Employment figures for PhD graduates are booming, at 94.1 per cent after one year. STEM subjects are performing well

A comparison with master’s degree graduates gives an even clearer picture of the results: one year after graduation, their employment rate stands at 80.8 per cent, 13.3 percentage points below that of PhD graduates, and it is only after five years that it reaches 94.4 per cent. Among those who started work after graduating, the first job is found on average within two months.

The quality of work also matters. 76 per cent of those in employment one year on rate it as ‘very effective or effective’, 1.7 points lower than in the previous survey but 9.1 points higher than in 2019; the range varies from 83.4 per cent in the basic sciences to 67.2 per cent in the humanities.

The one-year employment rate exceeds 90 per cent across all subject areas. Degrees in STEM subjects are particularly effective: 96.1 per cent for engineering graduates, 94.9 per cent for those in life sciences and basic sciences, 91.7 per cent for graduates in economics, law and social sciences, and 90.7 per cent for PhD graduates in the humanities.

PhD programmes appear to have undergone a transformation compared with the pre-Covid era. 19.4 per cent of PhD graduates in 2025 completed their PhDs in collaboration with businesses, through industrial partnerships or advanced apprenticeships, whereas in 2019 the figure was 5 per cent – a drop of more than 14 percentage points. This approach is most common in engineering (26.9 per cent) and the basic sciences (21.8 per cent), and least common in the humanities (13.0 per cent). Whether this is merely an effect triggered by the extraordinary funding from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) or a genuine shift in the collaboration between research and industry, we will only find out now that the Recovery Plan is drawing to a close.

Amidst this growth, a gender gap persists. The two fields in which this model is most widespread – engineering and basic sciences – are also those with the lowest proportion of women (35.2 per cent and 39.7 per cent). In engineering, the proportion of women who have completed a PhD in collaboration with industry – 22.2 per cent – is 7.2 percentage points lower than that of men.

The average net monthly salary one year after graduation is 1,984 euros. In nominal terms, it has risen; however, when adjusted for purchasing power, in real terms, it has fallen by 1.2 per cent compared with 2024 and by 1.5 per cent compared with 2019.

Their salaries, however, remain significantly higher than those of master’s degree graduates, both one year after graduation (€1,495, +32.7 per cent) and five years later (€1,903, +4.3 per cent).

Here too, as with employment outcomes, there are marked differences: these range from €2,107 in the life sciences to €1,650 in the humanities, a field in which the higher prevalence of part-time work also plays a significant role (11.9 per cent compared with an overall figure of 5.2 per cent).

Men earn 11.9 per cent more than women (€2,092 compared with €1,869); the pay gap remains at 8.4 per cent even when considering only those who started work after completing their degree and are in full-time employment.

As well as the gender gap, another cause for concern is the marked tendency among our PhD graduates to choose to work abroad. Or at least to wish to do so.

68.7 per cent of doctors in 2025 believe that there are greater job opportunities abroad in their field, whilst only 9.4 per cent think they have better prospects of establishing themselves in Italia. However, the proportion looking abroad is down compared with 2019, when it stood at 72.7 per cent. But that is little consolation.

Salaries appear to be a key factor. 14.4 per cent of doctors are employed abroad, with an average salary of 2,745 euros, compared with 1,858 euros for those working in Italia. We are talking about an increase of more than 47 per cent, and that figure speaks for itself.