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Italian PhD students at the borders: The relationship between family background and international mobility

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Abstract

Previous literature has suggested that PhD students’ mobility has become a fundamental step during doctoral studies, both for training purposes and for creating transnational research networks. In recent years, there has been a significant increase in migration of highly educated and highly skilled Italians. Most studies concentrate on employment-related characteristics of researchers’ and scientists’ mobility, largely neglecting other topics, such as family background characteristics of those who decide to study and go abroad. Using the Istat Survey on occupational conditions of PhD holders conducted in 2014 and 2018 in Italy, along with modelling using multinomial logistic regression analyses, we aim to investigate the relationship between family background characteristics and mobility during PhD studies according to different types of international stay. Our results show that both parental education and mother’s economic activity are related to the propensity for studying abroad among PhD candidates, whereas father’s social class seems to have a lower impact on this decision. The gap in doctoral mobility among PhD students with respect to socio-economic status seems also to vary according to the different types of stay abroad. Overall, our findings intend to shed light on potential disparities related to studying abroad among PhD students and their links to family background, which may have future repercussions on students’ occupational prospects.

Suggested Citation

  • Valentina Tocchioni & Alessandra Petrucci, 2020. "Italian PhD students at the borders: The relationship between family background and international mobility," Econometrics Working Papers Archive 2020_10, Universita' degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Statistica, Informatica, Applicazioni "G. Parenti".
    • Handle: RePEc:fir:econom:wp2020_10
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    File URL: https://labdisia.disia.unifi.it/wp_disia/2020/wp_disia_2020_10.pdf
    File Function: First version, 2020-12
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    3. Boeri, Tito & Brucker, Herbert & Docquier, Frederic & Rapoport, Hillel (ed.), 2012. "Brain Drain and Brain Gain: The Global Competition to Attract High-Skilled Migrants," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199654826.
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    6. Tommaso Agasisti, 2009. "Market forces and competition in university systems: theoretical reflections and empirical evidence from Italy," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(4), pages 463-483.
    7. Straubhaar, Thomas, 2000. "International mobility of the highly skilled: Brain gain, brain drain or brain exchange," HWWA Discussion Papers 88, Hamburg Institute of International Economics (HWWA).
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    Cited by:

    1. Agustin Rodriguez-Esteban & Javier Vidal & Maria-Jose Vieira, 2024. "The Influence of Parents’ Social Origin on Occupational Achievements of University Graduates: An Analysis of Education–Job Match," SAGE Open, , vol. 14(2), pages 21582440241, May.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    PhD students; international mobility; family background; higher education; multinomial logistic regression; Italy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions
    • C25 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Discrete Regression and Qualitative Choice Models; Discrete Regressors; Proportions; Probabilities

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