A questionnaire from ilPonte Giovani proposed to the three-year classes of a high school in Rimini returns important results: more than half of the students interviewed say they want to go to study or work abroad after graduating from high school.
For years in Italy we have been talking about the ‘brain drain’, the phenomenon that involves thousands of recent graduates who, after their studies, choose to look for work abroad. In recent times, however, the phenomenon has taken a different turn: there are more and more people who want to leave the country already during their studies. We therefore conducted a survey on the three-year students of the A. Serpieri high school in Rimini on this matter.
The context
Brain drain experienced its “boom” between the years 2000 and 2010: since then, it has done nothing but grow in various fields such as information technology or research. The reasons are many and varied, but the most important remain the lack of positions suited to one’s abilities, well paid and above all with better career prospects which are instead offered by foreign countries. It wouldn’t be a problem if we were talking about a ‘brain swap’ phenomenon which also affects others Countries according to which new graduates emigrate en masse, but at the same time there is equal immigration, thus arriving at a state of equality in which exits are equal to come in. In Italy, however, this does not happen: the country is like a punctured tire from which the air never stops coming out. This could also be the government’s fault, which for years has taken the problem lightly, as for example Minister Moratti declared in 2005 at the conference at the CNR in Rome on the good results of research policies, defining it simply as great mobility and not as an escape. In recent years, between 2017 and 2020, the government has attempted to resolve the situation with incentives for encourage the return of brains. The current Council of Ministers, however, has partially revised the support measures, resulting in the choice to reduce the incentives starting from 2024. This is all information that does not go unnoticed by young high school students who, at the end of the fifth year, will have to decide how to pursue one’s future and, especially, where.
The situation of Rimini students
To understand the situation, we went to Alessandro Serpieri high school in Rimini, in the Viserba area, to propose a very simple survey to the three-year classes, those most interested and at the same time pressured by future expectations. To the 120 kids who participated were asked four simple questions:
Would you like to study abroad? If yes, why? and Would you like to work abroad? If yes, why?
Result? The data emerging from the responses collected are worrying.
To the first question, the 51.7% of the kids answered yes.
The majority of students from both scientific and artistic fields wish to go and study in foreign countries and not attend university in Italy. The motivations have been various: many talk about the educational experience that is obtained by studying abroad, by meeting one important cultural exchange; but the rest of the answers are divided into two large groups: those referring to the school system and those to the political system. “ The school system in some areas abroad is better than the Italian one, especially in the university field” is the answer of M. a fifth grade boy, shared by many: in fact, there are many who think that the Italian school system is a bit of a “hole in the water”. As he says S. a third grade girl: “Education in Italy is too theoretical.”
And that’s not the only problem. “Italy doesn’t give enough recognition to young minds. – is the answer of T. a fourth grade boy – Abroad, young people are valued more”. So the problem that we persist in treating as a taboo, that is, the weight we give to young people, does not disappear just because it is not mentioned, on the contrary it is even more perceptible to the young people who experience it.
In fact, to the third question about how many young people want to go to work abroad after their studies, the 58.5% answered yes.
Most Italian students want to leave Italy to live their own lives. Here too, the reasons are many and varied, but they could be summarized with the answer of L. a fifth grade girl. “Abroad they value young workers more, with higher and more stable salaries, and with benefits. Italy no longer gives hope to young people.”
This is the harsh truth that we increasingly avoid admitting, but which is slowly leading our country to economic and research immobility. We also mention the fact that, while young people are leaving, average life expectancies increase more and more with the decrease in the number of births, reaching surreal data: in many areas of Italy, especially in the suburbs, there are more people over 65 than those under 30.
In conclusion, what can we say about this phenomenon? There is certainly no prospect of its decreasing in the coming years without a drastic change that caters to young people and can give them the right prospects to build their own future in what remains their home.
EMILY HYSA
