The human capital of graduates who worked during their university studies

In this paper we discuss the main results of a study carried out at the University of Padua on graduates who worked during their studies. We term these graduates former studying workers as opposed to working students. A sample of studying workers has been surveyed following graduation to highlight the reasons and the educational consequences of their engagement in the competing fields of work and study, and besides to measure the return to society and at work of the human capital accumulated at university. Our study corroborates the current hypothesis that studying work-ers are highly exposed to the risk of dropping out or falling behind with their studies. To improve their profits from study and to increase and valorise the human capital of studying workers, focusing on their expectations, we propose some specific university services. To the aim of analysing the data at hand, we apply multivariate methods.