Growing up between two cultures: the case of children of mixed unions in Italy

Alessandro Rosina, Università Cattolica, Milan
Laura Terzera, Università Milano, Bicocca
Giulia Rivellini, Università Cattolica, Milan

In Italy within little more than one decade the incidence of mixed marriages has tripled. It is one of the strongest increases among the developed countries. On of the main reasons of this growth is the accentuated process of immigration. The children of mixed marriages, being in a position between Italians and foreigners, constitute a privileged point of observation to study the integration process of the second generations. In this paper we focus on the scholastic performances of the children of mixed unions during the secondary school in comparison to students whose both parents are Italians or foreigners. The result of our analysis are of particular interest in term of social policies since the lack in the learning process produce inequalities in the early phase of the transition from adolescence to adulthood with potentially negative consequences in the subsequent life-course.