Changing world, stronger together – article series Part 3: Career monitoring survey as a tool for identifying continuous learning needs

 

The theme of Social Impact Weeks, “Changing world, stronger together,” challenges us to consider what kind of skills we will need in the future and how we can strengthen each other in building our studies and careers. In this series of articles, we examine the importance of humanistic skills in the age of artificial intelligence, the power of networking, and what Humak alumni already working in the field encourage current students to develop. In addition, we show concrete examples of how student feedback and career tracking data are used in the development of education.

Part 1: What skills do Humak graduates encourage current students to develop?
Part 2: Professional Networks Are Built During Studies
Part 3: Career monitoring survey as a tool for identifying continuous learning needs

Continuous learning refers to lifelong competence development through systematic acquisition of knowledge, skills, and competences for both personal growth and professional competencies. The concept emphasises the ongoing enhancement and updating of competences to meet the evolving skills needs of working life, enabling individuals to develop their expertise throughout their entire career trajectory. The career monitoring survey is a nationwide survey conducted annually among graduates who completed their Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees at Universities of Applied Sciences five years prior. In autumn 2024, the survey yielded 11,600 alumni responses nationwide. Humak contributed 197 responses, achieving a response rate of 68.1%. This response rate represented both the highest among all participating universities of applied sciences and the highest ever recorded in the survey’s history.

The goal of the National Higher Education Institutions’ Continuing Learning Strategy (2022, p. 23) is that higher education institutions provide continuing learning provision that responds to working life needs and is based on foresight information on skills needs that has been generated and interpreted in collaboration with working life.

Humak University of Applied Sciences (UAS), like other Universities of Applied Sciences and universities, offers various continuous learning course offerings. Students can develop their competencies through both free and paid open UAS courses. The free micro-courses produced in Humak UAS’ research, development and innovation projects (RDI) provide skills that can be quickly acquired. Competencies can be developed according to one’s own competence needs and available time, either by taking individual course units or competence modules.

Identified Competency Gaps and Further Training Needs

Humak UAS’s most recent Career monitoring survey showed that 75% of respondents had participated in one or more forms of formal education by October 2024, primarily to develop themselves, advance their careers, qualify for their work, or educate themselves. Humak UAS’ post-degree education participation rate was the highest across the entire UAS sector. A similar figure was only reached with the national level percentage in the healthcare and social services sector. Generally, the corresponding figure for all graduates from universities of applied sciences was also high (67%). (Jonninen, 2025, p. 27.)

Further education needs of Humak UAS graduates are highly heterogeneous. The most popular post-graduate study formats among Humak graduates before master’s degree studies (17%) were short training courses, courses or competence modules (40%).  Further education needs reflect both in-depth field-specific training and broad working life skills training. (Humak University of Applied Sciences n.d.-a.)

The career monitoring survey’s competence gap section results show that small universities of applied sciences have less competency gaps than large ones (Jonninen, 2025, p. 52). The three most significant areas of competence gaps among Humak UAS graduates were in communication and negotiation skills, stress tolerance and adaptation to new situations and organizing and coordination skills (Humak University of Applied Sciences n.d.-a).

Humak’s Continuous Learning Provision – Current State and Development Needs

The results of career monitoring survey can be utilized not only in developing quality assurance and curriculum work at the university of applied sciences but also in developing continuous learning course offerings. The career monitoring survey provides insights into how continuous learning enhances working professionals’ expertise development.

Humak’s current UAS and Master’s level continuous learning course offerings adequately address competence needs related to project management, financial literacy, management and organizational skills, as well as interaction skills. The primary deficiency in the course offerings relates to stress tolerance or adaptation to new situations, which the Career monitoring survey respondents identified as the second largest competence gap. The current course offerings do not include any course module or competence modules explicitly mentioning adaptation to new situations or stress tolerance in its title. However, regarding adaptation to new situations, the course offerings includes Master’s level courses that address the theme of adaptation to change from organizational and societal perspectives (Future foresight 5 ECTS) as well as from diversity and inclusivity perspectives (Diversity 5 ECTS) (Humak University of Applied Sciences, n.d.-b).

Stress tolerance, in turn, is addressed from a psychosocial perspective in the Labour protection and occupational safety course and in the associated micro-course “Brain in Chaos – Psychosocial Occupational Safety” (Humak University of Applied Sciences n.d.-c; Humak University of Applied Sciences n.d.-d). These studies emphasize work-related stress, workload, and mental well-being. Although themes related to adaptation to new situations and stress tolerance are addressed in degree studies, it is justified to consider whether continuous learning course offerings should include studies specifically designed to strengthen recent graduates’ stress tolerance and work well-being. Humak’s new course offerings provide courses and competence modules related to work community development for professionals who have been in working life for some time, such as Supervisor continuing education and Workplace developer certificate programme (Humak University of Applied Sciences n.d.-e; Humak University of Applied Sciences n.d.-f).

All higher education institutions must offer continuous learning course provision that genuinely responds to the competence needs of future working life. However, it is not appropriate for each university of applied sciences to offer identical, overlapping course provision. Instead, higher education institutions should enrich continuous learning provision through cross-institutional collaboration. Humak and TAMK have launched new continuous learning collaboration in the 2025–2026 academic year. In this new collaboration, Humak and TAMK are organizing a new continuing education titled “Renewing Supervisor”. (Humak University of Applied Sciences n.d.-e.)

Shape the Future! Respond to the career monitoring survey by November 19, 2025, and help us to create continuous learning that truly meets the challenges of future working life.

Authors: 

Anna-Maria Lintunen, MA, Specialist, Humak University of Applied Sciences 

Sanna Lukkarinen, MSc (Econ), Specialist, Humak University of Applied Sciences

References

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