"Is the diploma itself enough?": how is a graduate's outcome in the labor market being assessed?

"Is the diploma itself enough?": How is the graduate's outcome in the labor market being assessed?

This year, more than 600,000 applicants submitted documents for admission to higher education. Nearly one-third of them succeeded in becoming students. However, the subsequent path of a young person who graduated from university — when they found a job, how much they earn, how long they worked afterwards, or whether they continued their studies — is also being assessed as part of the educational outcome. Therefore, to measure this process based on numbers, the "Graduate Quality Index" was introduced.

The sharp increase in the number of universities and students has also intensified the issue of choice for applicants. A need arose for objective information on which higher education institution (HEI) to choose and what the subsequent outcome of a graduate who studied there would be. According to Bakhtiyor Yuldashev, Director of the National Agency for Quality Assurance in Education, one of the main goals of the index is precisely to provide students and parents with information free from the human factor when choosing a university.

"There are many universities. This means that when the supply increased, our students or their parents started asking the question: 'Now, which university should I choose? Which higher education institution should I choose so that I or my child can succeed after graduating tomorrow?' Then we saw that a need emerged for a platform that provides objective information, free from any human factor intervention.

First and foremost, it provides objective information for our students and their parents. That is, it is an objective information-providing platform that shows which university's main students are more successful, which university is at an average level, and which university is relatively lower.

If the republic-wide score of the index has exceeded 50, how will it change next year — will it increase or decrease? It is the same at the level of higher education institutions. For example, if I am the head or rector of an institution, I can get an answer to the question of what we did this year that caused our institution's index to increase next year. This also becomes an instrument that objectively evaluates our one-year activity," says the director of the agency.

The first step after the diploma: how quickly is the graduate finding a job?

One of the main indicators of the index is the speed of the graduate's employment. According to experts, in some higher education institutions, this period is recorded to be around 2–4 months on average. In this regard, not only getting a job itself, but also employment stability is taken into account. That is, not just a graduate's short-term work somewhere, but also their continuation of regular labor activity during the observation period is assessed.

However, there is an important question here: does the graduate's employment also mean that they are working in their specialty?

"In the current index, the possibility of showing that a graduate is working precisely in their specialty is limited. Because it is difficult to fully link profession and specialty in digital databases. For this reason, we are also considering the issue of conducting surveys among graduates in the future," says Bakhtiyor Yuldashev.

Therefore, the index provides information about the graduate's status in the labor market, but for now, the two concepts of "employed" and "working in their field" cannot be considered identical.

Is the knowledge taught at the university aligned with the labor market?

Another issue related to a graduate finding a job is the alignment between the knowledge provided at the university and the employer's demand. According to representatives of the education sector, today employers are focusing more on foreign languages, information technologies, artificial intelligence, and entrepreneurial skills.

According to Abdusamad Mamanazarov, head of the department of higher education organizations, qualification requirements for educational directions are being formed based on the needs of employers.

"Today, qualification requirements for each educational direction and each specialty are being formed based on the demands of employers. Employers primarily demand foreign languages, IT, and especially the skill of working with artificial intelligence. In 2024, first-year programs were updated based on the programs of the world's top 300 universities. In 2025, this work was continued for the second and third years. This year, qualification requirements for 57 new educational directions and specialties were formed based on employers' proposals, and about 70 existing programs were revised. Special attention is also paid to artificial intelligence in IT directions. Starting from this year, 50 percent of IT subject modules are being formed based on content related to artificial intelligence," he says.

The Career.edu platform is also being used to bring students into the labor market. On it, a student creates their resume and can enter information about their education, GPA indicator, and certificates into the system.

According to Alisher Abdullayev, Director of the Center for Development of Digital Educational Technologies, the platform offers opportunities to prepare for job interviews using artificial intelligence and to find vacancies matching the student's interests and resume.

"Currently, it is said that more than 400,000 student resumes have been created on the platform. Also, nearly 10,000 students are offering freelance services. Employers, on the other hand, can search for candidates based on criteria such as region, specialty, language certificate, and experience. For example, it is possible to search for students who are graduating in mathematics in a specific region and have a B2 level language certificate.

'An employer can find the student they need not through a simple search, but based on specific criteria. For example, a request is made to find students graduating in mathematics in Fergana who have a B2 certificate, and the system displays the matching candidates,' says the director of the center."