Evaluation of the satisfaction of graduates with their psychology degree programs in Chile

Research on the reasons behind student satisfaction has been mostly centered on the perception of students with regard to the quality of the programs they are enrolled in. Unlike these studies, the present paper is based on the perceptions of a probabilistic sample of graduates from the Psychology degree program of three Chilean universities with different levels of selectivity, in order to the evaluate what are the determining factors for satisfaction with said program. We specifically consider three dimensions of satisfaction: infrastructure of the program, job satisfaction and the perceived quality of the program, with an emphasis on the latter point. The results showed that satisfaction with these three dimensions is determined mainly by the prestige of the university that offers the degree programs, and not by the socioeconomic status of the graduates. Additionally, the global perception with respect to the quality of the program is mainly associated with job satisfaction and the evaluation of the infrastructure of the program. Although the analysis refers to a specific program, the results shed light on the measures that university authorities could take in order to strengthen the quality of their programs, and therefore increase the level of satisfaction both of students and of graduates.