Overview
- The Agència per a la Qualitat Universitària (AQU) survey presented July 15, 2026, reports about 93% of Catalan graduates are active in work three years after graduation and the unemployment rate is roughly 6%.
- The report shows large pay gaps by field with Medicine and Dentistry averaging €3,783 per month and History €1,920, while STEM graduates earn about €300 more per month than non-STEM peers.
- Gender gaps persist within fields: men in Medicine and Dentistry earn on average €484 more per month and men in Civil Engineering €466 more, a pattern that favors men in roughly two-thirds of study areas.
- For the first time in the 25-year series, internships have overtaken personal and family contacts as the main route to a first job, shifting entry toward on-the-job experience rather than networks.
- Although nominal wages rose, the survey finds graduates have not recovered 2011 purchasing power and about 36–37% of doctoral students report mental-health problems, a combination that could prompt targeted policy responses on aid and training.