ALMALAUREA CONFERENCE 2008

Knowledge of the major aspects and most significant pathways in graduates’ transition to the labour market provides fundamental feedback information not only to the higher education institutions that have trained them, but also to the production system at large, in particular to the sectors of research and public administration. Furthermore, any such survey is all the more useful when it can draw upon reliable and up-to-date information.

Such feedback is all the more important if one considers the recent ministerial provisions which make explicit reference to the employment condition as one of the main performance indicators for resource allocation to the universities (percentage of graduates who are employed at one year from graduation: Ministerial Decree No. 362 of July 3, 2007) as well as one of the main effectiveness indicators for introducing two- and single-cycle degree courses in the educational provision database (percentage of graduates who are employed at 1, 3 and 5 years from graduation: Ministerial Decree No. 544 of October 31, 2007).

Based on the large number of universities and graduates involved (almost 93,000 graduates from 45 Italian universities) and on the graduates’ interest and accessibility (88% of the telephone interviews was obtained from graduates one year after graduation, 84% after three years and 76% after five years), and taking into account the time interval under observation (data was obtained from graduates from 2006, 2004 and 2002), the documentation gathered as part of the 10th AlmaLaurea Survey offers a reliable cross-section of the general situation and important insights for further in-depth analysis.

Furthermore, this Survey makes it possible to examine the employment and/or study condition of more than 22,000 1st-level graduates one year after graduation (with a response rate of 89%), thus monitoring the progress of the university reform.

At the Conference, specific analysis will make it possible to investigate major aspects pertaining to the employment conditions of graduates who are employed in the industry and in the service sector, in the public and in the private sectors, so as to assess the actual number of self-employed individuals. Further in-depth analysis will highlight important aspects in relation to graduates’ mobility for working reasons.