Italy has one of the largest gaps among OECD countries between the educational aspirations of native students and those with a migrant background, according to a new report released by Save the Children. The study, titled “Call Me by My Name. A Survey on Students with a Migratory Background in Italian Schools,” reveals that migrant students are 12 percentage points less likely than their native peers to expect to enroll in and complete a university degree.
Currently, only 3.9% of students enrolled in Italian universities are of foreign origin, with nearly half of them concentrated in the regions of Lombardy, Lazio, and Piedmont, amounting to just over 35,000 students. The report identifies “economic condition and guidance” as primary factors influencing this disparity.
The analysis further indicates that this trend begins with high school selection. Many students with a migrant background are steered towards vocational or technical institutes, which are perceived to offer quicker access to the job market, rather than academic high schools (licei) that prepare students for university.
While poverty is a significant factor, the report also points to potential negative biases influencing student choices. Data from Italy’s National Institute of Statistics (Istat) shows that even among minors who describe their economic situation as “good,” only 35.4% of first-generation and 43.7% of second-generation migrant students intend to enroll in a liceo. This gap persists among high-achieving students: while 70% of top students without a migrant background plan to attend a liceo, the figures drop to 60.6% for second-generation and 47.8% for first-generation migrant students.
Overall, 53.7% of native Italian students choose a liceo, a rate approximately twenty percentage points higher than their peers with a migrant background. The divide is also evident among high-achieving, socioeconomically disadvantaged students. Of those who excelled in middle school in the 2021/22 academic year, only 48.7% of first-generation and 52.7% of second-generation migrant students enrolled in a liceo the following year, compared to 60.7% of students without a migrant background.
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