Researching graduate destinations using LinkedIn: an exploratory analysis of South African chemical engineering graduates

Surveys of graduate destinations typically suffer from relatively low response rates and therefore this study sought to develop a new methodology for tracking graduate destinations using LinkedIn. Research in this area with engineering graduates has also been limited, and thus this study, focusing on chemical engineering graduates from the University of Cape Town, brings new insights to a debate usually characterised by untested assumptions. Following the graduating cohorts from 2006 to 2012, it was shown that about a quarter go on to postgraduate studies. Of those that proceed to the workplace, the vast majority go into traditional graduate chemical engineering jobs in operations, mostly in the petrochemical and mining sectors in this South African context. The study sought to determine the potential impact of the 2008 recession on these graduate destinations but the results are inconclusive in that regard.