Italian graduates’ employability in times of economic crisis : overview, problems and possible solutions

Relying on various sources of data, the article aims to prove an overview on Italian graduates’ employment and labour market participation in times of economic crisis. It provides a short des­cription of Italy’s higher education, economy and labour market, and an analysis of graduate em­ployment, especially focusing on fresh graduates. Three possible views on the Italian case are also suggested, and some recent policy initiatives fostering graduate employability both at the national and the local levels are illustrated. In order to offer a better understanding of the topic, the Italian situation is occasionally compared to the situation of Germany, the leading economy in Europe.Com base em diversas fontes de dados, este artigo pretende contribuir para uma visão geral sobre o emprego e a participação no mercado de trabalho dos graduados italianos em tempos de crise económica. O texto inclui uma breve descrição do ensino superior italiano, da economia e do mercado de trabalho, bem como uma análise do emprego dos graduados com especial enfoque nos que o são há menos tempo. São sugeridas três perspetivas possíveis sobre o caso italiano, assim como se ilustram algumas iniciativas políticas recentes que procuram promover a inserção profissional dos graduados, tanto a nível nacional como a nível local. Por forma a permitir uma compreensão mais aprofundada do tema, a situação italiana é ocasionalmente comparada à si­tuação da Alemanha, país economicamente líder na Europa

La cooperazione internazionale allo sviluppo nella formazione sanitaria in Italia.

The health personnel are among the most requested ones in the field of international cooperation.Unfortunately, university training in the health sector does not provide for a specific course oriented to training in the field of cooperation. Specific training on health cooperation are post-graduate training or field experiences outside the degree course.A questionnaire was administered to the medical and nursing students of Brescia and Pavia to explore their knowledge, interests and attitudes towards cooperation.Our analysis confirmed the lack of knowledge about the international cooperation, but at the same time an interest by students to fill this gap

International academic mobility: A Global Perspective on Scholars

The paper aims at seizing the opportunity offered by the Changing Academic Profession INternational Survey to investigate several aspects of the international mobility of scholars.On the basis of some findings and conclusions from both the research on international migrations and on academic mobility which converge in considering a sociological life course approach suitable for studying international academic mobility, several types of international academic mobility are identified and discussed. Further, the impact of international mobility of scholars on their international activity is analysed showing whether these two aspects of the academic profession are linked or not, and which types of mobile academics are the most internationally active

Global: English as "Lingua Franca" and the Internationalization of Academe

English has become the major language of scientific communication, and to a lesser extent, teaching worldwide. Using data from a international study of the academic profession, this article discusses some of the themes, positive and negative, of the role of "global English

Higher Education and Economic Development in Africa: Some Comments from a Distance

The presentation provides both comments on the general project on Higher Education and Economic Development in Africa, and on two specific Country reports (Mozambique & South Africa): further a comparison between the analytical frame of the project and an analytical frame used in Europe and in Italy to study the relationship between higher education and regional development is provided

English as "Lingua Franca" and the Internationalization of Academe

English has become the major language of scientific communication, and to a lesser extent, teaching worldwide. Using data from a international study of the academic profession, this article discusses some of the themes, positive and negative, of the role of "global English

Challenges to academic freedom: some empirical evidence

short abstract A contribution to the sociology of the academic profession addressing the issue of the growing pressures on academics to be relevant to both society and the economy. The possible impact of these pressures on a defining element of the profession, namely academic freedom, is also considered. Building on the results of the Changing Academic Profession International Survey, specific mechanisms (evaluation, funding, research activities) through which the notion of relevance intrudes into the academic profession in selected European countries are investigated. long abstract It seems appropriate to distinguish at least two aspects of academic freedom: (a) freedom from external constraints in choosing topics, concepts, methods and sources, which in western democracies generally enjoys a certain level of protection by law; (b) freedom to act in the pursuit of goals and values, with academic staff being in control of the relevant means to do so, which is generally strictly related to the overall organisation of universities and the higher education system at large. Both these aspects have been understood as necessary conditions for producing and disseminating new knowledge, i.e. the two main functions of higher education institutions. It can be added that academic freedom has been considered as one of the elements defining the academic profession, at least after the Second World War. On the one hand, academic freedom is strictly connected with the idea that the pursuit of knowledge for its own sake through research represents the main goal of the academic work. On the other hand, academic freedom and peer review are considered as necessary devices to ensure quality, i.e. quality is ensured by the self-steering capacities of academics or their professional autonomy. In the last few decades, several processes have had an impact on academic freedom: (a) the rise of higher education institutions as more autonomous corporate bodies, which has implied the strengthening of the role of administrative staff at the expense of the academic community, a trend that has been named ‘managerialism’; (b) the drive of governments away from more direct forms of control in favour of a system of distant steering, which has implied stronger accountability of higher education institutions and academics and the use of assessment devices; (c) the increasing demands to and pressures on academics and higher education by both the economy and society to support economic development, innovation, and social progress, a trend to which we refer to as growing expectations of relevance. The impact of the first two processes is quite clear and pertains mostly to relationships within higher education institutions and to the relationship between academics and the state. The impact of the last process is less clear and pertains to the relationships between academics and the external world, mostly the economy, but also society. Building on the results of the Changing Academic Profession survey, this article will address the issue of the growing pressures on academics to be ‘relevant’ to both society and the economy, and of the mechanisms through which the notion of relevance intrudes into the academic profession in selected European countries, especially evaluation, funding, and specific kinds of research activities

English as "Lingua Franca" and the Internationalization of Academe

English has become the major language of scientific communication, and to a lesser extent, teaching worldwide. Using data from a international study of the academic profession, this article discusses some of the themes, positive and negative, of the role of "global English

English as “Lingua Franca” and the Internationalization of Academe

Data collected through the Changing Academic Profession (CAP) survey—referring to 25,000 academics working in 18 countries located in 5 continents—allow to investigate whether and to what extent English is the contemporary academic “lingua franca,” and how it contributes to the internationalization of the academic profession in different countries