Industry-funding for Ph.D. students: benefits and challenges

This paper investigates employment outcomes for a large sample of Ph.D. students who were enrolled in a doctoral training program in Italy in the period 2008-14. The empirical analysis is based on survey data obtained from a questionnaire distributed to 23,500 individuals in 2016. In Italy, student enrolment in a Ph.D. involves a university-based selection process; most students then receive either government or private sector financial support covering their study period. We are interested in the influence of privately funded scholarships on subsequent success in obtaining a job in academia or in the business sector or choosing self-employment. We hypothesize that receipt of private funding will increase the probability that the student will go on to pursue a career in the private sector. We find that private sector funding/scholarships have a tangible effect on steering the students toward employment in the private sector only if during their study period they have an opportunity to collaborate with a company. If the aim is to promote employment of graduates by private firms, then our results suggest that private companies should seek to be more closely involved in university Ph.D. programs.