The Graduate Attributes Scale - Employer (GAS-E) was developed as part of the original 2013–14 trial of the ESS.
The project team synthesised several frameworks relevant to the skills of university graduates and identified several general attributes. The GAS-E has been designed to assess common rather than specific graduate attributes, within a limited workplace context. The items were further tested and refined during a 2015 trial of the instrument. The five graduate attribute domains include:
For technical details about the calculations used to score data derived from the ESS, please see the document, ESS Methodology for QILT Website.
Care should be taken when interpreting results from the ESS presented on this website. The results are estimates only, because they are based on a survey which was not completed by all supervisors. The accuracy of the figures varies depending on the number of supervisors who completed the survey. Confidence intervals are displayed to provide a measure of the accuracy of the estimates.
The GAS-E forms the core of the ESS. Graduates responding to the GOS had previously been asked to assess their Foundation, Adaptive and Collaborative skills using the GAS, however these items were removed from the core GOS in 2021.
A full list of the items included in the GAS-E is provided in Table 1 to Table 5.
A copy of the core survey instrument can be found in the Appendices of each year’s ESS Methodological Report.
Table 1 Foundation skills items
| Stem | Item | Response scale |
|---|---|---|
For each skill or attribute, to what extent do you agree or disagree that <graduate>’s <qualification> from <institution> prepared them for their job? If the skill is not required by <graduate> in their role, you can answer ‘Not applicable’. | 1) Oral communication skills 2) Written communication skills 3) Numeracy skills 4) Ability to develop relevant knowledge 5) Ability to develop relevant skills 6) Ability to solve problems 7) Ability to integrate knowledge 8) Ability to think independently about problems |
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Table 2 Adaptive skills items
| Stem | Item | Response scale |
|---|---|---|
For each skill or attribute, to what extent do you agree or disagree that <graduate>’s <qualification> from <institution> prepared them for their job? If the skill is not required by <graduate> in their role, you can answer ‘Not applicable’. | 9) Broad background knowledge 10) Ability to develop innovative ideas 11) Ability to identify new opportunities 12) Ability to adapt knowledge to different contexts 13) Ability to apply skills in different contexts 14) Capacity to work independently |
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Table 3 Collaborative skills items
| Stem | Item | Response scale |
|---|---|---|
For each skill or attribute, to what extent do you agree or disagree that <graduate>’s <qualification> from <institution> prepared them for their job? If the skill is not required by <graduate> in their role, you can answer ‘Not applicable’. | 15) Working well in a team 16) Getting on well with others in the workplace 17) Working collaboratively with colleagues to complete tasks 18) Understanding different points of view 19) Ability to interact with co-workers from different or multi-cultural backgrounds |
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Table 4 Technical skills items
| Stem | Item | Response scale |
|---|---|---|
For each skill or attribute, to what extent do you agree or disagree that <graduate>’s <qualification> from <institution> prepared them for their job? If the skill is not required by <graduate> in their role, you can answer ‘Not applicable’. | 20) Applying professional knowledge to job tasks |
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Table 5 Employability skills items
| Stem | Item | Response scale |
|---|---|---|
For each skill or attribute, to what extent do you agree or disagree that <graduate>’s <qualification> from <institution> prepared them for their job? If the skill is not required by <graduate> in their role, you can answer ‘Not applicable’. | 26) Ability to work under pressure 27) Capacity to be flexible in the workplace 28) Ability to meet deadlines 29) Understanding the nature of your business or organisation 30) Demonstrating leadership skills 31) Demonstrating management skills 32) Taking responsibility for personal professional development 33) Demonstrating initiative in the workplace |
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