Department of Management and Quantitative Studies University of Naples “Parthenope” (Italy) -Doctorate relevance is directly related to the quality of course portfolios (i.e., research schools, teaching, experience abroad) -Evidence of different patterns between genders in labour markets exist (discrimination?) -Different scientific areas denote different relevance for PhD holders Doctoral Education fostering an independent habit of mind through the furthering of independent research capacities that enable PhD graduates to create new knowledge and conduct research in the field of their choice (UNESCO, 2006) The analysis draws upon the 2009 Survey on Doctorate Holders’ Vocational Integration which aims at detecting the employment conditions of PhD graduates (5 and 3 years after graduation) and subjective opinions about the relevance of their doctoral experience and degree where the LATENT variable (y*), that is connected with the relative advantage to obtain a job coherent with the PhD degree, is supposed to be linearly related to the observed x’s through the structural model (Long, 1997): Gennaro PUNZO and Antonella ROCCA AIMS AT BACKGROUND AND INTRODUCTION PHYSICS LIFE SCIENCES ENGINEERING HUMANITIES HUMANITIES HUMANITIES HUMANITIES LAW ECONOMICS AND STATISTICS SOCIAL ACADEMIC CAREER -Doctorate seems to be more relevant for less remunerated jobs -Relevance is higher for the Economic and Juridic areas (ref. humanities) -No significant territorial divide exists -Spending a period abroad and getting experience of working in international research communities are intrinsically valuable processes Doctorate Holders in Italy: Fields of Study and Career Paths High levels of education improve human capital, foster economic development, promote occupability and reduce labour market mismatches (Third cycle of the Bologna process) attracting talented minds and developing their ability to act as major agents of creativity, innovation, knowledge transfer and problem solving in order to contribute to the progress of the wider society (LERU, 2007) training tomorrow’s knowledge workers in the light of three principles: INTERNATIONALITY – INTERDISCIPLINARITY – INTERSECTORALITY (European Commission, 2010) TO INVESTIGATE THE RELEVANCE (FORMAL AND SUBSTANTIAL) OF PHD EDUCATION IN ITALY AND THE QUALITY OF THE RESEARCH-TRAINING PROCESS The probability that the i th doctorate holder has proved relevant (formal and substantial) with the attained job is formulated in the cumulative standard logistic probability distribution function: DATA SOURCE AND METHODOLOGY: A PROBIT MODEL FOR DOCTORATE RELEVANCE MAIN EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE PRELIMINARY STATISTICS AIM OF THE WORK CAREER OUTSIDE UNIVERSITY Proxiex of quality of the research and training process EFFECTIVELY SOCIETY RECEIVES APPROPRIATE AND NECESSARY COMPETENCIES? Scientific Sectors Sub-national perspective Proxiex of efficiency of PhD production as crucial ways of improving efficiency of PhD production process, both for academic and not-academic careers INTERNATIONALITATION BEING YOUNGER DOCTORATE HOLDERS + References -European Commission (2010), Europe 2020 Flagship Initiative Innovation Union ( -League of European Research Universities (2007), Doctoral studies in Europe: excellence in researcher training, LERU -Long J. Scott (1997), Regression Models for Categorical and Limited Dependent Variables. London: Sage Publications -UNESCO (2006), Form Follows Function – Comparing Doctoral Training in Europe and North America, German Rectors Conference and Unesco-CEPES A clear divide exists between the North and the South/East Europe (except for Portugal) In Italy, the share of PhD holders (with a gap in favour of females) is still below the EU-27 average IS THE PhD DEGREE REQUIRED TO ACCESS WORK?