Lifestyles and Perspectives of PhD Students of Italian Universities

Lifestyle refers to “a set of practices with unitary sense and relational meaning, which is a distinctive model shared with a community without having either a preexisting cognitive-value framework or a predetermined sociostructural condition as generative elements, even though it may be influenced by them” (Barzano, Genova, 2014, p. 11). Furthermore, a style of life “is built up through the striving for a particular goal of superiority” (Adler, 1929, p. 117). Therefore a similar approach to lifestyle refers to the way individuals live their life, namely their activities, their consumptions, their attitudes, their interests and their opinions. For this purpose, this study provides an overview of people’s lifestyles and perspectives, focusing particularly on a specific segment: PhD students 2 enrolled in Italian universities. The PhD program is very demanding in terms of time and effort, such that it leads to a reprogramming of life rhythms. Even though it is a high level educational experience, it doesn’t necessarily guarantee access to the world of work, nor to a career in the research field (ISTAT, 2015, 2010).