What share of tertiary graduates leave university or other tertiary programmes with a qualification in social sciences, journalism or information? World Bank indicator SE.TER.GRAD.SS.ZS answers that question as a percentage of all tertiary graduates in each reporting economy. It is a field-of-study composition measure, not a tertiary enrollment rate and not the percentage of the whole population with a social-science degree.
The dataset used here contains 152 country and separately reported economy rows. Each row keeps the latest non-null value available for that economy, but those observations are not synchronized in time: the reference years run from 1999 to 2020. The map is therefore a latest-available-value comparison rather than a 2020 league table. Every percentage should be read together with its observation year.
Table of Contents
The denominator is all tertiary graduates, not the national population
The indicator name is “Percentage of graduates from tertiary education graduating from Social Sciences, Journalism and Information programmes, both sexes (%)”. A 12% observation means that roughly 12 out of every 100 tertiary graduates represented in that reference year completed a programme in this field group. Both sexes are combined.
That distinction prevents several common misreadings. The indicator does not say that 12% of adults have a social-science qualification. It does not measure how many current students are enrolled in these subjects, how selective the programmes are, whether graduates found work, or whether journalism and information industries are large. It only describes the field mix among tertiary graduates.
Most rows are from 2017–2019, but the full range reaches back to 1999
The reference-year distribution is heavily concentrated around the late 2010s. There are 56 rows dated 2018, 33 dated 2019, 18 dated 2017 and 15 dated 2016. Only 1 row is dated 2020. In total, 108 of the 152 observations (71.1%) fall in 2017–2020, leaving a meaningful group of older observations.
This mixed-vintage design is useful for showing the most recently reported field structure across a broad set of economies, but it is not suitable for fine current rankings. A difference of one or two percentage points between a 2016 observation and a 2019 observation should not be presented as a precise present-day gap. Questions about recent changes require a matched-year cross-section or a country time series.
The median country-row value is about 8%
Across the 152 latest observations, the unweighted mean is 8.53% and the median is 8.03%. The first quartile is 5.01% and the third quartile 11.60%. There are 38 observations below 5%, 19 at 15% or above, and 4 at 20% or above. This shows a broad spread rather than one narrow global norm.
The 8.53% mean is not a world graduate-weighted rate. India and a very small island economy each contribute one row to this calculation, regardless of how many tertiary graduates they have. Estimating the share among all tertiary graduates worldwide would require country-level graduate counts as weights. The statistics here summarize the distribution of reporting economies, not the global graduate population.
Among 2017–2020 observations, India and Bangladesh are the highest in this dataset
Restricting attention to rows dated 2017–2020 reduces the influence of the oldest records. India reports 28.3% in 2019 and Bangladesh 25.8% in 2019. Samoa is above 20% at 21.1% in 2018. Cabo Verde, Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Armenia, South Africa, Tajikistan and Montenegro are also among the higher values in this more recent subset.
| Country or economy | Reference year | Share of tertiary graduates |
|---|---|---|
| India | 2019 | 28.3% |
| Bangladesh | 2019 | 25.8% |
| Samoa | 2018 | 21.1% |
| Cabo Verde | 2018 | 17.0% |
| Mauritania | 2017 | 16.7% |
| Burkina Faso | 2019 | 16.3% |
| Armenia | 2019 | 16.2% |
| South Africa | 2018 | 16.0% |
| Tajikistan | 2017 | 15.9% |
| Montenegro | 2019 | 15.7% |
These numbers should not be turned into a simple claim about student preference. The composition of graduates can reflect the structure of national tertiary systems, the relative size of professional and technical programmes, degree classifications, public and private institutions, and labour-market pathways. None of those explanatory variables is included in this dataset, so the map identifies patterns without assigning causes.
Korea reports 5.6% in 2017; Canada and Italy are above 14% in 2018
Selected economies illustrate both the size of the differences and the importance of the date. Korea, Rep. is 5.6% in 2017. Canada is 14.6% in 2018, Italy 14.3% in 2018 and the Netherlands 13.4% in 2018. The United States is 12.0% in 2016 and the United Kingdom 11.9% in 2016. Germany and France are around 7.5% in 2018, while Australia is 6.0% in 2018.
| Economy | Reference year | Social sciences, journalism & information |
|---|---|---|
| India | 2019 | 28.3% |
| Bangladesh | 2019 | 25.8% |
| South Africa | 2018 | 16.0% |
| Canada | 2018 | 14.6% |
| Italy | 2018 | 14.3% |
| Netherlands | 2018 | 13.4% |
| United States | 2016 | 12.0% |
| United Kingdom | 2016 | 11.9% |
| Korea, Rep. | 2017 | 5.6% |
| Germany | 2018 | 7.5% |
| France | 2018 | 7.4% |
| Australia | 2018 | 6.0% |
| Brazil | 2018 | 5.0% |
| Mexico | 2017 | 9.1% |
| Indonesia | 2018 | 12.9% |
| Russian Federation | 2018 | 11.4% |
India and Bangladesh stand much higher in this selection, at 28.3% and 25.8% respectively in 2019. Brazil is 5.0% in 2018 and Indonesia 12.9% in 2018. Because these are graduation-field shares, they should not be interpreted as the share of the labour force working in social sciences, media or information occupations.
Reported zeros and gray map areas are not the same thing
The statistical table contains 11 rows with a reported value of exactly 0.0%. Those are data values. Gray areas on the map have a different meaning: the visualization joins ISO-3 country codes to a simplified low-resolution world boundary layer, and some small islands or separately reported territories do not have a distinct polygon in that layer. A gray area therefore cannot automatically be read as 0%.
A reported 0.0% should also be treated cautiously rather than explained speculatively. The table alone does not tell us whether the value reflects no graduates in the field, a classification feature, reporting practice or another statistical circumstance. This article keeps the reported value but does not invent a causal explanation.
The spatial pattern is descriptive, not causal
The map shows relatively high latest observations in parts of South Asia and in several African economies, while Europe, East Asia and Latin America contain a wide mixture of lower and middle values. This is useful for locating broad differences in the reported field composition of tertiary graduates.
It is not evidence that neighboring countries share the same educational culture or policy. Tertiary systems and programme classifications differ, the observation years differ, and the dataset contains no direct variables on tuition, labor demand, public-sector employment, media industries, institutional capacity or student preferences. Explaining the geography would require additional data that are aligned by country and year.
Data source and comparison method
The statistical source is the World Bank country-indicator feed for SE.TER.GRAD.SS.ZS. The analysis keeps one latest non-null observation per real economy, producing 152 rows after excluding regional and income-group aggregates. The means, medians, counts and tables above were calculated directly from those rows.
For the map, ISO-3 codes are joined to a simplified world boundary layer. The statistical sample contains 152 rows, while 131 country polygons can be matched in the low-resolution geometry. Small islands and separately reported territories can therefore remain part of the statistics without appearing as separately filled shapes. The map is a comparison aid; the tabular value and reference year remain the authoritative pair for each economy.
Finally, the indicator is a percentage of graduates, not an absolute graduate count. A country can have a high share in this field but a smaller number of tertiary graduates overall, or a lower share but a much larger absolute number of graduates. Comparing the size of the graduate workforce would require a different numerator and denominator.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this a 2020 country ranking of social sciences, journalism and information graduates?
No. It uses the latest non-null observation for each economy, and the reference years range from 1999 to 2020.
Does a 5% value mean 5% of the national population graduated in these fields?
No. It means about 5% of the tertiary graduates represented in that reference year graduated from social sciences, journalism or information programmes.
Does gray on the map mean the value is 0%?
Not necessarily. Some small islands and separately reported territories have statistical rows but no separate polygon in the simplified world boundary layer.
Related Articles
These Green Map education pages use different education indicators and are useful for separating graduate field composition from broader adult educational-attainment measures.
- Global Short-Cycle Tertiary Attainment Map – Latest Values for Adults 25+
- Post-Secondary Attainment for Adults 25+ – 2020–2024 Map
- Global Upper-Secondary Attainment Map – Latest Values for Adults 25+
Green Map creates custom-edited map images using open geographic data sources such as geoBoundaries, Natural Earth, OpenStreetMap, and government open data.
These maps are edited visual materials, not raw data files, and are provided for education, documents, presentations, and graphic reference.
