Analyzing the Gap Between Job, Earning, and Career Satisfaction Among Young Graduates: Evidence from Italy

This chapter investigates the evolution of young graduates’ job and career satisfaction, intended as two complementary indicators of work-related wellbeing and career development, through the analysis of the cohort of graduate workers who entered the Italian labor market in 2014. Job satisfaction is observed 1, 3, and 5 years after graduation, while career satisfaction is observed 5 years after the degree. These self-assessed perceptions are then compared with the career expectations reported at the time of the degree. As early career paths are deemed to affect the wellbeing of young graduates, particularly in times of increasing precariousness and devaluation of qualifcations, the emerging gap between career perspectives and expectations offers useful insights on the infuence of early work experience on graduates’ relative wellbeing. The empirical analysis exploits a rich dataset on Italian graduates provided by the AlmaLaurea Interuniversity Consortium [AL] and containing information on employment status, university career path, family background, and individual expectations. Our fndings suggest that young graduates’ expectations and wellbeing evolve over time in an adaptive way. The poor quality of the available jobs in the labor market seems to induce graduates to adjust their priorities from earnings and career to work-life balance and social relationships.