Graduates find much more work than graduates in Italy

In Italy, in 2021, the employment rate of 25-64 year old graduates is 82.1%, 4.3 points lower than the European average; the gap rises to 6.8% among 30-34 year olds (81.1%) while it is 17.4 points among those under 35 who graduated from one to three years before (67.5%).  Wide the distance UE27-Italy for the quota 30-34enni graduates: 41.6% against 26.8%. In the North and the Centre the share reaches 30%, while in the South it stops at 20.7%. Gender gap marked: despite higher levels of education among women, female employment rates are much lower (55.7% versus 75.8% of men). Are the data contained in the report of the Istat entitled "Levels of education and employment returns of the year 2021", the last available and of which as UniOlbia we offer a synthesis

Less qualified than the rest of Europe

The diploma is considered to be the level of training required for labour market participation with growth potential. The proportion of the population aged 25-64 holding at least one upper secondary qualification is, therefore, the main indicator of a country’s level of education. In 2021, 62.7% of 25-64 year olds had at least one upper secondary education in Italy, compared with 79.3% of the EU27 average, 84.8% in Germany and 82.2% in France.

Less graduates

In the same age group, the percentage of those with tertiary education (20.0%) is also lower than the European average (33.4%) and is about half that recorded in France and Spain (40.7% in both countries).

The degree protects against crises

In the population aged 25-64, the employment rate increases between 2020 and 2021 (65.6%, +0.8 points). The improvement is more marked for those with a tertiary qualification (+1.7 points against +0.5 of the middle-low levels of education). It should be noted that, during 2020, the employment of graduates has suffered the most minor impact of the pandemic; the highest qualification has indeed played a protective role during the crisis and has facilitated the subsequent employment recovery.

Graduates find more work

In 2021, the already marked employment "premium" of education (the increase in the probability of being employed as the degree attained increases) increased further. The employment rate of those with upper secondary education is, in fact, 18.9 points higher than for those with lower secondary education (70.3% against 51.4%). Moreover, the employment rate of those with tertiary qualifications is 11.8 points higher than that of graduates (82.1% and 70.3%).

Women more graduates than men

Women in Italy are more educated than men: 65.3% have at least one diploma (60.1% among men) and women graduates reach 23.1% (16.8% among men), much more marked differences than those observed in the EU27 average. The advantage of women in education, however, does not translate into an advantage in the workplace. The female employment rate is much lower than that of men (55.7% versus 75.8%), but the gender gap narrows as the level of education increases (31.7 points for low titles, 20.3 points for averages and 7.3 points for highs).

As levels of education increase, female employment rates increase more markedly than male ones: 19 points between graduates and graduates (6 points among men) and 25.5 points between graduates and women with at most the lower average license (14.1 among men).

Bad for the Mezzogiorno and Sardinia

The population (25-64 years) living in the Mezzogiorno is less educated than in the Centre-North: 38.1% have upper secondary school diplomas and only 16.4% have tertiary qualifications; in the North and the Centre about 45% are graduates and more than one in five are graduates (21.1% and 23.7% respectively). The territorial gap in levels of education affects men and women, although it is more marked for women.

In the Mezzogiorno the employment rate is much lower than in the rest of the country and the unemployment rate is much higher even among those with a high degree: the employment rate of graduates is 73.5% (13 points lower than in the North) and the unemployment rate is 8.2% (five points higher). In the Mezzogiorno, however, the employment advantages of education are greater than in the Centre-North, particularly among women who have reached tertiary education.

Bad for youg people and for the Mezzogiorno

In Italy, one in three young people (33.3%) and only one in five young people (20.4%) have a tertiary qualification, it follows that the gap with Europe is greater for men (the EU averages are 47.0% and 36.3% respectively). The territorial gap to the detriment of the Mezzogiorno is also very marked: one in five young people graduated (20.7%), against three out of ten young people in the Centre and the North (30.0% and 30.4%).

Employment advantage of the degree also evident among young people

The employment advantage of the degree compared to the diploma is very clear: among the 30-34 year old graduates the employment rate is over 12 points higher than that of graduates. Among young women, the employment rate of women graduates remains significantly lower than that of men (78.3% against 85.7% of graduates), although the employment advantage of the degree compared to the diploma for young adults is higher than that of older women.

In the Mezzogiorno, it is the reduced demand for labour also from higher levels of education that determines the territorial gap observed in the proportion of graduates employed, further widening among younger people. In 2021, the difference between the North and the South in the employment rates of the 30-34 year-old graduates is 23 points (13 points in the population 25-64 years).

In 2021, the employment rate of the 30-34 year-old graduates, after the 2020 decline, recorded a growth of 3.4 points; the largest increase is observed among women (3.8 to 2.8 points), who had been most affected by the pandemic.

More employment with business degrees

In 2021, 24.0% of young adults (25-34 years old) with a tertiary degree have a degree in the scientific and technological disciplinary areas, the so-called STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) degrees. The share rises to 33.7% among men (one graduate in three) and drops to 17.6% among women (one graduate in six), highlighting a major gender gap. Territorial differences for STEM graduates are evident for the male component: the share varies from 30.8% in the Mezzogiorno to 36.4% in the North.

University education appears to determine important differences in graduate employment rates. In 2021, the employment rate among the 25-64 year old graduates in the Humanities and Services area was 75.9%, rising to 81.7% for graduates in the Socio-economic and Legal area, stood at 85.3% for STEM and reached the maximum value (88.5%) among graduates in the Medical-health and pharmaceutical.

Education levels and employment returns for the year 2021 (Istat)