The introduction of Ph.D. Programs in the Italian Higher Education System: International Influences and Failed Reforms

Abstract

Introduced into Italian legislation with the Presidential Decree 382/1980, and started three years later, Ph.D. programs are the results of recent developments in the ‘missions’ of the Italian academia; and judging by the frequency with which subsequent regulatory interventions have redefined their contours and objectives, their integration does not seem complete yet. The reasons for this situation lie in the difficulty with which, during the twentieth century, the Italian university approached international research training standards, and more generally in the difficulty of accompanying their adoption with adequate system reforms.