Italian PhD courses system: evaluating external effectiveness by structural equation models

The analysis of the contribution of the PhD title to the PhDs employment condition is an important tool for evaluating the quality and the effectiveness of PhD programmes. For this reason, monitoring PhDs careers becomes fundamental for explaining the mismatch between third level education and labour market2. The aim of this paper is to assess the external effectiveness of PhD programmes using a Structural Equation Model. The analysis is performed with data from a survey on "Current situation and employment prospects of PhDs”. The proposed measure of "external effectiveness" is a latent variable stemming from satisfaction with the employment status of PhDs who achieved the title in 2008.