Career prospects | mathematics | University of Parma

This page shows the professional profile of the Mathematics graduate and his or her occupational outlets.

On a national level, the student who undertakes the study of Mathematics considers his or her preparation to be complete only by obtaining a Master's degree in Mathematics. Consequently, despite the fact that a three-year degree in Mathematics allows entry into the world of work, the majority of three-year graduates in Mathematics go on to a Second-Cycle Degree Course, usually in mathematics.

Professional profile of the Mathematics graduate

Function in a work context.
A graduate in Mathematics is characterised already with a first-cycle degree course by problem solving skills and a logical approach to various problems. The mathematical training allows one to enter the labour market, quickly acquiring the additional knowledge and specific skills required. In order to acquire greater autonomy and levels of responsibility in the performance of some of the listed activities or functions, however, it is necessary to continue studies with a Master's degree.

Main functions.

translates into mathematical language various problems relating to the scientific, economic-financial and computer science fields;
identifies simple mathematical models useful for describing these problems and solves them also using modern computer and scientific calculation tools;
analyses numerical data;
disseminates and disseminates scientific culture.

Competences associated with the function.

Aptitude for abstract reasoning, formalising and/or modelling concrete problems and solving them with mathematical and computer tools;
ability to manage, analyse and process numerical data;
communication skills, with particular regard to scientific culture.

Employment opportunities

Although there is no precise professional order for mathematicians, the professional outlets for graduates in mathematics can be diverse:

in companies and industry;
in laboratories and research centres;
in the field of dissemination of scientific culture;
in the service sector;
in public administration, with various areas of interest including IT.

In general, therefore, the professional outlets are in all fields where a flexible mindset, computational and computer skills, and familiarity with the management, analysis and processing of numerical data are useful.

It is worth noting the excellent data on the employment rate (def. Istat) within one year of obtaining a Master's degree in Mathematics (data source: www.almalaurea.it):

2014: 88,90%
2015: 100%
2019: 100%
2020: 80%

The figure is not available on the Almalaurea website in the years 2016-2018. The data compiled by the Academic Office of the Mathematics Complex confirm the high employment rate.

For more information on the professions of (master's) graduates in Mathematics, please visit the Mestieri dei Matematici website where testimonials from Mathematics graduates are also presented explaining the use they make of mathematics in their work.