School enrolment of first‐ and second‐generation immigrant students in Italy: A geographical analysis

• DOI: 10.1111/pirs.12042
• Publication Date: 2023-10-01T15:15:24Z
• Authors: Paola Bertolini; Michele Lalla; Francesco Pagliacci
• Keywords: First-generation immigrants; second-generation immigrants; educational territorial pattern; schooling determinants; seemingly unrelated regressions; First-generation immigrants, second-generation immigrants, educational territorial pattern, schooling determinants, seemingly unrelated regressions

This paper analyses non-compulsory secondary school enrolment of immigrant students in Italy. Such enrolment implies a voluntary decision and can influence future career paths in the labour market. The results show that the enrolment rates of immigrants are lower than those of Italians. Immigrant students prefer vocational schools and shorter-term education. The pattern of these preferences remains constant across the throughout Italy, even if Italy presents strong differences in the economic development of its regions, with rich Northern and poor Southern regions. The enrolment rates of second-generation immigrant students differ from those of first-generation students, but the size of this component is still too small to indicate a clear trend. Resumen Este trabajo analiza la matricula no obligatoria en escuelas de educacion secundaria de los alumnos inmigrantes en Italia. Dicha matricula implica una decision voluntaria que puede influir en las futuras trayectorias de carreras del mercado laboral. Los resultados muestran que las tasas de matriculacion de los inmigrantes son mas bajas que las de los italianos. Los estudiantes inmigrantes prefieren las escuelas de formacion profesional y la educacion a corto plazo. El patron de estas preferencias permanece constante en toda Italia, a pesar de que Italia presenta fuertes diferencias en el desarrollo economico de sus regiones, con regiones ricas en el norte y pobres en el sur. Las tasas de matricula de los estudiantes inmigrantes de segunda generacion difieren de las de los estudiantes de primera generacion, pero el tamano de este componente es todavia demasiado pequeno como para indicar una tendencia clara.