About this example
Tracer studies follow graduates into the labour market. With three categorical stages (field of study, first job, later job) an alluvial diagram shows both the dominant pathways and the smaller moves, such as graduates leaving academia for industry.
Because the number of fields is small, each field can have its own color from a colorblind-safe palette, and the flows keep that color all the way to the last stage.
The data
| Field of study | First job | After 5 years | Graduates |
|---|---|---|---|
| STEM | Industry | Industry | 120 |
| STEM | Academia | Academia | 45 |
| STEM | Academia | Industry | 30 |
| STEM | Further study | Academia | 40 |
| STEM | Further study | Industry | 25 |
| Health | Public sector | Public sector | 80 |
| Health | Industry | Industry | 35 |
| Health | Further study | Public sector | 20 |
| Business | Industry | Industry | 150 |
| Business | Public sector | Industry | 15 |
| Business | Further study | Industry | 20 |
| Humanities | Public sector | Public sector | 40 |
| Humanities | Academia | Academia | 25 |
| Humanities | Industry | Industry | 30 |
| Humanities | Further study | Academia | 20 |
Open the example, replace the data with your own, and export the figure as SVG, PDF or a 600 dpi PNG.