The paper examines how individual motivations, the role of the supervisor and gender influence the early career path of doctorate holders. We investigate PhD graduates' occupational outcomes beyond academia in the framework of current literature on the oversupply of PhD holders and labor market constraints. Our analysis relies on two unique…

In high-income countries in recent years, the non-academic labour market destination of PhD-holders, i.e., the segmentation by industry sector of destination, has emerged as an issue. Universities and other research-intensive institutions can no longer absorb the major share of PhD-holders. Their employment has become a matter of segmentation both…

Purpose: The study explores the perceptions of graduates on their employability and future of work, in light of the challenges thrown upon by new vicissitudes in the work environment. The study intends to assess the preparedness of management graduates in facing the challenges and uncertainties of the actual job market.…

This paper assesses labour market outcomes associated with the acquisition of different graduate competences in the Italian labour markets particularly focusing on 'soft skills' developed during HE programs. By using a classification of graduate jobs that distinguishes between different horizontal skills, namley managerial and communication…

Building on the integrative career competencies framework, we examined the indirect association between career competencies, assessed at graduation, and subjective career success (SCS) via employability activities, both assessed six months after graduation, among a sample of 613 Italian graduates. We also examined the moderating role of three…

We analyse the association between age at tertiary graduation and outcomes of the first phase of the working career in Italy by using a rich longitudinal dataset built merging EU-SILC survey data with individual administrative records on working careers. Labour market outcomes is observed at the entry and along the 10-year period from graduation.…

The aim of this article is to show the increased relevance of soft skills in a continuously changing environment. A research was carried out to examine and compare students' and employers' perceptions regarding the importance of soft skills in different European countries. Results show that 86% of respondents indicate an increased emphasis on soft…

According to recent literature, this paper highlights the relevance of spatial mobility as an explanatory factor of the individual risk of job-education mismatch. To investigate this causal link, we use individual information about daily home-to-work commuting time and choices to relocate in a different local area to get a job. Our model takes…

This article assesses the effectiveness of a reform of the higher education system aimed at stimulating employability and faster access to the labour market for Italian graduates. Using the Taylor formula, the evolution of the employment rates has been followed through the movements and interaction of activity and unemployment rates. The progress…

The main aim of this article is to explore similarities and differences in the institutional features of private and state universities in the Italian higher education system and to assess whether graduating from a private university conveys advantages in the labour market. In the first part we use administrative data to describe the main…

The AlmaLaurea database (http://www.almalaurea.it) offers broad documentation on the characteristics of university graduates who chose a teaching career one year, three years and five years after their degree, forming a representative sample of Italian school teachers. This article offers both a descriptive analysis of the data on the…

This paper proposes a theoretical framework where "within graduates" wage inequality is related to overeducation/educational mismatch in the labor market. We show that wage inequality may arise because of inefficient self-selection into education in the presence of ability-complementary technological progress and asymmetric information…

The article investigates the transitions of graduates of a middle-sized Italian university into the provincial labour market. University of Perugia administrative information and data from the job centres in the province are matched to reconstruct the timing of the university-to-work transitions of graduates since January 2004 to July 2009. Cox…

Purpose: This paper aims to analyse comparatively the existing partnerships between the University of Padua and the enterprises in Veneto region, Italy, on one hand and Kenyatta University and industries in Kenya on the other. Design/methodology/approach: This was a case study of the University of Padua in Veneto Region, Italy, and Kenyatta…

The focus of this paper is on the relationships between social origin, participation in tertiary education (enrolment, drop-out, enrolment at second level and post-tertiary education) and occupational instability among university graduates in a recent period of university and labour market reforms (the differentiation of higher education due to…