Social,Cultural and Material Conditions of Students from Developing Countries in Italy 1

Abstract

Recent immigration to Italy features certain traits, one of which is the high rate of educational attainment by immigrants. According to various evaluations (ISPES, 1990), 59 percent of the immigrant population obtained a high school diploma, while 13.5 percent possessed a university degree.

For approximately five years, the CE.R.FE. (Research and Documentation Center) has conducted research on the social, cultural and material conditions of immigrant university students, highlighting the ambiguity of their condition (in addition to their perceptions of themselves) oscillating continuously between the status of student and immigrant.

In particular, sample research was conducted ² on non-EC university students present in Milan, Perugia, Rome, and Bari. The study was able to compare data collected at different times to information in a first study conducted in 1986, ³ and a second completed in 1990. It is interesting to note that these different research periods coincided with intensive legislative action by the government promulgated two laws regulating non-EC immigration, Law No. 943/86 and Law No. 39/90. Increased interest on the part of the government as well as of the public and press toward the immigration problem influenced – even though marginally – the development of the students’ non-EC immigrant perceptions of themselves and their roles.