From Research Training to Labour Market Outcomes: Gender Disparities in Career Advancement and Knowledge Transfer among IIT Alumni

Abstract

Understanding how gendered expectations influence career trajectories in research and innovation is essential for creating an equitable scientific ecosystem. This paper presents an initial analysis of the career paths of alumni from the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT), focusing on researchers who spent at least three years at IIT in the past fifteen years before moving on to positions in academia, entrepreneurship, or other scientific careers. The broader investigation adopts a mixed-methods approach, combining quantitative tracking of alumni outcomes with qualitative evidence from case studies and semi-structured interviews. This paper specifically draws on insights from the interview data to explore how gender, nationality, geographical distribution, and other social factors intersect in shaping post-IIT career opportunities and constraints. As IIT is a relatively young institution, this paper offers an initial examination of how its institutional practices and networks facilitate or hinder equal access to career opportunities, research funding, leadership positions, and business start-ups. The study also investigates knowledge transfer from IIT to broader ecosystems and examines how knowledge flows may be mediated by gendered patterns of recognition, collaboration, and access to resources. Initial findings indicate that while IIT provides a strong platform for research excellence and innovation, gendered expectations may still influence alumni career trajectories, particularly in relation to access to funding, research outputs, entrepreneurial risk-taking, and mobility choices. By linking alumni experiences and narrative accounts, the study provides a nuanced picture of the how research institutions contribute to gender equality in scientific careers. Additionally, it identifies institutional avenues to foster a more inclusive research and innovation environment.