Of the Master’s students who graduated in 2013, 45 percent had a job in the bag when they graduated. In the same period of the previous year, that figure was 40 percent. Silvia Blok of KLV acknowledges that the rise of 5 percent gives a positive signal, but thinks it would be premature to conclude that for Wageningers the crisis is over. ‘It is impossible to infer the precise reason for the rise from the figures.’
The increase applies strikingly to one specific group of graduates, namely those aiming at a PhD position. Of that group, 58 percent already had a job when they graduated: 37 percent had a PhD position and 21 percent had another job. The success rate has risen particularly fast in the latter category. A good sign, thinks Blok, since it suggests that the job market is recovering not at the lower end but at the top end, for high-level jobs for which ambitious academics are sought. This is not reflected in the average salary, however. At 2078 euros gross per month, that is only 5 euros higher than one year earlier.