training,

the placing of the accent on personnality and individual qualities, without underestimating training, as the main factor in career advancement,

a greater mobility among Industrial Relations graduates than those of other fields of study, a characteristic increasing in proportion to job experience.