Methodological notes

1. Data sources

The variables that have been used come from the following sources:

• administrative data: these information come from the administrative archives of universities that are involved in the survey, with the only exception of the variable “residence”. In this case the lacking administrative datum may be supplied by the information given in the AlmaLaurea questionnaire, in case it contains data regarding the residence. The variables that have been taken into consideration are: gender, date of birth, information related to the attended degree course, graduation date and mark, degree completion time and duration of studies;

• survey on graduates’profile: it mainly regards the variable “pure/hybrids”, which -as it will be further explained in 1.6- makes a distinction between post-reform graduates: those who completed their course of studies entirely and exclusively under the new system are defined as “pure” graduates, whereas those who achieved the degree completing a course of studies initiated under the former pre-reform system are defined as “hybrid” graduates. Information can be obtained by combining some administrative data with the answers given by graduates in the AlmaLaurea questionnaire which is has been submitted to them before graduation;

• survey on graduates’ employment conditions: it includes all information related to the employment status of graduates at one, three and five years on from graduation.

2. Survey methods

After the experiment, which was successfully carried out on first-level graduates in 2005, the 11th Survey on graduates’employment conditions has been extended to cover the whole population of post-reform graduates of 2007 (first- level degree, second-level degree and single-cycle second-level degree)who have been interviewed one year on from graduation. It should not be underestimated that the survey of 2008 has involved for the first time those who have achieved the second-level degree. The extension of the survey to the entire solar year enables us to make available data whose elaboration even reach the “degree course” level, in order to meet the information needs of the Ministry ¹ and to meet the requirements of the Italian universities, in particular of the small-sized ones.

The remarkable number of post-reform graduates that have been interviewed (over 140000) has made necessary a meaningful review of the organisation of the survey, which has implied above all the introduction of two survey methods: CAWI (Computer Assisted Web Interview) and CATI (Computer Assisted Telephone Interview). In particular, all graduates having an e-mail address (amounting to 85% of the total number) have been contacted via e-mail and asked to answer to a questionnaire located in the web site of AlmaLaurea. This procedure also included two reminders. Subsequently, all the students who had not answered to the on-line questionnaire –and also all the students who have no e-mail address- have been contacted by phone, so that the high response rates, that normally characterise the AlmaLaurea surveys could be achieved. In order to guarantee the fundamental time gap between the achievement of the degree and the interview, the graduates have been contacted in two different periods: from April to June 2008 have been interviewed those who graduated in the period between January and June, whereas from September and November have been contacted those who graduated in the period between July and December. ¹

The introduction of this double method, in particular of the technical method CAWI has determined a significant re-examination of the survey questionnaire, which has been significantly reduced. Anyway, the main information regarding both the educational and the working experience made after the achievement of the degree have been kept, so that the information made available to the universities would not be altered.

Contrary to this, the traditional survey on pre-reform graduates has kept the common structure unaltered: the survey has, therefore, involved all the graduates (over 64000) of the summer session of 2007, 2005 and 2003, who have been involved respectively at one, three and five years on from the achievement of the degree. For these cohorts the survey has been carried out with the CATI method and it took place between September and November 2008 ³. The questionnaire submitted to the graduates of 2007 and 2005 is the same used for post-reform graduates; contrary to this, the graduates of 2003 have received a more detailed questionnaire with further questions which are aimed in particular at discovering the characteristics of the job held.

All available information are, therefore, divided into the two main categories, i.e., pre-reform and post-reform and the latter is also divided into first-level, second-level and single-cycle second level degree. This inevitably enhances the level of complexity of the analysis that can be carried out on data. As a result of the specific features of their university careers, single-cycle second level degree holders of 2005 and 2003, they have been equalled to pre-reform graduates.

It should also been taken into account that in some cases the number of graduates involved in the survey do not exactly coincides with the figures reported in the statistics related to the graduates’ profile. This is mainly due to subsequent integrations or changes made on the databank after writing this report.

3. Universities involved in the survey

There are 47 universities taking part to the 11th survey. 39 of them are also involved in the survey focused on collecting data three years on from graduation and 27 of them in the one regarding the data collection carried out five years on from graduation.

Pre-reform graduates of the summer session of 2005 have been already involved in a similar survey in 2006 aimed at the data collection one year on from graduation. The graduates of the summer session of 2003 have been contacted another two times: in 2004 (one year on from graduation) and in 2006 (three years on from graduation).

On the basis of the aims of the tables elaborated for each university (guaranteeing to each university taking part in the Consortium to access a set of data that in the specific case of post-reform graduates is so detailed that it even supplies information on the single degree courses), the data have not been subjected to a re-proportioning statistical procedure. This procedure is generally used for the data that are presented during the yearly AlmaLaurea meeting. In this case the re-proportioning is fundamental to make sure that the assessments made do represent the situation of the Italian graduates.

Comments on some cohorts which have not been investigated

The survey of 2008 on graduates’ employment conditions excluded the graduates who have earned two degrees during the reference periods, because there was the risk to interview them two times but with reference to different degrees. In particular, as for first- and second-level degree holders, only the second-level degree has been taken into consideration, whereas in case of students having two degrees of the same level, only the first one has been taken into account for the analysis. If a student earned a pre-reform and then a post-reform degree, the prominence has been give to the post-reform one.

It has also been preferred to exclude the graduates who have earned the academic degree on the basis of special conventions. This case mainly regards: the workers of the health sector whose professional experience has been acknowledged by the University of Chieti-Pescara, which awarded them a first-level degree in one of the health sectors' faculties; the members of the armed forces and police officers who have concluded one of the courses available at the universities of Bologna, Florence, Modena e Reggio Emilia, Rome La Sapienza, Siena, Turin, Trieste and Tuscia.

Upon the request of single universities the graduates of the degree course “Strategic sciences” of the University of Turin have also been excluded from the survey because of the peculiar nature of this cohort.

4. Availability of data

There are two options for consulting data. Either you select some subcohorts of the graduate population and in this way you focus the analysis on a well defined cohort, or you can compare several groups of graduates through an analysis based on a specific comparison variable.

Available variables for selection

The available variables for selection are: Years on from graduation (one, three and five), kind of degree course (first-level, second-level, single-cycle second level degree, pre-reform), university, faculty, degree subject grouping, degree course grouping, degree course. The variable “degree course” is available for post-reform graduates only, whereas the variable “years on from graduation” is at the moment available only for pre-reform graduates: for them the survey is extended till the first five years on from graduation. In order to facilitate the consultation, some variables can be displayed only after having made a particular selection: For example, the variable “degree course grouping” can be displayed only after having selected a post-reform degree course. Likewise also the variable “degree course" regarding post-reform graduates can be selected only after having made a choice among universities. This is determined by the fact that the variable uses the codes of the databank containing information on the supply of study opportunities: to each degree course activated in a given university (or sometimes even in a given city) is associated a univocal code, which do not allows aggregations of different universities.

In some cases a degree course activated by a given university may change its identification code, although its name may remain the same. This may happen, for example, as a consequence of changes made to the subjects of the degree course or of a change of the degree course grouping in which the course is included and so on. In such cases the same courses are treated separately, since the codes the have are different. Next to the name of the course has been indicated the academic year up to which the course was still active. (e.g. “up to the academic year…”)or the academic year in which the course was started (“from the academic year ...”)

Available comparison variables

The available comparison variables are: kind of degree course (first-level degree, second-level degree, single-cycle second level degree, pre-reform), university, faculty, degree subject grouping, degree course grouping, degree course, gender, pure/hybrids, employment conditions at graduation, enrolment on a second-level degree. The last four variables can be selected only as comparison variables and not like variables for selection: in particular, “pure/hybrids” is available for all post-reform degrees, whereas “enrolment on a second-level degree” is available only for post-reform first-level degree holders. Moreover, for post-reform graduates the variable “degree course" identifies each degree course activated in a given university (or even in a given city,) therefore, you cannot compare different universities, since every degree course is associated to a univocal code.

Variables available only for some cohorts

Some information are available only for some degree courses. They mainly regard:

• all the questions of the 2nd section of the tables (“Attendance of a 2nd level degree course”)which are available only for first-level graduates (see 1.6, 1.7);

• the participation to training activities like doctoral research and postgraduate courses is obviously available only for pre-reform graduates and single-cycle second level degree holders (see 1.6);

• ”employment and training opportunities” is available only for first-level graduates (see 1.6);

• the answers on the ”employment conditions at graduation” have been collected through different methods for second-level graduates (see 1.6);

• ”Usefulness of the 2nd level degree course for the current job” is available only for second level graduates.

In this document there are further information on the majority of the variables. These explanations regard both how the questionnaires were submitted and the answer modalities. Consult the relative paragraphs for further information.

5. Conventions and further notes

Lacking data and no-answers

The administrative data are always complete, with the only exception of the variable “graduation mark” (1 lacking datum regarding the cohort of 2005 pre-reform graduates).

The variable pure/hybrid (whose definition has been reported in the section 1.6) is partly based on data collected through the questionnaires supplied to graduates before graduation. For this reason the information available do not regard all graduates but only a part of them, namely the remarkable percentage who answered to the questionnaire. More specifically, this information is not available for 12,7% of first-level graduates, 13,3% of second-level graduates and 14,6% of single-cycle second level degree holders.

As for the survey on graduates’ employment conditions, the only variable for which a remarkable share of "no-answers" is found (i.e., some people decided to take part to the survey but not to answer to a specific question) is- as it could be expected- the “Average monthly net earnings”. As for this variable, the non-answers rate amount to: 4,6% of pre-reform graduates at one year on from graduation; 3,6% of first-level graduates; 2,9% of second level graduates; 5,9% single-cycle second level degree holders; 4,4% of pre-reform graduates at three years on from graduation and 4,1% at five years on from it. For all the other variables that have been analysed the no-answers rate is lower.

In order to facilitate the reading and the comprehension of the tables, all no-answers have been omitted: for this reason the sum of the percentages may be in some cases lower than 100.

A share of lacking data is found for comparison variables: employment conditions at graduation, pure/hybrids and enrolment on a second-level degree. To facilitate the comprehension of the tables this share has never been reported, although it is included in the relevant total, i.e. "selected cohort".

Rounded-off numbers

Percentages have been approximated to the first decimal place: Because of this rounding off of the figures, the sum of percentages is sometimes different from 100. The only exceptions to this are: the cases in which there are “no-answers” (see 1.5);

Conventional signs

The hyphen "-" is used in the tables when the analysed phenomenon has been found, but no cases occurred. The percentage value 0,0 indicates that the phenomenon has been found and that some cases occurred, but with a percentage that is lower than 0,05.

Finally, the abbreviation "n.p." (that is the Italian for "not available; n/a")indicates that the elaboration has not been reported, since the data didn't actually concern the analysed cohort (e.g., the variable "type of work activity" would not be available if no graduate of the analysed cohort is employed; the situation is the same for “characteristics of the second-level degree course", if no first-level graduate has enrolled on a second-level degree).

The symbol "*" indicates that statistics have not been calculated, since they would have referred to a very small cohort (less than 5 units); see 1.5);

Useful information for a correct interpretation of the results

As already stated before, the tables give a detailed report of all cohorts having at least 5 graduates. Therefore, if the relevant group is below 5 units, (see for example the table concerning the pre-reform graduates of the faculty of Agriculture of the University of Bologna at one year on from graduation), in this case only the number of graduates, the number of interviewees and the response rate concerning the survey on the employment conditions are reported. All the other statistical data are unreported and percentages are replaced by the “*” symbol.

While analysing the results it is important to keep into account the number of people in each cohort: if the number of graduates to be analysed is low, then you should interpret the results with all the required caution.

Moreover, you should also take into consideration with all the required caution some cohorts of graduates that are characterised by particular educational and training backgrounds. There are some degree courses which stand out among all the others because of their importance and peculiarity. In these courses a huge number of graduates (pre-reform and single-cycle second level degree courses)tale part to postgraduate training activities and, as a consequence, they inevitably retard their access to the labour market. The most common examples are Medicine and Law. However, it’s also important to take into consideration other variables, like the employment condition at graduation, or, as for first-level graduates- the choice to combine study and work. Both elements significantly influence other factors, like employment opportunities and the characteristics of the job held. As for the first variable, it should not be forgotten that those who worked at the time of graduation generally experience an easier access to the labour market, since they already have the necessary experience for getting a job, even at better conditions. Obviously, those who stay in the job they held before graduation (and in particular, at one year on from graduation) have even better conditions as for employment security and earnings. Also the second factor that has been highlighted (that is the choice of first-level graduates to combine study and work) has a great influence on the characteristics of the job that has been held, which is generally a temporary or a part-time job and whose wages are low. Both variables can be taken into consideration as comparison variables in the tables, so that immediate comparisons can be done between different cohorts.

Comments on some faculties

If a university or a faculty has its courses in different seats, the presentation of data in the tables reflects this subdivision, so that the results about the employment status of graduates can be distinguished for each seat. This subdivision is done even more so when within a single university there are faculties whose courses are officially distributed among different seats.

It’s important to stress that some faculties can be found in just one university. In this case, the interpretation of the results of the overall group of investigated universities needs all the required caution.

A further comment on pre-reform graduates: it rarely happens that there are no graduates of a faculty in a particular year (see for example the heading “Architecture of the University of Bologna”, for which there were only 13 pre-reform graduates in 2005 and none in 2007 and 2003). In this case all relevant elaborations have not been reported.

Meaning of the word "degree" in the available elaborations

In order to facilitate the consultation of the tables the Consortium AlmaLaurea decided to use the term "degree" without any other more specific information related to the kind of degree that had been analysed (first-level, second-level etc). The only exception are the elaborations that are available for only one kind of degree course. In this case the kind of degree is specified, so that the analysed cohort can be better identified.

6. Definitions and indices

Pure/hybrid post-reform graduates

Post-reform graduates (first-level, second-level or single-cycle second-level degree holders) that are defined as “pure” are those who completed their course of studies entirely and exclusively under the new system. “Hybrid” graduates are those who achieved a first-level degree completing a course of studies initiated under the former system.

The procedure that is used to identify pure/hybrid graduates is based on the following information. As for the first-level graduates the following factors are considered: enrolment year, graduation year and the answers given by graduates to the following questions that are part of the questionnaire submitted to them before graduation:

• Have you achieved your degree completing a course of studies initiated under the previous system or have you just changed your degree course? If yes, where you in the pre-reform or in the post-reform system at the time when you made these changes?

• Have you achieved another academic degree (university diploma, degree etc.) previously to this academic experience? If yes, what kind of course have you attended?

• Have you started any other academic course different from the current one, but without completing it? If yes, what kind of course have you attended?

As for second-level graduates these factors are taken into consideration: the year of the completion of studies and the answers given by graduates to the following questions of the questionnaire:

• What kind of degree course have you achieved before enrolling on the second-level degree course that you are now completing?

• In addition to the above mentioned course, have you made any other academic experience? If yes, what kind of course have you attended?

• In order to achieve your second-level degree you have obtained 300 training credits. Have you obtained a part of these credits within a pre-reform system?

Finally, as for single-cycle second level degree holders the factor that is taken into consideration is the enrolment year.

In the tables in which there is the disaggregation between pure/hybrids the data on the selected graduates population also includes a share of interviewees whose academic studies cannot be reconstructed (i.e. the analysed variable they belong to) without any information relating to the previous academic experiences.

Enrolment on a second-level degree course

It should be taken into account that:

• "is is currently enrolled in a 2nd level degree course” includes not only the first-level degree holders who have enrolled in a second level degree, but also the 416 graduates who have declared to have enrolled in a 4-year degree course envisaged under the previous system (i.e., degree courses which have not been reformed.);

• "has been enrolled in a 1st/2nd level degree course, but is not enrolled anymore” includes not only those who have abandoned their studies within the first year of enrolment, but also the graduates who have successfully completed their new path of studies on which they enrolled after the achievement of the degree in 2007.

Postgraduate training

For obvious reasons related to the training courses that can be attended after the achievement of the first-level degree, in the elaborations related to post-reform first-level degree holders are not included activities like “doctoral research” and “second level master’s degree”. ⁴.

Moreover, it should be taken into account that the variable "has taken part to at least one training activity” is calculated in a different way for the pre-reform graduates that are interviewed at five years on from graduation, ⁵. In particular, there are also other factors which contribute to the statistics of this variable, such as: the answers related to the attendance at other degree courses subsequently to the course of 2003, the attendance at foreign language courses or computer science courses, but also the participation to the national civilian service (all these activities are not reported in the tables). The attendance at foreign language or computer science course are the activities which influence the most the increase in the percentage (for the overall graduate population the share amounts to 27%). For these reasons and only for this kind of information it is not correct to make any comparison between graduates interviewed at one, three and five years on from graduation.

Employment and further training condition of first-level graduates

The employment and further training condition of first-level graduates has been presented through two different elaborations: in addition to the traditional elaboration having three variables (“is working”, “doesn't work and doesn't look for a job” and “doesn't work, but looks for a job”), which is useful to make comparisons with other kinds of analysed degree courses, also another subdivision into five variables has been reported (“works and is not attending a 2nd level degree course”, “works and is attending a 2nd level degree course”, “doesn't work and is attending a 2nd level degree course”, “doesn't work, is not attending a 2nd level degree course and is not looking for a job” “doesn't work, is not attending a 2nd level degree course but is looking for a job”), so that prominence is given to the employment and training experiences made by graduates after the completion of studies.

The share of employed graduates is obviously obtained throgh the sum of those who work and those who work and attend a 2nd level degree course. Likewise, the total number of those who enrolled on a second-level degree course has been obtained by summing the number of those who combine study and work and the number of those who just study.

Therefore, the graduates who look/ don’t look for a job also include those who don’t have a job, are not enrolled on a second-level degree course and state that they are/are not looking for a job.

Employment condition and employment rate

Similarly to the ISTAT survey on the employment condition of graduates, in the elaborations of AlmaLaurea are considered as “employed” the graduates who state that they are carrying out a paid work activity, excluding from this category all those under training (traineeships, apprenticeships, doctoral research and schools of postgraduate studies). It can be deduced from this definition that having an income is a necessary but not sufficient condition to define a graduate as employed.

The “employment rate ”results from the ratio between employed graduates and interviewees and it is calculated in accordance with the ISTAT (Italian Board of Statistics) definition of labour force. According to this “less restrictive” definition, are defined as employed all the people who stated that they were carrying out a paid activity. All those under training are included in this category provided that they are paid. ⁶.

Unemployment rate

Unemployment rate has been calculated in accordance with the ISTAT (Italian Board of Statistics) definition within the continuous survey on workforce.

Unemployment rate results from the ratio between the number of those seeking employment and the labour force. Employment-seeking people, or the unemployed, are all those who are not in employment who state that they are in search of a job, that they have performed an “active” job-seeking action in the four weeks prior to the interview and that they are immediately prepared (within two weeks’ time) to take up a job, if offered. To these ones should be added those who state to have already found a job, which will start in the near future, but they would be anyway available to take up a job within two weeks’ time, if offered (and, by doing this, they would anticipate the beginning of the working activity).

The labour force results from the sum of employment-seeking people and those holding jobs (always according to the ISTAT-definition- Workforce).

Percentage of graduates who is not looking for a job, but is attending a degree course or is doing a training activity

In order to give to the universities taking part to the Consortium all useful information for meeting the "transparency requirements", as regulated by the article No. 2 of the already mentioned Ministerial Decree (D.M.) No. 544 of the 31st October 2007 and by the Directoral Decree No. 61 of the 10th June 2008 No 61 (in particular, see the section “Information on degree courses, subjects and other training activities”) in the tables are supplied all necessary information related to the percentage of graduates who do not work and do not look for a job because they continue studies (in another degree course or any internship/apprenticeship that is compulsory to enter the profession). In Particular, the adopted definition includes all the graduates who are carrying out internships/apprenticeships, doctoral researches, postgraduate schools, Italian master’s degrees (first or second level) other degree courses (any kind of degree courses, including the enrolment in academies or conservatories).

Employment situation at graduation

For first-level, second level, single-cycle second-level and pre-reform graduates are available the information on the employment condition at graduation thanks to the distinction made between those who continue in the job undertaken before graduation, those who do not continue in the job undertaken before graduation and those who have started to work later. Moreover, for second-level graduates it is possible to isolate those who have started to work even before enrolling on a second-level degree course from those who have found a job while attending the second-level degree course.

Effectiveness of the degree within the current job

Theeffectiveness of the degree, which synthesizes two important aspects related to the usefulness and exploitability of the degree on the labour market derives from the combination of questions concerning the use of the skills acquired at university and the necessity (both formal and substantial) of the academic qualification for the job activity. According to the interpretation offered in the scheme below, you can distinguish five levels of effectiveness:

• "very effective", for the employees whose degree is required by law or just necessary and who use the skills acquired at university to a wide extent

• "effective", for the employees whose degree is not required by law, but effective; and anyway useful and those who use the skills acquired to a wide extent or whose degree is require by law and do not use the skills acquired to a wide extent;

• "fairly effective", for the employees whose degree is not required by law, but it is anyway necessary or useful and who do not use the skills acquired to a wide extent;

• "not very effective", for the employees whose degree is neither required by law, nor useful and who do not use the skills acquired to a wide extent, or whose qualification is not required but anyway useful and who do not use the skills acquired at all;

• "uneffective”, for the employees whose degree is neither required by law, nor useful and who do not use use the skills acquired at all.

This classification excludes no-answers and also some “anomalous” characteristics which cannot be included in one of the above mentioned categories: in the survey carried out at one year on from graduation the modality “unclassifiable” corresponds to 2,3% of the employees (without any particular differences between the kinds of degree courses, except for a slight subrepresentation in the cohort of the single-cycle second-level degree holders, in which it amounts to 1,3%); then in the survey carried out at three years on from graduation it amounts to 2,4% and finally in the survey at five years it amounts to 2,2%.

Table 1 – Definition of the effectiveness of graduation

Use of skills acquired at university	Usefulness of the degree
	Required by law	Neces- sary	Useful	Not required by law né utile	No answer given
High	ME	ME	E	NC	NC
Low	E	AE	AE	PE	NC
None	NC	NC	PE	NE	NC
No answer given	NC	NC	NC	NC	NC

ME	very effective	E	Useful	AE	Fairly effective
PE	Not very effective	NE	Uneffective	NC	Unclassifiable

7. Comments on some variables and relative aggregations

Age at graduation

The age at graduation is calculated on the basis of the age- which is considered as an entire number- but also of the date of birth and the graduation date.

Graduation mark

The graduation mark is here expressed on a scale of 110/110 also for the pre-reform graduates of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Bologna, although only in this faculty the graduation mark is generally expressed on a scale of 100/100. For calculating the average marks, it has been established that the mark 110/110 with honour corresponds to 113/110. For this reason the average degree mark can be sometimes higher than 110.

Duration of studies

It is defined as a time span intercurred between the 5th November (a date that is conventionally considered the beginning of the courses) of the year of registration and the graduation date. For second-level degree holders it is considered the time span between the 5th November of the year of enrolment on the second level-degree course and the graduation date.

Reasons for enrolling in a 2nd level degree course

This elaboration is referred to the people who, after the achievement of the first-level degree, enrolled on a second-level degree course apart from the fact that it still took one year for them for the achievement of the first-level degree.

Reasons for not enrolling in a 2nd level degree course

It should be taken into account that:

• "working reasons" includes the answers given by graduates who work or already worked at the time of graduation, or who have subsequently found a job, which led them to do not enrol on a second level degree;

• "other reasons" includes the modality "the degree course applied selective entry and the student had not been admitted", "the student had problems with the attribution of educational credits", "other reasons".

University and faculty of enrolment

To evaluate the characteristics of the second-level degree chosen by first-level graduates, the Consortium took into consideration the university and the faculty of enrolment on the second- level degree course. However, it is important to stress that in some cases changing the university automatically determines the change of faculty because of the different organisation of courses that each academic seat has. In such cases, the change is merely formal. For these reasons it is useful also to take into consideration the information concerning the peculiarities of the second-level degree compared to the ones of the first-level degree course.

Time-to-entry into the labour market

The time-to-entry into the labour market is calculated just for the graduates who have started the work activity that they currently hold after the achievement of the academic qualification. Therefore, are excluded all the graduates who continue in the job held before completion of the studies. The time elapsed between graduation and the beginning of the search for employment and also the time elapsed between the beginning of the search for employment and the finding of the first job were calculated by excluding those stating that they haven't ever seeked employment.

Tipe of work activity

It should be taken into account that:

• "collaboration" includes project contracts, coordinated ongoing collaboration contracts ad-hoc contracts, supply-of-personal-service contracts and, in particularly, the supply of professional guidance;

• "Other kinds of flexible contracts" includes “socially useful” employment contract and and contracts “of public usefulness”, jobs made available under a special “professional insertion plan”, interim work contracts, “associate” employment contracts, job on call, shared job and “occasional, accessory” work contracts.;

• "total for permanent job" represents the sum of the modalities "self-employment" and "permanent employment”;

• "Total for flexible contracts" represents the sum of the following modalities: "fixed-term employment contract", "collaboration", "other flexible contracts".

Average monthly net earnings

As for the question on net monthly earnings, there are several earning brackets in Euros: "up to 250€", "251-500", "501-750", "751-1.000", "1.001-1.250", "1.251-1.500", "1.501-1.750", "1.751-2.000", "2.001-2.250", "2.251-2.500", "2.501-2.750","2.751-3.000", "over 3.000€". The average has been calculated by excluding no-answers and by using the the central value of the earning bracket (except the first one, i.e. 200, and the last one, i.e. 3 250). Sometimes no graduate answers to the question. In such cases the abbreviation "n.p." (in English "not available; n/a") is used.

Branch of activity

The 23 branches of activity have been aggregated on the basis of the analogy that exists between the sectors and the percentage of answers of each option.

It should be emphasized that:

• the modality "building industry" includes also "construction, planning, installation and maintenance of buildings and plants".p>

• the modality "chemistry/energy" includes also It also includes "petrochemistry, gas, water and mining";

• "manufacturing industry" includes the modalities "press and publishing", "electronics and electrotechnics", "manufacturing" (i.e., food production, tobaccos, textile, clothing, leather, footwear, wood, furnitures, paper, gum and plastic);

• "commerce” also includes "hotels and other public commercial concerns";

• "consulting" includes the modalities "legal advice, administrative advice, accountancy" and "other professional and guidance activities"";

• "other services for companies" also include the modalities "advertising, public relations";

• "other services" includes the modalities "cultural and recreational services and sports", "other social and personal services" and "other branch".

Reasons for not looking for a job

"waiting to be contacted by the employer" in a broad sense also includes those who are waiting to work on a self-employment basis.