The Ontario Agricultural College has released findings from the Master’s Destinations Project: Degrees with a Difference [1], highlighting employment data of OAC master’s program graduates. It is the second report released under the Graduate Destinations initiative [2]. 

Developed by OAC’s Research and Graduate Studies team, the project shares 2019 employment data of over 2,400 alumni who graduated with a master’s degree from 1999 to 2019. The project found that OAC master’s graduates are employed in all sectors including private (46.6%), government (20.6%), post secondary (17.6%), not for profit (6.6%), other public (4.3%) and individual (4.3%).

“There are tremendous employment opportunities for our master’s graduates in all employment sectors,” says Dr. Rebecca Hallett, associate dean of research and graduate studies. “OAC offers a large range of professionally-oriented and research-based master’s programs that allow students to pursue their interests and secure a range of exciting career opportunities.”

The report also highlights the need for highly skilled and specialist employees to fill the ongoing labour shortages in the agri-food, environmental and related sectors. 

“Our graduates learn to use their problem-solving and critical-thinking skills to address pressing local, national and global issues,” says Leigh West, OAC’s manager of graduate recruitment and programs. “This study illustrates that our master’s degrees are an investment in the student’s future and are highly desired by employers.”

The full report is available now [1], [3] with fact sheets showcasing specific career pathways for each OAC academic unit and sector to be released later this summer.

To learn more about OAC graduate programs, visit the program pages here [4] or contact Leigh West at gradinfo@uoguelph.ca [5].