Salary Acceptability and Substitution Factors for Graduates’ Employment

In this paper, we aim to understand the extent to which salary is negotiable for graduates when they search for a job after graduation. To this end, we created an experimental survey designed to identify their salary expectations. Graduates from an Italian university were randomized into four salary levels and asked about their willingness to accept a job with a predefined salary level. Moreover, in order to highlight the job aspects that could substitute salary considerations at the decision-making stage, we contrasted a hypothetical salary reduction with nine non-monetary aspects. In addition, the salary level associated with graduates’ ideal job was explored. The data analysis showed that a new graduate hesitates if presented with a job offer implying a trade-off between career prospects, work roles, and contractual advantages on the one hand, and salary on the other hand. Moreover, salary expectations differ according to gender, educational pathways, and other social and attitudinal variables.