Beyond “One size fits all”: Graduate satisfaction across academic fields

Beyond “One size fits all”: Graduate satisfaction across academic fields | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Beyond “One size fits all”: Graduate satisfaction across academic fields Josep Llach, Martí Casadesús This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9722752/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Graduate satisfaction surveys are widely used to assess the quality of higher education. However, they often adopt a uniform perspective, implicitly assuming that students across all fields of education and training value the same aspects of their educational experience. This study examines which dimensions of the student experience explain overall graduate satisfaction and whether their influence varies systematically across academic fields. The analysis draws on data from the Catalan Graduate Satisfaction Survey (2018–2023), focusing exclusively on Bachelor’s programmes. The dataset comprises 2,993 programme-year observations across five fields: Arts and Humanities, Social and Legal Sciences, Sciences, Health Sciences, and Engineering and Architecture. Using panel data models, the study analyses three key dimensions of the student experience: Teaching and Learning, Student Support, and Learning Outcomes. The results show that although all three dimensions are positively associated with overall graduate satisfaction, their relative influence differs across fields. Teaching and Learning emerges as the most influential dimension overall, with particularly strong effects in the Arts and Humanities and Sciences. In contrast, Student Support significantly predicts graduate satisfaction only in certain fields, notably Social and Legal Sciences and Engineering and Architecture. Comparative tests confirm these differences: the effect of Teaching and Learning is stronger in Arts and Humanities and Sciences than in Engineering and Architecture, while Student Support has a comparatively weaker influence outside Engineering. Learning Outcomes, by contrast, show no substantial variation across fields. These findings suggest that students’ evaluations of quality are shaped by field-specific cultures and expectations. Recognising such differences has important implications for Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and External Quality Assurance Agencies (EQAAs) seeking to design assessment and enhancement strategies that are sensitive to academic fields. Higher education quality assurance Graduate satisfaction Teaching and learning Student support Learning outcomes Academic fields Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9722752","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":640753193,"identity":"7a86540a-d067-405f-a351-177f5e6f6a8b","order_by":0,"name":"Josep Llach","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA4ElEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACxgYwZSHDwMDD+ICBDcRJIEqLBA9QC7MBUVqgAKyFTYIoLczt7Q8fFwC18LefPVbNU1bLwM+eY4DfYT1njI1nALVInMlLu81z7jiDZM8bAlpm5LBJ84AcdoPH7DZv2zEGgxuEbJmR/vw3SIs8UEsxSIs9YS0JZswgLQZALcy8bTUMBhJE+EV6hoEEj+GZHGPJOecOAD31rACvFkNgiH0uqLCRkzt+xvDDm7I6Of725A34tTQAA5oB4ZLDPHiVg4A8A0gLAtQR1DEKRsEoGAUjDwAA3+M84hBgMmgAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8766-8756","institution":"Universitat de Girona","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Josep","middleName":"","lastName":"Llach","suffix":""},{"id":640753194,"identity":"14fe460a-779b-4107-9c64-5837f461f695","order_by":1,"name":"Martí Casadesús","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2406-2359","institution":"Universitat de Girona","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Martí","middleName":"","lastName":"Casadesús","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-05-15 09:34:00","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":{"humanSubjects":false,"vertebrateSubjects":false,"conflictsOfInterestStatement":false,"humanSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false,"humanSubjectConsent":false,"humanSubjectClinicalTrial":false,"humanSubjectCaseReport":false,"vertebrateSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false},"doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9722752/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9722752/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":109435197,"identity":"a743e15d-6d92-485a-b468-7dcfd3f7dc39","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-05-18 05:56:48","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":380742,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Manuscript.R1.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9722752/v1_covered_3bb2ec9f-f859-4bb2-8d72-8217fd6a05b7.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"The authors declare no competing interests.","formattedTitle":"\u003cp\u003eBeyond “One size fits all”: Graduate satisfaction across academic fields\u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"Universitat de Girona","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Higher education quality assurance, Graduate satisfaction, Teaching and learning, Student support, Learning outcomes, Academic fields","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9722752/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9722752/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eGraduate satisfaction surveys are widely used to assess the quality of higher education. However, they often adopt a uniform perspective, implicitly assuming that students across all fields of education and training value the same aspects of their educational experience. This study examines which dimensions of the student experience explain overall graduate satisfaction and whether their influence varies systematically across academic fields.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe analysis draws on data from the Catalan Graduate Satisfaction Survey (2018\u0026ndash;2023), focusing exclusively on Bachelor\u0026rsquo;s programmes. The dataset comprises 2,993 programme-year observations across five fields: Arts and Humanities, Social and Legal Sciences, Sciences, Health Sciences, and Engineering and Architecture.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eUsing panel data models, the study analyses three key dimensions of the student experience: Teaching and Learning, Student Support, and Learning Outcomes. The results show that although all three dimensions are positively associated with overall graduate satisfaction, their relative influence differs across fields. Teaching and Learning emerges as the most influential dimension overall, with particularly strong effects in the Arts and Humanities and Sciences. In contrast, Student Support significantly predicts graduate satisfaction only in certain fields, notably Social and Legal Sciences and Engineering and Architecture. Comparative tests confirm these differences: the effect of Teaching and Learning is stronger in Arts and Humanities and Sciences than in Engineering and Architecture, while Student Support has a comparatively weaker influence outside Engineering. Learning Outcomes, by contrast, show no substantial variation across fields.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThese findings suggest that students\u0026rsquo; evaluations of quality are shaped by field-specific cultures and expectations. 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