Graduates’ Job Quality after a Higher Education Reform: Evidence Regarding Second Level Graduates from a University in Southern Italy

Abstract

Generally graduates have more opportunity of finding a job than undergraduates. However a degree does not always lead to the expected labour market outcomes in terms of job quality. Italian graduates are not an exception in this regard. A University Reform (DM 509/99), implemented in the academic year 2001/2002, introduced a switch from a one-level university education system with just one type of degree to a two-level structure: the first lasting three years and the second another two additional years. 2010 is the first year for which data on labour market outcomes are available for second level graduates at three years after graduation. The aim of this paper is to contribute to the empirical literature by providing evidence of the job quality of graduates from a university located in Southern Italy, an area with structural problems in the labour market. The sample includes all summer session 2007 graduates from the University of Calabria. The quality of jobs at three years after graduation is studied in terms of type of contract, educational match and wage. More specifically, the paper aims to identify determinants of the contract type, educational match and wage. Our findings suggest that field of study is the main determinant of job quality. In particular, graduates in Engineering and in Pharmacy, are more likely to find a stable, well matched, and better paid job, with respect to graduates in other fields.