Challenges to Accessing Higher Education

for Immigrant Students in Italy

Brukab Sisay and Samson Lim

17 September 2008
University of Washington Rome Center
Background
• Our interests were two-fold:
▫ 1) Inspired to learn about social mobility and
educational opportunity by our Dream Project
experiences of helping first-generation, low-
income high school students get to college
▫ 2) Considering increasing immigration trends and
increasing competitiveness for jobs that do not
require university degrees, what is the future of
higher education, particularly for immigrant
students, in Italy?
Methods for Research
• Conversations with individuals
▫ Teachers and administrators
▫ Students
▫ Government officials
▫ NGOs
• Researching publications, reports, and statistics
▫ Organization of Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD) Reports
▫ European Commission Publications
Findings
• What does higher education mean in terms of
social mobility in Italy?
▫ Attaining higher education is not necessary for economic success because
of the availability of jobs that do not require university degrees
 Dottor Ongini, former director of Department of Intercultural Education
▫ Higher education opens doors to more opportunities
 Federica Bianchi, UW Rome Center Student and Facility Coordinator
▫ Specialization in Italian secondary schools means that not every student
needs a university degree and students worry about not finding jobs after
university because of the low number of skilled labor jobs
 Katia Scannavini, Lecturer, University of Rome
Findings (continued)
• What are the perceptions of and challenges to higher
education for immigrant students?
▫ Students typically follow the same education and career path as their
parents…the number of immigrant students in university is very low.
 Katia Scannavini, Lecturer, University of Rome
▫ The economic situation is so bad that there’s a sense that maybe you
shouldn’t go to college
 Cynthia, English for Adults teacher, Manin School
▫ Immigrant students don’t make it to university because they have to work to
support family and because of the availability of high wage jobs that do not
require higher education
 Dottor Ongini, former director of Department of Intercultural Education
▫ For second generation immigrant students, the challenges of not having
Italian citizenship preclude them from voting, working in government, and
many jobs…in my case, I have a big lack of motivation to keep living in Italy
 Yuè Cao, second generation immigrant and leader of G2, a second generation
youth organization
Findings (continued)
• What public/private support exists for
immigrant students in accessing higher
education?
▫ The creation and implementation of support programs is the
responsibility of individual schools
 Dottor Ongini, former director of Department of Intercultural Education
▫ There are no programs that exist to help support immigrant students in
accessing higher education
 Katia Scannavini, Lecturer, University of Rome
Conclusion
• What is the future of higher education, especially
for immigrant students, in Italy?
▫ In 2006, employment rate for those with tertiary
education stood at 80.6% compared with 52.5%
for those with below secondary education.
▫ The 28 percentage points difference in
employment rate is greater than the OECD
average.
▫ Major challenges seem to be perception versus
reality in terms of higher education
Source: OECD Education at a Glance - Italy (9 September 2008)
Recommendations
1) Greater financial support for immigrant
students to attain higher education
2) Increased support through public (government
funded and enforced) programs to help
overcome barriers and increase awareness of
opportunities for immigrant students
▫ Job opportunities that required skilled labor in
Italy
▫ Job opportunities outside of Italy in a 21 st
century economy and increasingly
interdependent world
Further Issues to Investigate
• How do challenges and perceptions of access to
higher education differ between:
▫ 1st and 2nd generation immigrants
▫ Privileged versus non-privileged immigrants
 Socioeconomic class
 Previous (Italian or non-Italian) academic degrees of
parents
 Citizens versus non-citizens
• Labor markets and educational achievement in
21st century Italy