Higher Education and Graduate Employment in Italy

Abstract

The Italian higher education system was characterised from the outset (when the country was unified in 1861) until a few years ago by a single study cycle which followed on from senior high school. This cycle, which lasted four years (five in the case of engineering, and six in the case of medicine) led to the award of a legally recognised qualification known as a laurea.However, the Italian university system has changed over the years, partly in accordance with the trend towards studying for vocational qualifications, and it is now structured in three levels: a) the`short cycle' or university diploma course (lauree brevi or diplomi universitari); b) the degree course (corsi di laurea); c) research doctorates and specialist diploma courses (dottorati di ricerca e scuole di specializzazione).Degree courses, organised into faculties, are the main component of the university system (there are now 88 different types). In 1995±96, there were 417 faculties in Italy in some 65 universities, with 80 campuses. Some university diploma courses (physical education, statistics, primary school supervision, palaeography and musical philology, history of music and music teaching) were already operational in the 1970s. In 1982,`special-purpose colleges' were instituted to train social workers, ophthalmology assistants, rehabilitation therapists, etc. These courses were converted into two-or threeyear diploma courses in 1990. In 1992, many new diploma courses (usually accepting a fixed number of applicants) were instituted, thus increasing the supply of first-level university education.Diversifying the supply of higher education also led to the creation of postgraduate doctorate courses in addition to the existing specialisation colleges and advanced courses. The success of the first and third levels is still fairly modest, partly because of the difficulties encountered by holders of these qualifications on the labour market, where professional figures precisely matching their qualifications have not yet been established.The fact that the types of higher education offered are still insufficient is seen in the development of a non-university sector of post-graduate training leading to the award of a master's degree. Although this degree is not legally recognised in

Higher education and unemployment in Europe: an analysis of the academic subject and national effects

“…First is the case of Italy, where the effect of an academic degree on reducing ST unemployment is much lower than in the UK (-1.06), while the effect on reducing LT unemployment is greater than average (-.517). This evidence is in line with the study by Moscati and Rostan (2000) that identifies much worse employment prospects for recent graduates (25-29 years) than for the next segment of graduates (30-34). This suggests that the transition from the university to the labour market in Italy is slower than in the rest of Europe…”

“…Nevertheless, most of these focus on particular countries. Such studies include: Jones et al (1987) and Woodley & Brennan (2000) for the UK; Plumper and Schneider (2007) and Schomburg (2000) for Germany; Paul and Murdoch (2000) for France; Moscati and Rostan (2000) for Italy; Gines et al (2000) for Spain ;Cardoso and Ferreira (2008) for Portugal; and Livanos (2009) for Greece.…”

Education and the Age Profile of Literacy into Adulthood

“…Just as some European countries moved from selective to comprehensive secondary education by the 1970s, many have recently shifted from "elite" higher education to "mass" higher education, which Trow (1974) characterized as serving at least 15 percent of the "age grade" by increasing access to both elite university programs and "popular nonelite institutions." This transition appears to have occurred because European governments have increased supply-not continuously and flexibly, but through discrete policy responses to long-standing shortages (for example, Moscati and Rostan, 2000;Greenaway and Haynes, 2000). Combined with declines in the size of college-aged population brought about by the drop in fertility in Europe in prior decades (see Feyrer, Sacerdote, and Stern in this symposium), such policy shifts have almost certainly been at the heart of the dramatic increases in university graduation rates shown in Table 2.…”

Higher education in Romania: Evolution and views from the business community

“…We can mention the recent studies conducted in a number of European countries: in France by Paul & Murdoch (2000), in Germany by Schomburg (2000), in Italy by Moscati & Rostan (2000), in Norway by Arnesen (2000), in Austria by Kellermann & Sagmeister (2000), in UK by Woodley & Brennan (2000) and others. These studies analysed mainly the relationship between higher education and employment in statistical terms, but also in qualitative terms through aspects such as the abilities and skills graduates need in order to integrate into the labour market.…”