Education Counts

Page navigation links

  • Education Counts Logo
  • Skip to Primary Navigation Menu
  • Skip to Secondary Navigation Menu
  • Skip to search
  • Skip to content

Site Search

Site Search

Site navigation menus

  • Know your region
  • Find your nearest school
  • Early learning services
  • Directories
  • Publications
  • Statistics
  • Topics
  • Data Services

Search the education counts website

Find pages with

Narrow results by:

What did they do? The field of study of domestic graduates 2008-2016 Publications

Publication Details

This report analyses the field of study of domestic graduates in the New Zealand tertiary education system between 2008 and 2016.

Author(s): Warren Smart, Ministry of Education

Date Published: January 2018

Summary

This report analyses the field of study of domestic graduates in the New Zealand tertiary education system between 2011 and 2016 for below bachelors level and between 2008 and 2016 for bachelors level or higher.

Our analysis shows that:

  • in Level 1 and 2 certificates, there was an increase in the proportion of graduates in the Mixed programme field. Changes in the focus of this level of qualification (to give greater emphasis to foundation-level skills) is likely to have driven a change in content
  • in Level 3 to 7 certificates/diplomas, fields such as Society and culture, and Health showed increases in the share of graduates
  • at the bachelors or higher level, there was an increase in the proportion of graduates in fields such as Health, Information technology, and Engineering and related technologies
  • at the bachelors or higher level, universities had the highest number of graduates in every field of study
  • women continued to be more likely to graduate in fields such as Health and Education, while men continued to make up a higher proportion of graduates in areas such as Engineering and related technologies
  • Māori and Pasifika continued to have relatively lower proportions of graduate in fields such as Natural and physical sciences and Engineering and related technologies at the bachelors or higher level
  • the largest proportion of younger graduates were in fields such as Natural and physical sciences and Tourism

Data on Field of Study

  • Data on the predominant field(s) of study of graduates at tertiary education providerswebpage

Revision of Field of Study Data

The Ministry of Education has revised the method to derive the predominant field of study of graduates/learners from tertiary education providers. To learn more about the revised methodology, read the technical note.

Other reports

  • What are they doing? The field of study of domestic students/learners 2008-2016webpage

Navigation

  • All Tertiary Education

Downloads

  • Full Report (PDF, 4.8 MB)
  • Key Data (XLS, 183.3 KB)

Related pages

  • What are they doing? The field of study of domestic students /learners 2008-16
  • Tertiary achievement and attainment

Contact us

Education data requests
If you have any questions about education data please email us at Requests Data and Insights

Home Close Menu
  • Know your Region Show submenu
  • Find your nearest school Show submenu
  • Early Learning Services Show submenu
  • Directories Show submenu
    • Early Childhood Services Directory – APIShow submenu
    • Early Childhood ServicesShow submenu
    • School Directory – APIShow submenu
    • New Zealand SchoolsShow submenu
    • Māori Schools DirectoryShow submenu
      • Māori Schools DirectoryShow submenu
    • Pacific Schools DirectoryShow submenu
    • Tertiary ProvidersShow submenu
    • School Mergers, Closures & NewShow submenu
  • Publications Show submenu
    • Early Childhood EducationShow submenu
    • MāoriShow submenu
      • KME & MMEShow submenu
      • English-medium EducationShow submenu
      • KME or MME, & English-mediumShow submenu
    • SchoolingShow submenu
      • LearnersShow submenu
        • Learners in GeneralShow submenu
        • Education | Learning OutcomesShow submenu
        • Student Engagement | BehaviourShow submenu
      • Learning Support & WellbeingShow submenu
      • WorkforceShow submenu
      • Parents & WhānauShow submenu
      • School Networks | SystemShow submenu
      • CurriculumShow submenu
      • Digital TechnologyShow submenu
      • Large Scale International StudiesShow submenu
    • PacificShow submenu
    • Tertiary EducationShow submenu
      • COVID-19Show submenu
      • LearnersShow submenu
      • Beyond StudyShow submenu
        • DestinationsShow submenu
          • The mobility patterns of New Zealand's doctoral graduatesShow submenu
        • EmploymentShow submenu
        • Income & EarningsShow submenu
        • Other Economic OutcomesShow submenu
        • Social OutcomesShow submenu
      • MonitoringShow submenu
      • Literacy & NumeracyShow submenu
      • Research Performance/FundingShow submenu
      • SystemShow submenu
      • Annual ReportsShow submenu
      • Occasional PapersShow submenu
      • NZ University RankingsShow submenu
      • e-learningShow submenu
    • Learning SupportShow submenu
    • InternationalShow submenu
    • Publication SeriesShow submenu
  • Statistics Show submenu
    • Action Plan for Pacific Education measurement framework dataShow submenu
    • Annual monitoring reading recoveryShow submenu
    • Apprenticeship boostShow submenu
    • Attainment of 18-year-oldsShow submenu
    • AttendanceShow submenu
    • Beyond studyShow submenu
    • Daily attendance dashboardShow submenu
    • ECE financesShow submenu
    • ECE servicesShow submenu
    • ECE staffingShow submenu
    • Early learning participationShow submenu
    • Early leaving exemptionsShow submenu
    • Entering & leaving teachingShow submenu
    • Financial resourcingShow submenu
    • Financial support for tertiary studentsShow submenu
    • First Year Fees Free tertiary educationShow submenu
    • Funding to schoolsShow submenu
    • HomeschoolingShow submenu
    • StaffingShow submenu
      • How does New Zealand’s tertiary education staffing compare internationally?Show submenu
    • Initial teacher education statisticsShow submenu
    • International students in NZShow submenu
    • Language use in ECEShow submenu
    • Micro-credentials & training schemesShow submenu
    • Māori language in schoolingShow submenu
    • NZ's workplace-based learnersShow submenu
    • National school roll projectionsShow submenu
    • Number of schoolsShow submenu
    • Ongoing resourcing schemeShow submenu
    • Pacific language in schoolingShow submenu
    • Per student funding for schoolsShow submenu
    • School board representationShow submenu
    • School boardsShow submenu
    • School donationsShow submenu
    • School leaver pathwaysShow submenu
    • School leaver's attainmentShow submenu
    • School rollsShow submenu
    • School subject enrolmentShow submenu
    • Stand-downs, suspensions, exclusions & expulsionsShow submenu
    • Teacher numbersShow submenu
      • 2021Show submenu
      • 2020Show submenu
    • Teacher turnoverShow submenu
    • Tertiary achievement & attainmentShow submenu
    • Tertiary enrolments in language courses, including Te Reo Māori coursesShow submenu
    • Tertiary participationShow submenu
    • Tertiary population dataShow submenu
    • Tertiary researchShow submenu
    • Tertiary summary tablesShow submenu
    • Pathways from Year 11Show submenu
    • Transient studentsShow submenu
    • Traumatic incidentsShow submenu
    • University rankings fact sheetsShow submenu
    • Vocational education & trainingShow submenu
  • Topics Show submenu
    • He Whakaaro: Education InsightsShow submenu
  • Data Services Show submenu

Site information

  • Site map
  • Contact us
  • About this site
  • Glossary
  • Copyright, Legal & Privacy
  • Links
  • © Education Counts 2026
  • Ministry of Education logo.
  • New Zealand Government logo.
Scroll to top of page