FROM DISADVANTAGE TO ACADEMIC CHALLENGES. AN EMPIRICAL STUDY ON THE UNIVERSITY PERFORMANCE OF SECOND-GENERATION IMMIGRANTS IN ITALY

In Europe, despite ongoing progress in integration, disparities persist in the educational and labour market outcomes between the children of immigrants and those of natives. Compared to their native peers, the offspring of immigrants frequently lean towards technical and professional secondary education tracks. Moreover, their educational performance tends to lag, leading to disparities in enrolment and dropout rates, academic achievements, and assessed learning levels. The educational gaps are further correlated with observed differences in unemployment rates and wages. Do these differences in outcomes depend on second-generation immigrants (SGIs) being burdened by a proper educational disadvantage? What are the sources of such a disadvantage? Does disadvantage persist in tertiary education? And do we still find among SGI college graduates poorer labour market outcomes as compared to their native peers? By addressing these questions, we seek to fill the existing gap in understanding the experiences of SGIs enrolled in tertiary education. While current research has focused on the secondary education outcomes of SGIs in Europe, a significant gap remains in understanding their experiences in higher education. We first review the existing literature on the educational outcomes of SGIs. We start by conceptually and empirically differentiating between the inequality of opportunity and the inequality of outcomes. This distinction forms the foundation of the definition of ‘disadvantage’. Subsequently, our analysis delves into the migrant-native gaps, drawing insights from four comprehensive datasets through valuable microdata. Our datasets span across three cohorts of Padova University students, covering the period from high school diploma to one year post-bachelor's or master’s graduation. We find that SGIs entering university carry lower skills and knowledge from their prior studies compared to their native peers. As a consequence, we observe differential effects in terms of university dropout rates, time to, and grades at graduation. However, we argue that the gaps are lower at graduation than at enrolment and in the transition from bachelor’s to master’s courses. This suggests that SGIs acquire more knowledge at university than their native peers, aligning with the assumption that SGIs hold higher aspirations than natives. Additionally, we support the well-established observation that female students, particularly SGI females, tend to outperform males. Narrowing our examination to the subset of graduates, we notice a deviation from the trends observed in secondary education literature. Contrary to expectations, parental education appears to account for a relatively modest proportion of the unadjusted gaps. In terms of early labour market outcomes, our analysis suggests that the offspring of immigrants, especially female graduates, achieve quicker employment than their native counterparts. However, their jobs often diverge from their educational trajectories. Additionally, children of immigrants tend to concentrate more in low-skilled positions compared to their native peers. In conclusion, we reveal a gradual reduction of the gap between children of immigrants and those of natives towards the conclusion of university studies, culminating in its complete elimination in post-graduation outcomes.