Competitive and collaborative aspects of graduate survey use in Switzerland

This paper focuses on the use or non-use of graduate studies in Switzerland. The Swiss Federal Statistical Office conducts a biannual survey in which the graduates of all Swiss Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are invited to participate. HEIs can add their own questions to the survey and can access the entire data set for their analyses. This paper examines the extent to which this tool offers a starting point for both cooperation and competition between HEIs. The results, which are based on a qualitative survey of HEIs and our own institutional experiences, show a desire for cooperation at the methodological level, while the actual data is used more for competitive purposes.