Zac was born in Friuli, to Egyptian parents. Having graduated with excellent grades, he started working in an import export company where he is highly appreciated because he speaks Arabic well. He is often away, between the Emirates and Indonesia. He has an Italian girlfriend, her mother adores him. But all it takes is a nothing, a difference of opinion with other relatives of the girl, and the racial insult is triggered. He, he says, pays no attention. Who knows if it’s true. Second generation Italians live in limbo. Many were born here and obtained citizenship at 18, others had it earlier through their parents, still others have not succeeded and are fighting to obtain it against bureaucracy and an obtuse law.
«The more integrated they are, the more they would like to be like their peers, but they don’t always succeed, because they carry their migratory background in their surname, or in the color of their skin» says Laura Zanfrini, Head of Economy and Work at ISMU Foundation. If the first generation, that of the parents, «did the jobs that Italians no longer want to do, the second would like to grow, improve». Quality work is the challenge to be overcome. Zac succeeded, he found a company that understood his added value: knowing two languages, representing a useful bridge between two cultures. But it doesn’t always happen.
What catches the eye, for example, is the Unioncamere’s 2022 Excelsior report on immigrant workers: among the skills required, flexibility comes first (61 percent), while only 27 are interested in knowledge of the Italian language. «Immigrants are still thought of as labourers, and this also applies to the second generation» adds Zanfrini. «Intercultural skills are undervalued».
Fiorangela, 30 years old, second generation Italian: she was born in Puglia to Albanian parents, raised in the Marche, now lives in Padua. Photo Karim El Maktafi.
Kwanza Musi Dos Santos, of Brazilian origins, raised in the Roman neighborhood of Tor Pignattara, is one of the founders of This is Rome, an association founded 10 years ago by second generation Italiansamong them also some adopted abroad: «We want to show a plural society that already existseven if it is rarely talked about” he says. Kwanza works as a diversity manager, trying to create a match between companies «that want us but don’t know how to find us, and many second generation boys and girls who don’t know how to present themselves or don’t even present themselves, for fear of not being caught. My task goes from recruitment to valorisation, because often a glass ceiling weighs on us, they don’t let us grow. Some stereotypes persist: we are still surprised that we speak Italian well, we are not represented in textbooks, we are crushed by the prejudice according to which, since you are the son of immigrants, you are necessarily problematic.”
The former Bocconi student and successful entrepreneur
She didn’t let herself be crushed Silvia Wang, of Chinese origins, raised in Brescia, who after graduating from Bocconi with top marks in Marketing Management worked abroadto then return, marry an Italian, have two children (a third is on the way) and found two start-ups: first Pronto Pro, a service platform sold in 2021, then Serenisonline wellness platform, second medical psychotherapy center in Italy.
«My parents had a restaurant and I think I took an entrepreneurial mentality from them. I’ve always thought about starting my own business.” Today Serenis can count on a network of a thousand psychotherapists and psychiatrists who have already served 50 thousand users. A success story, achieved through study and work, despite the fact that as a child Silvia felt like “an alien, because I was the only Asian at school”. Luckily for her, however, she became Italian as a child, when her parents obtained her citizenship.
Second generations: the obstacle of citizenship
Also Mohamed, of Somali origins, born in Milan, has been Italian since he was a child. Graduating from the Polytechnic in Management Engineering, while he was studying he took a Data Analyst course in order to be able to work. Joining the company was simple: «I did an internship, then they took me. My skills mattered». He is surprised when asked if he feels more Somali or Italian: «I never ask myself that. I am Mohamed.”
Mohamed, 28 years old, of Somali origins, lives in the province of Milan. He works as a Data Analyst. Photo by Karim El Maktafi.
Fiorangela’s father arrived from Albania in ’91. Shortly afterwards his wife joined him and three “beautiful” daughters were born in Puglia. The family then moved to the Marche, where the three girls studied. «We were the first Albanians in a small village where everyone knew each other, it was hard» recalls Fiorangela. Having quickly become Italian, she began working as a hairdresser. “At work, however, I have never had any problems.” Now she has moved to Padua for love and she has a dream: «To open my own salon in a couple of years».
For those who do not have citizenship, the road is much more uphill: you can’t work in schools, in the police force, in healthcare. Many become discouraged and leave: «In the United Kingdom there are many second generation Italian healthcare workers who, without citizenship in Italy they cannot be employed in hospitals while in England they can. They feel valued there” says Kwanza.
Fioralba Duma, founder of the Italians without citizenship association, arrived in our country from Albania at the age of 11, but remained “in suspense”, because he does not have the necessary income requirements (8000 euros per year for the three years preceding the application and for the period of the process). According to her, as for Kwanza, the situation of the second generations has two sides: that of those «they appreciate you because you know 2-3 languages, and that of those who ask you why you continue to study “since you will be a carer”, as they told a Polish friend».
Fioralba underlines an important aspect that precedes the search for work: training. It is precisely there, during the school years, that a decisive fracture occurs for the future path: «As long as you go to primary school you have no problems. But when, in eighth grade, you have to choose high school, everyone takes it for granted that you will go professional. I attended classical high school, and it seemed strange.”
Sela, 21 years old, of Ethiopian origins, lives in Milan. Photo by Karim El Maktafi as part of the «They call us second generation» project.
The Off Campus experience
The obstacle, therefore, is in the years of growth. Francesca Cognetti, delegate of the rector of the Polytechnic for, also believes this Off Campusa project in four peripheral neighborhoods of Milan where research and laboratories take place in collaboration with local associations. The first space was born in San Siro and currently hosts an after-school club for female students and Tech7a peer to peer coding course, by students for students. In the youngest neighborhood of Milan, with 50 percent foreigners, «the second generations have more complex growth paths than their peers».
Educational poverty mixes with economic poverty, discrimination is in fact: there are no holidays, no sports. And, if you don’t even reach maturity, your future work becomes an unknown. «There are actually success stories, even if these kids struggle much more than those with Italian parents. Those of them who manage to have a regular course of study and graduate well, bring high skills to the companies, because they are used to working and know languages.”
The push of the family
But for these results to be achieved, Two conditions are needed: «The first is the strong push of the family. Often there is: there are foreign parents, perhaps graduates, who in Italy do unskilled jobs to live and focus everything on their children. For them, they represent redemption. The second is school. We have a technical institute where they are very attentive, but in general, especially in high school, specific guidance for second generations would be needed. Their success should be a feather in the institution’s cap. An Egyptian Coptic girl has arrived at Off Campus, enrolled in a scientific high school; Her parents, although supporting her, were unable to help her. In June she was promoted, an achievement for her, for everyone.”
Intervening against educational poverty would be the first investment to make also according to Laura Zanfrini. «Italian society is rich, each of us has unique characteristics that companies should valorise. But what is needed above all is to get away from the narrative that sees us as opposed to each other, “us Italians” and “them immigrants”. Only together can we build a future project for society.” © ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Save the Children’s analysis of second generation Italians at school
In Italy, there were almost 900 thousand children with a migrant background in 2021/22, 1 in 10 compared to the total number of students, with a change of only 0.8 more than the previous year. «At the end of the first education cycle», observes Antonella Inverno, head of research, data and policies at Save the Children, «according to Invalsi data, among those who do not reach sufficient skills in Italian, mathematics and English, foreigners are double both compared to Italians and compared to the children of foreigners born in Italy. At the end of the fifth grade, those with the same deficiencies are 6.5 among children born in Italy with a migratory background and 8.5 among Italians. Compared to an average of 11.5 percent, 9.8 percent of second generations born in Italy and 30 percent of foreigners do not graduate. All this means that students born in Italy, given the conditions to study, do well. Meanwhile, they don’t have the language barrier. And almost always the parents are well integrated». Save the Children recently launched a campaign for citizenship law reform.
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