Italian report - NEWS Network on Ethnicity and Women Scientists Fr

Transcription

Project no. 518040
Project acronym: NEWS
Project title: NETWORK ON ETHNICITY AND WOMEN SCIENTISTS
Instrument: Specific Support Action
Thematic Priority: Science and Society
Deliverable 6: Italian national report
Due date of deliverable: 31st March 2007
Actual submission date: 31st March 2007
Start date of project: 1st January 2006
Duration: 24 month
Organisation name of lead contractor for this deliverable: ULB, Genre & Migration
Project co-funded by the European Commission within the Sixth Framework Programme
(2002-2006)
Dissemination Level
PU
Public
PP
Restricted to other programme participants (including the Commission Services)
RE
CO
Restricted to a group specified by the consortium (including the Commission Services)
Confidential, only for members of the consortium (including the Commission Services)
X
University of Bari
Department of Work and Industrial Relations
NETWORK ON ETHNICITY AND WOMEN SCIENTISTS
Work package 2
Deliverable 6: state of the art report - Italy
Prof. Emma Corigliano and Dr. Lidia Greco
31st March 2007
NEWS project - Deliverable 6
Italian Report
March 2007
Content
Chapter 1 – The national background
1.1. The Italian colonial and migration history
1.2. Migrants and the Italian labour markets
1.3 The regulation of migration: from a labour market regulation to internal and external closure
1.4 The Italian legislation on refugees
1.5 Bilateral agreements
1.6 Socio-demographic profile of foreigners in Italy
Chapter 2 – Women position in sciences
2.1 The theoretical approach
2.2 The methodological approach
Chapter 3 - The structure of the higher education and research system
3.1 Women and science in Italy and Europe
3.2 The University system in Italy
3.3 The research system in Italy
3.4 Formal recruitment practices in academic and research careers
3.5 Informal recruitment practices in academic and research careers
Chapter 4 - Data and statistics on women scientists
4.1 Statistical overview on education
4.1.1 National level
4.1.2 Local level: The University of Bari
4.2 Statistical overview on employment
4.2.1.1 University
4.2.1.2 Research
4.2.2 Local level
Chapter 5 – Studies on women scientists
Chapter 6 – Policies, measures and programmes
Chapter 7 – The network
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Chapter 8- National specificity
Chapter 9 – Recommendations
Bibliography
Glossary
Statistical Appendix
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Italian Report
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Chapter 1 – The national background
1.1. The Italian colonial and migration history
In the last decades of the 19 century, imperialism became a means of economic and political power
for industrialised countries, that were developing into capitalist societies. The most visible way in
which imperialism manifested itself was the creation of colonies. At the end of the century, the
number of British and French colonies doubled, while new countries, such as Russia, Germany,
Belgium and Italy, started to annex new territories to themselves.
The Italian colonial history consists of three main phases.
At the end of 1800, Italy showed its interest in Africa by purchasing the Assab Bay in 1869
belonging to an Italian shipbuilding society. Later on, Italy occupied Massua in Eritrea and a part of
Somalia (1885-1890). Under the Crispi’s Cabinet, expansion projects in Africa started again,
despite a clear opposition of Italy’s public opinion. The expedition to conquer Ethiopia failed with a
severe defeat of Italian troops at Adua in 1896. In 1911, “the second war of Africa” in the Libian
territory was launched. Under the influence of nationalistic parties, this time the Italian public
opinion supported the war. Italy’s colonial strategy in Libia was somehow different from the
previous one as it intended to pay attention to local people. Among other things, Italy wanted to
acknowledge the Italian citizenship to Libians, through the establishment of the so-called Libian
‘rule’. Nonetheless, despite its good intentions, no aspects of this policy was concretely pursued.
The second phase of Italy’s colonial expansion took place in Somalia. This land was never a real
battleground but witnessed a series of repressive actions between 1892 and 1925.
The third phase took place in Ethiopia in 1936, under the Fascist regime but had a short history. The
end of the Italian colonial history coincided with British occupation of its colonies in 1943. It was
only in 1947 however that a formal peace treaty imposed Italy to give them up (Villari, 1984).
Italy’s tormented colonial history, reviewed above, has left no signs in the country’s legislation. The
law does not make any difference in the status of migrants if they come from Italy’s ex-colonies. It
is important to stress however that the number of naturalised coming especially from Ethiopia in
Italy is considerable, witnessing a wide presence of Italian citizens in that country.
With concern to the migration history, Italy has relatively recently shifted from being a country of
emigration to a country of immigration. After years in which million of Italian left the country in
search for a better destiny (note: various sources estimate that nearly 20 million of Italians left the
country to reach mainly the US, Canada, South America and Australia and other European
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countries), and internal migrations brought million of Southerners to northern Italy, in 1975, for the
first time, official statistics register a positive migration balance. New migrants started to settle in
the country, besides the communities of Somalis and Filipinos in Italy’s large cities and of North
Africans in Sicily, which traditionally constituted the bulk of foreign presence in Italy. The 1981
census revealed a relatively ‘high’ number of foreign residents (210,937), while the first big influx
was recorded in 1984-1989 when around 700-800,000 people entered the country.
A number of influential scholars agree on the causes that modified the routes of international
migration and made Italy attractive to migrants. Economic reasons intertwine with institutional
reasons and so do internal and external factors. Fordist mass migration towards Northern European
industries started to fade with the crisis of the late 1960s-beginning of the1970s. Tight labour
market conditions, with unemployment and production saturation, urged restrictive legislation for
non-native workers. From temporary locations from which to reach northern destinations, Italy,
together with the other Southern countries, became a settlement location. Migratory influxes into
Italy were therefore totally unplanned and the outcome of restrictive policies in other countries.
At the same time, Italy’s internal condition changed. Based on a series of studies of Southern
Europe’s post war economic and social transformations, King and Black (1997) identify three
different pre-conditions that made Italy and other Southern European countries attractive to
immigrants:
•
The coexistence in these countries of high and low productivity sectors but also the existence of
intra-sectoral dualisms whereby large capitalist farms coexisted with small properties; similarly,
modern factories coexisted with artisanal workshops;
•
The move of indigenous workers from low to high productivity sectors and from low to the high
segments in the same sector;
•
The decline of rural population and with it the supply of cheap labour.
Italy’s late but rapid process of industrialisation that started in the industrial triangle of Torino,
Milano and Genova was characterised by an intense process of accumulation made it possible,
among other things, by the availability of cheap workforce leaving southern Italy’s rural areas and
sustaining processes of urbanisation. In the late 1970s and 1980s, however, whilst growth rates
continued, internal migration faded and so did emigration abroad, and indigenous workers started to
claim higher wages and to switch to higher productivity sectors of the economy. Finally, especially
in the 1990s, the slowdown of the economy produced unemployment but, for the effect of the
reservation wage, unemployment was preferred to low wage and low productivity sectors. Foreign
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workers became therefore essential to fill production and service gaps and therefore, besides push
pressure, responded also to pull factors.
From a cultural and social perspective, the arrival of foreign people in Italy raised no general
concern at the beginning. Undoubtedly, at first, it dealt with a numerically limited presence.
Nonetheless, for a long time, both the prevailing Catholic tradition, with its solidarity principles,
and powerful left wing parties, lobbying for more development aid and support with the oppressed
created an attitude of tolerance towards foreign people settling in Italy. These enjoyed also the
solidarity of trade unions. In addition, as stressed by Sciortino (1999), Italy’s willingness to exercise
a geo-political role in the Mediterranean basin led it to search for more ‘inter’ -national policies
towards migrant flows especially from North-Africa. As a foreign policy interest, Italy sought to
establish a series of agreements with sending and transit countries in order to encourage them to
control emigration and to repress illegal departures to Italy.
It was at the beginning of the 1990s that immigration became a central issue in the Italian
panorama. A significant cultural turn prompted increasingly restrictive legislation in the
immigration field. The political crisis that led to the demise of post-war parties (i.e. the Christian
Democrats, the Socialist, the Liberal and the Republican parties) and the emergence of new political
forces such as Forza Italia and the Northern League implied primarily the crisis of the values that
had formed the Italian social fabric, their difficult composition and ultimately their modification.
The issue of migration ceased to be a labour market issue and an issue of social solidarity to become
an issue of public order and crime. Under the rhetoric of right wing parties, the approach to the
issue of migration became one of securisation and closure. A general attitude of denial and nemesis
hit the country which, on the one hand, seemed to forget its need for foreign workers and, on the
other hand, to pay respect to individuals’ aspirations to improve their condition. A schizophrenic
detachment also occurred between the real conditions of several entrepreneurs and families that
were in need for or even employ foreign workers and the fear of crime, fed by mass media and low
level politics. Even if lacking on several grounds, the Law approved by the left wing government in
1998 recognised that the Italian society expressed a demand for foreign workers and therefore
sought to manage migration flows on the basis of equity, legality and lack of discrimination.
The cultural structure imbuing the new Law on immigration passed in 2002 was based on a vision
of immigration as a threat to be fought and minimised and on the equation that immigration is
always equivalent to illegality and crime: as stressed by Livi Bacci (2002), except for dictatorial
countries where having a passport is not a right, emigration is never illegal.
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1.2. Migrants and the Italian labour markets
As already noted, until the beginning of the 1970s, the first noticeable groups of migrants present in
Italy were Somalis, settled around Rome, Latin Americans fleeing from political discrimination and
terror and a relatively larger North African (Tunisians and Moroccans) community, settled in Sicily
and working in the fishing industry. At the end of the 1970s, migrants became more visible as a
consistent number of them, especially women, started to work as maids and domestic assistants in
the large metropolitan areas. In the following decades, migrant flows consolidated.
Immigrants who arrive in Italy do not find homogeneous contextual economic conditions and
therefore they are incorporated in it in structurally different ways as structurally different are the
country’s labour markets. Accordingly, in the most industrial and service sector economies of
Northern regions, immigrants fill gaps in the industrial labour market, where they usually accept the
most hazardous and\or physically demanding jobs in construction, metal work and foundries. These
jobs are usually available because of their nature, of the negative demographic trends existing in
these regions but also because of higher educational achievements among young people. On the
basis of some empirical research in Emilia Romagna, however, Petrillo (1999) contends that
immigrants are not only employed in jobs that are deemed unacceptable to Italian workers. They
may fill significant gaps in the job market and are employed in traditional factories carrying out
blue-collar functions. Immigrants in these regions also work in low productivity service occupations
and domestic labour. In general, these jobs are mostly legal although illegal employment is also
diffused. In addition, especially in Lombardia and Veneto, the numerous SMEs tend to offer
increasingly ‘a-typical’ contracts, such as compulsory part-time, special contracts as well as selfemployment contracts.
By contrast, in southern regions, immigrants are more likely to accept seasonal agricultural jobs.
Immigrants’ black labour is much more frequent just as the underground economy in southern
regions is more widespread. According to the researchers quoted above, immigrants’ irregularity
and social marginality are indeed necessary conditions for finding an employment. Here, local
labour markets are highly segmented and the lack of control make illegality and clandestine
immigration a ‘normal’ condition. Moreover, industrial jobs are scarce.
Finally, in central Italy, where Rome is the main magnet for foreign workers, they work in
households and restoration. Also some small businesses attract immigrants which were previously
employed in seasonal and street-trading activities. Ethnic businesses are also widespread. In
Toscana, where the Chinese community is consistent, many of them are involved in leather
processing.
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For the nature of their employment and the position in the labour market, in the north and central
Italy, immigrants are generally seen as complementary to the indigenous workforce, taking jobs
shunned by Italians. It would seem instead that in southern Italy they are more likely to be ‘used’ as
a reserve workforce exercising a downward competitive pressure on work conditions and wages. In
other words, immigrants seem more likely to compete with the local workforce.
An implicit aspect of the above analysis is that immigrants’ role in the Italian economy has been
structurally different from the one played by early migrants in Northern Europe. The latter occurred
in a period of industrial expansion. Fordist migrations contributed to expand labour market supply
ensuring growing industrial production and offsetting labour shortages. These aspects made
migrants acceptable if not desirable. Immigration in Italy occurred at a time of stagnant economy
and high unemployment levels. Immigration has concentrated in the service sector and, from the
very beginning, its desirability has seemed to lie in its flexible nature. In times of low economic
grow, therefore, post-industrial employers would seem to be more interested in the qualitative
aspects of the available workforce (i.e. their flexibility and assertiveness) rather than in its
quantitative amount.
Similarly, drawing an occupational taxonomy, a series of articles (among others Barsotti (1996)
identify a typology of jobs for immigrants which highlights foreigners’ different functional roles but
also a different set of social relationship with the host population. They are:
•
Production workers. This category includes farm workers, fishing and industry workers.
Employers rely mainly on Albanians and North Africans to perform harvesting and picking
jobs. As these types of jobs are unskilled, immigrants need no training. In addition, because of
the seasonal nature of the work, most farm workers are undocumented immigrants. They usually
receive low wages, work without contracts and no social security. In Southern Italy, this is
deemed to have had a downward effect on wage and work conditions of indigenous workers. In
Northern industries, immigrants are deemed to have contributed to overcome production
bottlenecks, allowing local workforce to shift to higher positions in the occupation ladder. These
are mainly legal immigrants that have a complementary role with the local workforce.
•
Domestic workers: Besides traditional Filipino and Somalian women, more recently EastEuropean women monopolise this segment of the labour market which research suggests to
have been specifically created for foreign workers; in this case, no competition seems to occur
with local workforce. The growing female participation in the labour market has fuelled the
demand for domestic helpers, employed for house cleaning, cooking, babysitting, caring for
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elderly, etc. This segment of the market includes both legal and illegal workers. Nonetheless,
the vast majority of regularisation requests come from this segment.
•
Construction workers: For the nature of this industry, characterised by fluctuating demand,
outdoor work, insecure contracts and mobility, immigrants represent a good source of
manpower. In Italy, foreign construction workers come from North Africa, Eastern Europe and
Albania. Many of these workers tend to be illegal, with low wages and bad work conditions.
•
Self-employed workers: This category includes street vendors, windscreen cleaners, prostitutes;
specific niches of ethnic specialisation are also included in this category in which workers
usually enjoy more stable and integrated forms of employment.
•
Service sector workers: this category includes hotel and catering workers but also workers in
hospitals and other institutions. Again, some of these workers, such as nurses, are legally
employed. Others are illegal.
1.3 The regulation of migration: from a labour market regulation to internal and external
closure
Italian institutional responses to regulate foreign presence in the country’s labour market have been
a series of increasingly restrictive laws that had different aims and rationales. Before examining the
current legislation, the following short excursus will help to understand how the Italian legislation
in the field of immigration has always been contingent, passive and reactive.
Prior to the 1980s, immigration was regulated by administrative decrees. Legal immigration was
driven by the needs of individual employers which requested an authorisation to employ foreign
citizens to the Labour Minister. As immigration procedures were mainly designed for large firms
actively recruiting foreign workers, they could hardly work. As indicated by Sciortino (1999),
controls were constantly bypassed and employment centres became accustomed to authorising
labour contracts with foreigners already living in Italy. The signing of the ILO convention –N. 143on irregular migrations in 1981 triggered a restrictive government intervention that froze work
permits. With Italian frontiers still open (foreigners could enter the country with a tourist visa), the
freeze was fateful: the highest intake of immigrants took place between 1984 and 1990, making
illegal immigration and employment endemic (Zincone, 1994).
The first comprehensive regulation of immigration was passed in 1986. Law 943 focused on labour
migration and consisted of three main components: foreign workers’ rights, employment rules and a
regularisation programme (Calavita, 1999). The law established a series of principles in favour of
immigrants: from equal pay to family reunification. In addition, the law separated the length of
residence permits from the length of employment contracts and created the case for a migrant to be
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unemployed. The law launched also the first major regularisation programme to which nearly
120,000 illegal foreigners applied. The regularisation process could be initiated by either the
employer or the individual immigrant. Considering that at the time it was estimated that between
600,000 and 1.2 million undocumented immigrants were in Italy, this regularisation programme
failed also because bosses had no interests in regularising black labour.
In 1990, a new law (the Martelli law, after the name of the justice Minister of the time) was passed,
which contained a series of liberal provisions, such as the right to asylum, another regularisation,
but mainly restrictive norms. New entries should be defined every year and should be regulated by a
system of visas requirements. Deportations became the pillars of the internal system of control.
Expulsion were made compulsory for a long list of offences. In contrast to previous regularisation
programmes, under the Martelli law, the process could be initiated by immigrants themselves rather
than by their employers. Over 234,000 immigrants applied for regularisation. As pointed by
Calavita (1999), however, Italy’s experience with the 1986 and 1990 laws was rather unsuccessful.
This was essentially because those characteristics that made immigrants attractive – their
invisibility, marginality and vulnerability – were and are the same qualities that make it difficult to
control them (through employer sanctions) or legalise them (through regularisation programmes).
The waves of Albanian refugees in 1991 further amplified people’s panic over the issue of
immigration. In 1992, the Italian Parliament reformed the law on Italian citizenship, making it
easier for the descendants of Italian emigrants to regain citizenship; conversely, the application for
naturalisation requested by immigrants became much more difficult.
In 1995 an attempt was made to reform the immigration law which failed, even if the technocratic
government of the time manage to implement a new regularisation programme.
The bulk of the legislation that currently regulates immigration and integration issues in Italy is the
result of two conflating laws. The Single Act, no. 286, was based on Law 40\1998 (the so-called the
Turco-Napolitano law, after the names of the Ministers of Social Affairs and of the Interior of the
centre-left government headed by Prodi) and was reformed in a restrictive way by Law 189\2002
(the so-called Bossi-Fini, after the names of the two Vice Prime Ministers of the Berlusconi’s
government). It reflects a strong securisation drive and the willingness to reduce foreign presence in
the country.
Accordingly, the Italian legislation envisages a planned quota system. The quota is determined with
one or more annual decrees and they must be approved by November 30th of the previous year; if
there is not a timely decision, the Prime Minister can autonomously confirm the previous year’s
quotas. After the Turco-Napolitano Law, legal entry for work reasons was granted to 58,000 people
in 1998 and 1999, 63,000 in 2000, 83,000 in 2001. Only in 2000 and 2001, the decrees were
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approved on time. In 2002, the annual influx decree was approved in October and permitted the
entry of 20,500 people. The centre-right 2002 reform assigned a more significant role in deciding
and managing the influx to Regional authorities; a more significant role is also assigned to
employers and unions. Family reunions are outside the quotas. The Single Act had introduced the
job-seeker visa: workers could enter the country sponsored by private individuals, regions,
municipalities and association listed in a register. Sponsors had to guarantee a sufficient income,
offer a decent accommodation and pay contributions for public health insurance. The sponsorship
mechanism was repealed by the 2002 Law. An important aspect of this law is that it tightened the
relationship between work contract and residence permit. The latter is made dependent on
employment. The residence permit cannot last more than the work contract and no more than 9
months for seasonal workers; 1 year for temporary workers and 2 years for non-temporary workers.
If a foreign worker loses his\her job, he\she has the right to be registered in the job placement lists
and legally reside in the territory for 6 months. After that date, he\she must leave the country. In
2005, there were three decrees establishing work permits: one decree allowed the entry of 79,500
workers from new EU countries; a second decree allowed another 79,500 workers to get into Italy
from non EU countries and the last one authorised other 20,000 workers from non EU countries and
mainly for seasonal work (Caritas, 2006).
As far as civil rights are concerned, legal immigrants are treated like Italian citizens. The Single Act
prohibits any form of discrimination against immigrant workers and provides a partial reversal of
the burden of proof in case of discrimination against workers by employers. Likely, legal
immigrants enjoy the same social rights as Italian citizens with small limits (i.e. maternity
allowances for single mothers, pensions in case of repatriation, etc.). Illegal immigrants are given
basic rights – essentially public health and education. The proposed extension of vote in local
elections to permanent cardholders contained in the 1998 draft law was later removed, and therefore
immigrants do not enjoy any political right.
The 1998 law introduced the possibility of detaining undocumented immigrants in special centres of
temporary custody (the so-called ‘Centri di Permanenza Temporanea -Cpt’), in order to identify
them, find out if they have a right to asylum and deport them if need be. The 2002 Law introduced
even more severe measures. Undocumented immigrants can be detained for 60 days, instead of 30.
If not identified, they are ordered to leave the country. If they are identified, they have to be
deported by the police (Zincone, 2004).
The Bossi-Fini was and still is a controversial legislation. It was fiercely adversed by left wing
parties; criticism was also raised by the Church and catholic environments as well as from more
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liberal positions. Criticism also came from academic scholars in the field which highlighted a series
of problems connected to this type of regulation. The most relevant criticism lies in the way in
which the whole issue of immigration is dealt with. Law 189 hinges upon a short-term view of
migration. The quota system and the system of yearly renewal signals an approach that refuses to
acknowledge foreigners’s contribution in the Italian labour market and that gives up any integration
project (Livi Bacci, 2002). It envisages a system of external and internal controls: externally,
controls are based on the visa system and the tightening of borders control. Internally, work and
residence permits regulate immigrants presence.
1.4 The Italian legislation on refugees
In 1954, Italy ratified the Geneva Convention on refugees status (law 722/1954). In 1990, however,
the Italian Parliament modified two aspects of that Law. The first concerned procedures and
institutions that should examine requests to obtain the status. The second one cancelled the socalled ‘geographical reserve’ which limited eligibility as refugees only to European citizens.
Starting from 1990, therefore, non EU citizens can also apply.
In Italy, the number of migrants requesting the refugee status is limited and this is for different
reasons. The first is that, as we showed, Italy has weak historical, cultural and ethnic links with its
colonies and other countries generally. The second is that Italy has traditionally been a country of
transit and not of settlement: migrants’ strategy has therefore been fairly temporary. Finally, as
anticipated, until 1990, Italy’s legislation restricted to European citizens the eligibility.
At present, refugees in Italy are about 20,000; around 12000 requests are examined each year.
During the 1990, asylum seekers’ requests have increased substantially: The reason lies in the fact
that this is often the only means to enter the country, after the restrictive laws approved in the
1990s. Indeed, according to the last available data (UNHCR, 2005), in 2005 14,439 refugees sought
asylum in Italy, but only 8.1% of them were accepted. This also shows that only a small percentage
of refugees are eligible to obtain the status.
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Synthesis of refugees in Italy by countries of origin
1999-2000
2001
2002
Albania
21,300 Iraq
1,985 Sri-Lanka
1,406
Serbia-
12,297 Turkey
1,690 Iraq
1,199
12,132 Serbia-
1,526 Serbia-
1,183
Montenegro
Iraq
Montenegro
Montenegro
Romania
6,114 Sri-Lanka
555 Turkey
531
Turkey
4,250 Romania
501 Eritrea
473
Source: Caritas, 2003
In Italy, the application procedure for granting refugee status may last more than a year. During this
period, applicants enjoy only the right to be assisted financially for 45 days, but she/he has no right
to work until the final decision is not made. It is precisely for this reason that, in 2001, UNHCR
and ANCI (the national association of Italian communes) started the PNA programme (Programma
Nazionale Asilo). The programme consists of a network of assistance centres which seek to provide
foreigners with a series of services (medical assistance, accommodation, training, etc.). Caritas
(2003) shows that, in these centres, women’s presence is about 30% of the total; these women are
often alone or with children. In the vast majority of cases, they come from Kosovo, Eritrea,
Ethiopia, Congo, Nigeria, Kurdistan and Iraq. In addition, besides examples of women coming from
Africa who have low levels of education, Caritas data suggest that women coming from Eastern
Europe have high levels of education, often with degrees in scientific disciplines.
1.5 Bilateral agreements
Italy has signed as series of bilateral agreements in the field of immigration. In May 2004 the Italian
government ratified an agreement with the Republic of Moldova. In contrast with the agreements
signed with Albania (1997) and Tunisia (2000), this is the first bilateral agreement that does not
concern only temporary permits for seasonal work. Its primary objective is to favour the match
between demand and supply of labour with a series of instruments: one is training (professional and
language training); another one is the creation of local work agencies where employers could get in
touch with workers and select them.
In October 2005, Italy signed an agreement with Romania. It concerned the regulation of migrants’
flows in the labour market. The same objectives are at the basis of other agreements, namely with
Morocco, Egypt and Tunisia.
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Specific bilateral agreements concern the field of Scientific and Technological Cooperation. These
agreements are established between CNR and the equivalent foreign research centres. They provide
funds for researchers’ mobility. Such research activities might be carried out either from a private or
public institutions or by individual researchers. Foreign researchers may also apply but they need to
have a formal contract with an Italian research centre. Funds are given for long or short stay in
research institutions.
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1.6 Socio-demographic profile of foreigners in Italy
As indicated in table 1, in 2006 foreign population residing legally in Italy amounted to 2,670,514
of which 1,319,926 were women (nearly 49% of the total). The proportion of foreign population on
the Italian population was 4.3%; however, the phenomenon appeared to be more concentrated in the
north and centre of the country where foreigners were above 6% of the population, while in the
South they were less than 2%.
Tab. 1 - Gender and nationality
Nationalities
Absolute values
Men
Italians
Foreigners
Total
Source: Istat, 2006
28,526,888
1,350,588
29,877,476
Women
% by column
Total
30,224,823
1,319,926
31,544,749
Men
58,751,711
2,670,514
61,422,225
95.5
4.5
100.0
Women
95.8
4.2
100.0
Total
95.7
4.3
100.0
Table 2 shows the trends of the foreign presence in Italy. As it is apparent, in the last five years, the
total number of foreign people living in Italy has doubled, increasing from 1,334,889 to 2,670,514.
One of the possible reasons was regularization process that started in 2002 and took place in the
following two years. In spite of the positive trend, it is interesting to note that the percentage of
women on the total foreign population has become stable, to half of it.
Tab. 2 - Trends of the foreign population in Italy
Foreign population
Women
% of women on foreign population
2001
2003
2005
2006
1,334,889
1,549,373
2,402,157
2,670,514
674,195
761,099
1,175,445
1,319,926
50.5
49.1
48.9
49.4
Source: Istat, 2006
The list of the largest national groups staying in Italy is showed in table 3. Albanians, Moroccans
and Romanians represented the largest groups. As women are concerned, the data show that most
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feminized groups were Romanians, Ukrains, Polish, Peruvians, Ecuadorians and Filipinos (in these
groups women represent more than 50% of total). The data for Ukraine and Poland were striking as
immigration from these countries to Italy was almost exclusively feminine.
In general terms, it is important to stress that immigration in Italy has changed substantially in the
last decade. Before the nineties, a typical migrant person was a man and from north-Africa. At
present, the typical migrant person is a woman, from Europe, with a large proportion of women
coming from Eastern Europe.
Tab. 3 - Foreign nationalities by gender
Nationalities
Total
% of women
(absolute values)
Albania
348,813
43.6
Morocco
319,537
39.0
Romania
297,570
51.8
China
127,822
46.6
Ukraine
107,118
81.8
Philippines
89,668
59.0
Tunisia
83,564
33.7
Serbia and Montenegro
64,070
44.7
Macedonia
63,245
41.1
Ecuador
61,953
61.6
India
61,847
38.0
Poland
60,823
72.9
Peru
59,269
61.8
Egypt
58,879
27.7
Senegal
57,101
17.0
Sri Lanka
50,528
43.9
2,670,514
49.4
Total
Source: Istat, 2006
The following table (table 4) shows women by countries of origin in two different years (2003 and
2006) and the change during this period. As it is evident, foreign women in Italy came mainly from
Europe and, in particular, from Albania and Romania. Between 2003 and 2006, the greatest
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percentage increase of foreign women was recorded from European countries: specifically, the
highest increase was registered for Ukraine (+751%, from slightly more than 10,000 to more than
87,000). Women from this country were followed by women from Moldova and Romania.
Considering migration from Asia, Chinese women have increased by more than three quarters
between 2003-2006. The increase registered for America was due to the immigration of women
from Ecuador. On the contrary, in the same period, women from Morocco and Philippines have
increased at a slower pace. These figures are extremely interesting because these two countries have
historically represented the countries of origin for women coming to Italy. It is clear therefore that
Italy is witnessing a change in the composition of women’s migration whereby new countries of
origin are replacing old ones.
Tab. 4 – Women by nationality
Nationalities
Europe
of which
Albania
Romania
Ukraine
Moldova
Africa
of which
Morocco
Tunisia
Egypt
Asia
of which
China
Philippines
India
America
Ecuador
Oceania
Others
Total
Source: Istat, 2006
Absolute values
2003
2006
Variation
(2003-06)
% by column
2003
2006
349,012
686,829
45.9
52.0
96.8
95,578
50,691
10,293
4,955
180,594
152,069
154,194
87,593
31,439
262,413
12.6
6.7
1.4
0.7
23.7
11.5
11.7
6.6
2.4
19.9
59.1
204.2
751.0
534.5
45.3
84,559
20,361
11,178
133,634
124,615
28,187
16,296
204,850
11.1
2.7
1.5
17.6
9.4
2.1
1.2
15.5
47.4
38.4
45.8
53.3
33,803
39,977
14,848
96,279
10,116
1,385
195
761,099
59,611
52,918
23,497
164,062
38,183
1,483
289
1,319,926
4.4
5.3
2.0
12.6
1.3
0.2
0.0
100.0
4.5
4.0
1.8
12.4
2.9
0.1
0.0
100,0
76.3
32.4
58.3
70.4
277.4
7.1
48.2
73.4
As indicated by table 5, foreign people, both men and women, were in general younger than the
Italian population. The data concerning the age group between 26-40 was particularly striking: in
this group, foreign population showed concentration (around the double of Italians in percentage
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points). This means that Italy attracts young workforce and that the percentage of older migrants is
not so consistent as in other countries, i.e. countries of old migration.
On the other side, the age group comprised between 0-14 gathered a large percentage of foreigners:
the percentage was higher than the Italian equivalent. These figures can be explained in two ways:
on the one hand, one can assume that foreign people (mostly present in the age group 26-40) come
with their children. On the other hand, one can think that a process of stabilization of the foreign
population has started even in Italy, with a young second generation.
Tab. 5 – Age, gender and nationality
Italians
Men
0-14
15-18
19-25
26-40
41-65
65+
Total
Source: Istat, 2001
Foreigners
Women
15.1
4.4
9.2
24.6
32.2
14.6
100.0
Men
13.4
4.0
8.4
22.9
31.5
19.9
100.0
Women
18.4
4.0
11.1
43.7
21.2
1.6
100.0
18.0
3.5
11.1
41.9
23.3
2.2
100.0
Tab. 6 – Foreign women, age groups, nationalities
Europe
EU- 15
EU New Member States
Central and Eastern Europe
Africa
Asia
America
Oceania
Stateless people
Total
Source: Istat, 2001
15-18
19-25
26-40
41-65
4.7
1.4
2.0
7.2
7.1
5.8
4.3
1.1
4.7
5.3
10.1
4.2
9.7
13.9
11.8
9.2
8.5
3.1
7.0
10.0
48.4
40.6
58.4
51.7
56.5
53.2
51.4
49.2
46.5
51.2
29.6
41.0
25.8
23.4
21.6
30.0
30.9
38.6
26.7
28.3
65+ Total
7.1
12.8
4.1
3.8
3.0
1.9
4.9
8.1
15.1
5.2
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
Table 6 considers women’s countries of origin and age groups. The first observation is that women
coming from new EU countries were particularly numerous
in the central age groups: the
underlying explanation is that they come to Italy as workforce. The second concerns women from
Central and Eastern Europe who record the highest percentage between 15 and 25 years. The third
observation is that migrants coming from old emigration countries to Italy (EU-15, America,
Oceania, stateless peolple) showed the highest percentages of women over 65.
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Table 7 considers gender and levels of education for Italians and foreigners in Italy. The table is
extremely interesting as it shows that compared to Italians, foreign people, both men and women,
were both the most and the least educated. If one looked at foreigners only, it emerged that,
compared to men, foreign women had higher levels of education while a high percentage of foreign
men were confined to the lowest levels of education. It is evident therefore that women were more
qualified than men. For example, more than 9% of foreign women held a degree; almost 4% had a
post secondary non tertiary education; for men, the same percentages were respectively 8.6 and
2.3%.
Tab. 7 - Levels of education by gender and nationalities
Levels of education
Men
Tertiary education
Post-secondary non tertiary education
Secondary school
Primary school
Non-education
Total
Source: Istat, 2001
Italians
Women
6.8
0.8
26.6
56.4
9.5
100.0
Men
6.1
1.3
25.2
54.7
12.6
100.0
Foreigners
Women
8.6
2.3
25.3
48.0
15.8
100.0
9.4
3.9
30.2
43.2
13,3
100.0
In general, foreign people worked more than Italians (tab 8). Among foreigners, men were more
employed than women (77% against 41%). Around 50% of foreign women were in fact out of the
labour market. Similarly, unemployment strikes women more than men (9.3 and 6.8%). This partly
signalled the difficulty for women to get job and this was despite of their higher level of education.
This trend occurred in a labour market, the Italian one, that is notoriously stingy of opportunities for
women, regardless of their nationality.
Tab. 8 Position in the labour market by gender and nationalities
Position in the labour market
Men
LABOUR FORCES
Employed
In search of employment
NON LABOUR FORCES
Total
Source: Istat, 2001
Italians
Women
54.8
5.7
39.5
100.0
Page 20 of 55
32.0
5.6
62.4
100.0
Men
Foreigners
Women
77.0
6.8
16.2
100.0
40.9
9.3
49.8
100.0
Italian Report
March 2007
Table 9 illustrates labour market position by gender and age. This table confirmed the combined
effect of demographic and labour market trends. In contrast to Italian men, employed men of
foreign origins were concentrated in the age group 25-39. The same trend concerned unemployed
women: 60% of foreign women were concentrated in the age group 25-39.
Tab. 9 - Position in the labour market by age, gender and nationalities
Italians
Foreigners
Men
Women
Men
Women
Employed In search of Employed In search of Employed In search of Employed In search of
employment
employment
employment
Employment
15-19
1.3
20-24
6.3
25-39
42.3
40-64
48.1
65+
2.0
Total
100.0
Source: Istat, 2001
10.5
20.8
43.4
24.7
0.5
100.0
1.2
7.3
46.2
44.2
1.1
100.0
9.2
20.0
50.1
20.4
0.3
100.0
2.6
7.7
58.5
30.3
0.9
100.0
11.3
11.6
50.1
26.1
0.9
100.0
1.9
8.7
57.2
31.3
0.8
100.0
6.0
14.0
59.7
19.9
0.4
100.0
To conclude, migration in Italy is undergoing a new phase, especially in its female component. New
nationalities are replacing old ones. Migration from Europe is becoming much more significant than
migration from Africa. Specifically, Italy has quickly become a country of destination for young
women coming from Eastern Europe. They are well educated but have difficulties in finding a job
in the Italian labour market which holds a poor record in offering job opportunities to women in
general. Lastly, foreigners are more concentrated in central age groups, where the workforce comes
from. Interestingly, there are relatively few foreigners in the oldest age groups. Together with other
elements, this is an indicator of the type of migration characterising Italy: the stabilization of the
foreign population is not a key phenomenon as immigrants tend to stay while they belong to active
population but leave when they get older.
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Chapter 2 – Women position in sciences
2.1 The theoretical approach
The analysis carried out in this report has implied a series of choices. First, women scientists in this
report are deemed to be women scientists who work in all scientific fields, both hard and soft. They
were the women targeted by our research. The second choice, dictated by objective constraints, is
that migrant scientists in this report are first generation migrants. This is because in Italy sustained
migration fluxes are recent phenomena. As explained in chapter 1, migration to Italy achieved some
significance only in the early 1990s. Statistics therefore cannot catch second and third generation
migrants. Sons and daughters of migrants are still in primary schools and this explains also the
methodological approach chosen to gather data (see below).
We anticipate that the key finding of this report suggests that ethnicity does not “intervene” on
gender discrimination. In Italy, in universities and research institutions, penalisation or even
discrimination appears to be primarily gender based. In other words, (the few) foreign women
working in Italy encounter the same obstacles and problems that Italian women face every day.
In the European panorama, together with other Southern European countries, Italy holds a peculiar
position concerning migration. The phenomenon is recent; its consistence is relatively limited and,
so far, it deals with an instable population. The country therefore faces challenges that are different
from the ones that are typical in the countries of old migration. It follows that the political agenda is
deeply influenced by such situation. Political responses to migration problems concern almost
exclusively the acknowledgement of basic rights in the arrival society.
In Italy, the research theme of this network develops in a context in which foreigners’
discrimination in research careers is not topical.
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2.2 The methodological approach
Given that there are no official statistics on foreign scientists working in Italian universities and
research structures, the data used in this report have been gathered directly. It deals therefore with
primary original data. MIUR (Ministry of education, university and research) provided national data
directly to us, while the University of Bari provided local data.
An important methodological aspect is that, in our data, foreigners are usually classified on the
basis of their place of birth.
A second important methodological aspect is that this is not a cohort - based analysis. In other
words, foreign students in the university system are not the same foreign people that we find in the
academic and research staffs. To clarify, it appears that, in this phase, in Italy there is not a
structured flow of foreigners that access research and university careers from higher education.
In this report, tables are organised according to the distinction between Italians and foreigners. This
choice was driven by the fact that the numerical consistence of foreigners by country of origin was
extremely limited. In most cases, countries of origin have been grouped according to macro-areas
and following the scheme used by official statistics.
The absolute values of all tables are presented in the statistical appendix.
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Chapter 3- The structure of the higher education and research system
3.1 Women and science in Italy and Europe
In Italy, employment in the field of research is extremely limited in general terms and also when
compared to other EU countries. In 2003, women in research were 3% of labour forces; men were
5%. The EU-25 average was 4% for women and 9% for men (She figures, 2003).
Nonetheless, the analysis of women’s participation in research at high professional levels shows
that it deals with a phenomenon that has increased between 1999 and 2003. The following analysis
is based on the She figures report (2006).
Interestingly, the growth rate was higher for women than for men (7% against 2%). This trend was
confirmed also for Italy where men’s rate increased by 1%, whilst women’s one increased by 5%.
The trend just highlighted was undoubtedly positive; nonetheless, it should be remembered that the
numerical base for women was very low. In European countries, in fact, except for Latvia, the
percentage of women in research was less than 50%. In Italy, in particular, the proportion of female
researchers on the total is about 30%.
Looking at the sectors where women end up working, it is apparent from the data that Italian
women were more present in higher education and government, while a residual role was played by
employment in the private sector. Women’s employment in government structures represented 39%
of the total; 31% of women researchers worked in higher education and only 19% in the private
sector.
In academia, the pattern of employment, that is the relative distribution of women and men at
different levels of occupational hierarchy, showed significant differences. Women, who represented
31% of the total academic staff, were concentrated at the lowest grade (nearly 44%), while they
were 16% at the top of the rank as full professors. The report assessed that, in Italy, the proportion
of women at grade A (at level of full professors) relative to their presence on the employment group
as a whole was just below 2. This means that the glass ceiling effect was significantly strong.
Overall, Italy’s scissor diagram showed that a larger number of women than men graduate, but at
PhD level they were outnumbered by men and, then, the trend was towards their decreasing
presence. At the highest grade, the proportion between men and women was 88% and 12% (Third
EU report on science and technology indicators, 2003).
A recent research work carried out by Palomba (2000) on women in the field of research showed
that even if men and women have the same research productivity in terms of publication and
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March 2007
research activity, women have less probabilities of being promoted: after 11 years of seniority,
women have 16% of probabilities of being promoted against 35% of men.
3.2 The University system in Italy
In Italy, there are 94 Universities, 614 Faculties, 1,869 Departments, 320 Institutes, 1,274 research
centres internal to single departments.
Higher education in Italy is provided by public and private Universities. A recent reform law
established that the university degree is attained after three years of attendance. Also PhD studies
last three years. Those who enrol hold a high school certificate. The number of foreign students who
can access the Italian system is decided by each University. EU citizens staying in Italy are not
comprised in these quotas. As for foreign degrees in Italy, also for leaving certificate, students need
to have their degrees recognised by Italian Consulates in their countries.
The university career in Italy is organised in three levels: full professor (which is the top level),
associated professor and lectureship, which is the entry level. As the other two levels, besides
research activities, lecturers are also engaged in teaching activities. In Italian universities, in 2005
there were more than 60,000 academics; foreign academics were 2.9% of the total. At the national
level, academics were equally distributed in each of the three career levels: there were slightly more
lecturers.
In recent years, there has been a slight increase in women’s presence among university staff due to a
positive phase in recruitment, though the situation is still far from being one of equality between the
two sexes. The situation is particularly uneven relatively to the wide presence of women in the high
education system. The percentage of women among recent winners of competition for lecturers
increased over the last ten years from 29% to 36% (Helsinki group 2003). However, women were
less present in most prestigious positions. The probability of a woman having a post as a Rector,
head of courses or director of departments, is about half the probability for a man (Istat, 2001).
3.3 The research system in Italy
In Italy, at present, there are 107 research centres that refer to CNR (Consiglio Nazionale delle
Ricerche). The CNR was founded in 1923 and is the oldest research centre in Italy. It has been
recently restructured (law 19/1999 and law 30/2001). The key activity of CNR is the production of
research through a network of Institues and Centres
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As in universities, the career structure in public research organisations has three levels: directors of
research, senior researchers and researchers. Women represent about a third of the scientific staff in
public research organisations. Women’s presence differs in the various CNR structures (i.e.
INRAM or INFN). They are more present in research structure where soft disciplines are more
prevalent.
As in universities, women have half the probability of men of being promoted. Needless to say that
the management board of research institutes are male dominated (Palomba, 2000).
3.4 Formal recruitment practices in academic and research careers
Access to university is possible only through public competitions. These have a national scale and
envisage written and oral examinations.
The debate on migrants participation in the labour market is a relatively recent debate as until the
beginning of the 1990s foreign presence in Italy was limited (see chapter 1). To date, foreign people
are subject to a severe limitation to access public jobs in Italy. Jobs in the public administration are
in fact reserved only to Italian and EU citizens (the latter ceased to be considered foreigners in Italy
only in 2001 with law 165). The law established that this is an exceptional recognition that cannot
be extended to other migrants. This is because jobs in the public administration are supposed to
preserve general collective interests that hinge upon the principle of citizenship. This limitation
applies therefore to access to universities and public research careers. Only language assistants can
be hired regardless of their citizenship but only with non fixed term contracts. By contrast, the law
allows private employers to hire specific categories of workers (i.e. nurses) with fixed term
contracts. The same applies in the case of refugees.
3.5 Informal recruitment practices in academic and research careers
As we will show, women have better performances than men at university. These positive
performances are likely to be due to the fact that, at this stage, evaluation criteria are universalistic
and transparent: therefore women happen to be less discriminated. Once they enter university and
research careers, they become more invisible. It is not simply that these environments are more
competitive; evaluation criteria here appear to be less transparent and much more tailored on male
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characteristics (tokenism). To escape marginalisation, women turn towards feminine fields of
research, by leaving hard and technical fields to men’s monopoly.
An informal mechanism of recruitment, which is important to highlight especially in the field of
research, concerns the composition of evaluation committees. Here cooptation is the key
mechanism to access the profession but especially to progress in the career ladder. Promotion is
often subordinated to the internalisation of dominant values. The ‘old boys network’ has therefore a
significant role in determining who gets higher positions and status.
Women’s presence in these committees instead is limited; this affects their evaluation choices and
the chances of new entries and progression.
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Chapter 4- Data and statistics on women scientists
This chapter provides a statistical overview on higher education and employment in university and
research systems in Italy and in Bari.
4.1 Statistical overview on education
Table 10 is about levels of education. The first thing to observe is that, at university level, women
outnumbered men. In general terms, women have better performances at university, as nearly the
same percentage of women that enrolled got a degree.
The second thing is that also in post graduate studies the number of women was higher than that of
men. Figures are particularly striking as almost 61% of post graduate students were women and
only 39% of men. This is a specific feature of the Italian education system. Men tend to leave the
education system after the degree; women tend to carry on with their education.
Tab. 10 Levels of education by gender and nationality
Italians
Women
Men
Graduate students
Schools of
specialisation
Masters
PhD
Total post graduate
students
TOTAL
Total
114,123 154,698 268,821
Men
Total
Women
Total
1,360
2,145
3,505 115,483 156,843 272,326
74,464
13,615
36,941
394
814
887
440
1,199
721
834
2,013
1,608
48,532 76,488 125,020
162,655 231,186 393,841
2,095
3,455
2,360
4,505
4,455 50,627 78,848 129,475
7,960 166,110 235,691 401,801
25,308
5,282
17,942
Men
Graduate students
Schools of
specialisation
Masters
PhD
Total post graduate
students
TOTAL
Foreigners
Men Women Total
49,156
8,333
18,999
Italians
Women Total
Men
Foreigners
Women
Total
25,702
6,096
18,829
Men
49,596
9,532
19,720
75,298
15,628
38,549
Total
Women Total
41.9
56.8
98.7
0.5
0.8
1.3
42.4
57.6
100.0
33.6
37.6
46.5
65.3
55.2
49.3
98.9
92.9
95.8
0.5
2.9
2.3
0.6
4.2
1.9
1.1
7.1
4.2
34.1
40.5
48.8
65.9
59.5
51.2
100.0
100.0
100.0
37.9
40.5
58.9
57.5
96.9
98.0
1.5
0.9
1.7
1.1
3.1
2.0
39.4
41.3
60.6
58.7
100.0
100.0
Source: Miur, 2005
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At national level, foreign students were a small percentage (2.3%) of all the students enrolled in
2005 (1,823,886). In the same year (refer to tab 10), foreign graduates were 3,505, that was even
less on the total (1.3%). Slightly more significant was foreign presence in the specialisation courses
(4,455 students equalling 3.1% of the total).
Table 11 shows graduate students by area of origin in 2005. The vast majority of foreign graduate
students in the Italian system came from Europe: 2,482 graduate students came from EU-15 and
other EU countries, representing less than 71% of the total (see the last colunm). Looking at the
gender disaggregation, it is apparent that European graduate students were mainly women, while
men outnumbered women if they came from Africans.
Tab. 11 Graduate foreign students by gender and areas of origin
Total
Absolute values
EU-15
Europe
America
Asia
Africa
Oceania
Non defined
Total
Source: Miur, 2005
Men
512
390
107
178
166
3
4
1,360
Women
820
760
198
205
147
3
12
2,145
%
Total
1,332
1,150
305
383
313
6
16
3,505
Men
38.4
33.9
35.1
46.5
53.0
50.0
25.0
38.8
Women
61.6
66.1
64.9
53.5
47.0
50.0
75.0
61.2
Total
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
% by
column
38.0
32.8
8.7
10.9
8.9
0.2
0.5
100.0
Table 12 shows graduate students by faculties and nationalities. For the sake of the analysis we
made a distinction between scientific faculties and humanities.
These figures show that women and men’s choices were quite polarised. As it could be expected,
men chose engineering and economics. While women preferred arts and philosophy in greater
numbers.
Things were quite different for foreigners. Medicine was the first choice for all of them
(percentages were slightly higher for women). This was followed by engineering for men and
economics and arts and philosophy for women.
If we look at the aggregation of faculties into scientific and humanities, these suggests that 1) in
general terms, in the Italian scientific studies gathered a greater number of students and were more
male based; 2) the distinction by gender shows that women preferred medicine and economics,
while men were concentrated into engineering; 3) similarly to Italian women, in hard sciences,
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March 2007
foreign women chose medicine and economics but they were much more concentrated in medicine;
4) when looking at humanities, women outnumbered men; 5) women were more concentrated in the
faculty of arts and philosophy, while men preferred legal studies; 6) foreign women were less
present than Italian women in this group of faculties.
Tab. 12 Graduate students by gender, nationalities and type of faculties
Men
Italians
Women
Men
Foreigners
Women
Men
Total
Women
Medicine
Pharmacy
Engineering
Architecture
Maths and sciences
Economics
Scientific Faculties
8.2
1.3
24.5
4.6
8.0
18.3
64.9
12.7
2.4
4.3
3.8
6.4
12.6
42.2
23.7
4.2
18.8
6.4
4.7
14.1
71.9
26.9
3.1
3.5
5.5
4.8
13.5
57.3
8.3
1.3
24.5
4.6
7.9
18.2
64.8
12.9
2.4
4.3
3.8
6.4
12.6
42.4
Arts and Philosophy
Pedagogy
Law
Political Sciences
Foreign languages
Humanities
Others
Total
Source: Miur, 2005
6.4
1.6
11.3
6.2
0.7
26.2
8.9
100
14.8
9.2
10.9
5.6
3.9
44.4
13.4
100
5.5
1.1
7.4
5.6
0.8
20.4
7.7
100
12.3
4.5
5.0
4.3
5.3
31.4
11.3
100
6.4
1.6
11.3
6.2
0.7
26.2
9.0
100
14.8
9.2
10.9
5.6
3.9
44.4
13.2
100
Tab. 13 takes into consideration post graduate students and areas of origin. It is interesting to
observe that the vast majority of post graduate students were from Europe. Their percentage on the
total was 53% and therefore less than the one we found among graduate students (see tab. 10). In
other words, students in the post graduate system came from a wider variety of countries. The
highest percentage of women in post graduate studies came from Other EU countries, similarly to
the trend recorded among graduate students. Other EU countries gather especially Eastern EU
countries.
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Tab. 13 Post-graduate foreign students by gender and areas of origin
Men
EU- 15
Other European
America
Asia
Africa
Others
Total
Source: Miur, 2005
508
412
408
424
322
21
2,095
Women
652
793
537
225
130
23
2,360
Total
1,160
1,205
945
649
452
44
4,455
Page 31 of 55
Men
43.8
34.2
43.2
65.3
71.2
47.7
47.0
Women
56.2
65.8
56.8
34.7
28.8
52.3
53.0
Total
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
Total
(% by
column)
26.0
27.0
21.2
14.6
10.1
1.0
100.0
Italian Report
March 2007
4.1.2 Local level: The University of Bari1
Table 14 is about levels of education. In 2005, graduate students in Bari were 11,764 in total (4.3%
of all graduate students in Italy). It is apparent that the University of Bari is feminized: female
graduate students in Bari were 62.5%, more than the Italian average (57.6%) (table 10 ). Foreign
graduate students in Bari were 2.3% of total graduate students (at national level the same percentage
was 1.3%); foreign presence in the local university system was therefore more significant than the
equivalent at national scale.
As regard post graduate studies, the vast majority of students were engaged in specialisation schools
(more than half, 50.6%). Many of these schools consists of specialisation courses for medicine;
others train to teach (70% of total enrolled in specialisation schools are women). In Bari, the post
graduate system was more feminized than in Italy. Post graduate female students were 65.6% of the
total against 60.9% at national level. The most interesting data concern PhDs. Foreign women who
concluded PhD studies in Bari were 3% of total PhDs (17/573). This percentage was higher than the
equivalent at the national level (1,9%), even if we should consider the low base in absolute
numbers.
Tab. 14 Levels of education by gender and nationality in Bari in 2005*
Men
Graduate students
Schools of specialisation
Masters
PhD
Total post graduate students
TOTAL
4,315
433
299
220
952
5,267
Men
Graduate students
Schools of specialisation
Masters
PhD
Total post graduate students
TOTAL
36.7
29.8
35.4
38.4
33.2
36.0
Italians
Foreigners
Women Total Men Women Total
7,181 11,496 100
1,007 1,440
4
498
797 21
326
546 10
1,831 2,783 35
9,012 14,279 135
168
8
26
17
51
219
Italians
Foreigners
Women Total Men Women Total
61.0
69.4
59.0
56.9
63.8
61.6
97.7
99.2
94.4
95.3
97.0
97.6
0.9
0.3
2.5
1.7
1.2
0.9
1.4
0.6
3.1
3.0
1.8
1.5
Source: University of Bari, 2006
*only graduate students include Polytechnic graduate students
1
268
12
47
27
86
354
As at the national level, foreigners are identified on the basis of their place of birth.
Page 32 of 55
2.3
0.8
5.6
4.7
3.0
2.4
Men
4,415
437
320
230
987
5,402
Men
37.5
30.1
37.9
40.1
34.4
36.9
Total
Women Total
7,349 11,764
1,015 1452
524
844
343
573
1,882 2,869
9,231 14,633
Total
Women
Total
62.5
69.9
62.1
59.9
65.6
63.1
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
Italian Report
March 2007
Table 15 shows the distribution of graduate students by faculty. The data show that 1) in general
terms, scientific studies and humanities were equally important but the former were prevalently
masculine and the latter were more feminine; 2) the distinction by gender shows that women
preferred economics and medicine, while men were concentrated into engineering and economics;
3) similarly to Italian women, foreign women chose economics and medicine but they were much
more concentrated in economics; 4) at the local level, humanities were more relevant than at the
national level (50.9%) (Table 12); 5) women were more concentrated in the faculty of pedagogy,
while men preferred legal studies. It is interesting to observe that, in general, the faculty of foreign
languages in Bari attracted more students than the Italian equivalent and specifically it attracted
foreign women.
Tab. 15 Graduate students by gender, nationalities and type of faculties in Bari
Italians
Men
Foreigners
Women
Men
TOTAL
Total
Women
Men
Women
Men
+women
Medicine
Pharmacy
Engineering
Architecture
Maths and sciences
Economics
Scientific faculties
8.2
2.0
20.3
1.9
11.1
18.5
62.0
9.3
2.6
2.9
1.4
9.1
10.7
36.0
28.0
6.0
5.0
1.0
6.0
20.0
66.0
9.5
6.5
2.4
1.2
7.1
11.9
38.6
8.7
2.1
19.9
1.9
11.1
18.5
62.2
9.3
2.7
2.9
1.4
9.1
10.7
36.1
9.1
2.5
9.3
1.6
9.8
13.6
45.9
Arts and Philosophy
Law
Political Sciences
Foreign languages
Pedagogy
Humanities
3.4
18.1
6.1
1.6
4.5
33.7
7.9
16.0
4.3
7.6
25.5
61.3
2.0
8.0
5.0
5.0
5.0
25.0
3.0
14.9
6.5
15.5
19.6
59.5
3.4
17.9
6.1
1.7
4.6
33.7
7.8
16.0
4.3
7.7
25.4
61.2
6.1
16.7
5.0
5.5
17.6
50.9
Others
Total
34.3
100
2.7
100
9.0
100
1.9
100
4.1
100
2.7
100
3.2
100
Source: MIUR, 2005
To sum up, as at the national level (table 12), even at the local level, male foreign students
graduated more in hard science. In contrast to the national level, instead, female foreign students in
Bari graduated much more in human studies (59.5% against 31.4%). This occurred in an
educational system (the southern Italian one) where female graduate students generally preferred
human studies (61,2% in Bari against 44.4 % at national level).
Page 33 of 55
Italian Report
March 2007
Table 16 shows the areas of origin for post graduate students in Bari in 2005. These students came
predominantly from the EU-15 countries (58.7%). These were followed by students from Eastern
Europe (21.7%); in contrast Bari attracted less students from the other continents. Looking at the
gender distribution, it is evident that post graduate women came mainly from Europe and in
particular from Eastern Europe. Even if not in the table, we found that there was a consistent
number of Greeks, both men and women, that attended Masters courses in the Faculty of
Agriculture.
Tab. 16 Post-graduate students by gender and areas of origin in Bari*
Absolute value
Men
EU-15
Other EU
America
Asia
Africa
Total
Women
26
5
3
4
3
41
28
15
5
2
1
51
%
Total
Men
54
20
8
6
4
92
*data do not include Polytechnic
Page 34 of 55
48.1
25.0
37.5
66.7
75.0
44.6
Women
51.9
75.0
62.5
33.3
25.0
55.4
Total
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
Total
(% by
column)
58.7
21.7
8.7
6.5
4.3
100.0
Italian Report
March 2007
4.2 Statistical overview on employment
4.2.1.1 University
The last official data on non-academic staff in Italian universities date 1998. Table 17 shows the
categories of non academic staff. It can be noticed that the percentage of women tended to decrease
towards the upper part of the table (third level) which means that they were less present at the top of
the hierarchy. Women managers were only 23% of the total. On the contrary, there were two
categories of staff largely feminized: language assistants and nurses (mainly in the faculties of
medicine). No data is available on foreigners.
Tab. 17 Categories of non academic staff by gender2
Italians
Absolute values
Second level
Third level
Fourth level
Fifth level
Sixth level
Seventh level
Eigth and nineth level
Managers
Language assistants
Nurses and others
Total
Source: Istat (2001)
53
2,585
7,037
8,759
15,821
9,971
257
247
1,168
3,312
49,210
% of women/total
37.7
45.1
49.3
45.1
58.7
52.2
38.1
23.1
69.5
67.3
As explained in chapter 4, the university career in Italy is organised in three levels: full professor
(which is the top level), associated professor and lectureship, which is the entry level. As the other
two levels, besides research activities, lecturers are also engaged into teaching activities. In Italian
universities, in 2005 there were more than 60,000 academics; foreigners were 2,9% of the total
(1,804 people).
Table 18 displays academic and research staff by gender and occupational levels. In absolute
numbers, the largest men’s presence was among full professors; the largest women’s presence was
among lecturers.
2
Second, third and fourth levels are the lowest levels in the administrative careers (i.e. porters). To access these
positions it is sufficient to have primary education. To get a fifth or a sixth level, one needs to have a secondary school
degree. These are white collar jobs. Employees holding a degree may get from the seventh to the ninth level. Managers
are high professionals and at the top of the hierarchy.
Page 35 of 55
Italian Report
March 2007
Tab. 18 Academics and scientific staff by gender
Men
Women
12,568
12,767
16,000
41,335
Lecturers
Associated professors
Full professors
Total
Source: Cineca, 2005
Total
10,206
6,212
3,409
19,827
22,774
18,979
19,409
61,162
Table 19 shows the staff composition by gender and hierarchical levels. In general terms and in
contrast to what we have seen in the education system, women were in a disadvantaged position.
First, they were less than a third of total staff (32.4%). Second, their consistence is inversely
proportional to that of men. The percentage of women in the hierarchy increased going from the
level of full professors to that of lecturers: women at the top were 17 out 100; women at the bottom
of the ladder were 45 out 100.The percentage of men increased when going from lecturers to full
professors.
Tab. 19 Academics and scientific staff by gender
Men
Women
Total
Lecturers
55.2
67.3
44.8
32.7
100.0
100.0
Full professors
Total
82.4
67.6
17.6
32.4
100.0
100.0
As shown in table 20, when we consider nationality and hierarchical levels, we notice that gender
distribution did not change substantially. In other words, nationality was not a variable that
modified gender distributions. Italian and foreign women in academia distributed themselves in the
hierarchy with the same percentage shares. The university system is therefore disadvantageous for
women but not for foreigners.
Tab. 20 Academics and scientific staff by nationalities and gender
Italians
Men
Women
Lecturers
Associated professor
Full professor
Total
30.4
31.0
38.7
100.0
51.5
31.3
17.2
100.0
Foreigners
Women
Men
31.4
28.4
40.2
100.0
Page 36 of 55
50.9
32.3
16.8
100
Total
Men
Women
30.4
30.9
38.7
100
51.5
31.3
17.2
100
Total
Men+women
37.2
31.0
31.7
100
Italian Report
March 2007
Foreign academic staff in Italian universities came mainly from EU countries (38,3% of the
total)(see tab. 21). This value was higher for women (44%). The explanation may lie in the fact that
women academics are usually more present in Language departments and that in Italian universities
the most widespread languages are continental ones. There was a significant presence of academic
staff whose place of birth was in Africa, where, as explained in chapter 1, there were a few Italian
colonies.
Tab. 21 Foreign academic staff by country of origin
Men and women
EU-15
Lecturers
Associated
professors
Full
professors
Total
New
member
states
Central and
eastern EU
Africa
Asia
America Oceania
Other EU
countries
Total
42.7
4.4
5.7
8.3
3.3
23.2
1.3
11.2
100.0
38.2
6.1
6.7
12.8
5.0
21.0
1.7
8.5
100.0
32.8
38.3
9.6
6.5
14.2
8.6
16.2
12.1
3.6
3.9
16.0
20.3
0.7
1.2
6.9
9.1
100.0
100.0
Men
EU-15
Lecturers
Associated
professors
Full
professors
Total
New
member
states
Central and
eastern EU
Africa
Asia
America Oceania
Other EU
countries
Total
39.8
2.7
4.2
8.6
5.9
24.0
0.9
13.9
100.0
34.4
5.2
6.6
15.1
5.6
22.3
2.0
8.9
100.0
30.4
34.5
9.3
6.1
15.4
9.3
17.5
14.0
4.0
5.0
15.2
20.0
0.9
1.2
7.2
9.8
100.0
100.0
Women
EU-15
Lecturers
45.4
Associated
professors
43.2
Full
professors
41.5
Total
44.0
New
member
states
Central and
eastern EU
Africa
Asia
America Oceania
Other EU
countries
Total
5.9
7.0
8.1
0.8
22.4
1.6
8.6
100.0
7.3
6.8
9.8
4.3
19.2
1.3
8.1
100.0
10.6
7.2
9.8
7.4
11.4
9.2
2.4
2.2
18.7
20.8
0.0
1.2
5.7
8.0
100.0
100.0
Page 37 of 55
Italian Report
March 2007
4.2.1.2 Research
The research system in Italy is driven by the activities of CNR (see chapter 3).
Table 22 indicated CNR personnel composition in 2005. In total, the number of people working in
this research structure were more than 7,000. More than half is researchers and tecnologi (these are
graduate with limited research experience). Among these, foreign researchers were 165 (4% of the
total). Of these 100 were men and 65 were women.
Tab. 22 CNR total personnel
Absolute values
%
Researchers and tecnologi
Technicians
4,045
2,348
54.4
31.6
Administrative staff
Total
Source: CNR, 2006
1,045
7,438
14.0
100.0
The feminization of CNR research centres is shown in the table below (tab. 23). Women were
around 29% of total scientific staff. There was however a significant variance in women’s presence
within the various centres. In some of them, such as INRAN or CNEL, women were in fact more
than men (61.4% and 55.9%). In contrast to an initial suggestion, this data should not be read in a
positive fashion as the most feminized research centres are the ones that carry out research in soft
sciences (i.e. agriculture and biology). This is therefore a concrete example of horizontal
segregation.
Tab.23 CNR research staff by gender and research centres
Absolute values
CNEL
CNR
ENEA
INFM
INFN
INRAN
ISS
ISTAT
Total
Source: Palomba, 2000
% of women
34
2,854
1,180
96
781
44
452
383
5,824
55.9
31.0
17.8
15.6
16.8
61.4
54.4
44.1
29.2
The latest official data on researchers and tecnologi’ hierarchical levels by gender was published in
a CNR report in 2000. The figures are eloquent as they show that there exists a glass ceiling effect
Page 38 of 55
Italian Report
March 2007
for women’s careers (tab. 24). As researchers, women were concentrated at the lowest level (more
than 60%); the equivalent percentage for men was 44.8%. Only a small share of women became
first researchers (second level) but really a few became directors of research. As tecnologi, women
concentrate in the lowest level in almost all cases (88,5% of the total). Men instead appeared more
equally distributed.
Tab. 24 CNR research staff by gender and occupational levels
Absolute
values
Men
Researchers
1st level
2nd level
3rd level
Total
Research director
First researcher
Researcher
Tecnolologi
1st level
Tecnologo director
2nd level First tecnologo
3rd level Tecnologo
Total
Absolute
values
Female
%
Men
Absolute
values
Total
%
Female
%
Total
315
707
828
1,850
17.0
38.2
44.8
100.0
43
253
512
808
5.3
31.3
63.4
100.0
358
960
1,340
2,658
13.5
36.1
50.4
100.0
38
36
43
117
32.5
30.8
36.8
100.0
2
7
69
78
2.6
9.0
88.5
100.0
40
43
112
195
20.5
22.1
57.4
100.0
Source: CNR, 2000
Table 25 refers to the Institute for Nuclear Physics where the trends described above are reinforced.
Tab. 25 INFN personnel by gender and occupational levels
Men
Managers
Researchers:
1st level
Research director
2nd level
First researcher
3rd level
Researcher
Tecnologi
Technicians
Administrative
staff
Total
Source: CNR, 2002
Absolute values
Women
% by row
Men
Women
Total
4
0
4
100.0
0.0
87
167
209
194
694
4
40
60
34
50
91
207
269
228
744
95.6
80.7
77.7
85.1
93.3
4.4
19.3
22.3
14.9
6.7
48
1,403
222
410
270
1,813
17.8
77.4
82.2
22.6
The following table considers work contracts of CNR personnel staff in 2005 (tab. 26). It can be
observed that part time contracts applied more to researchers and tecnologi than to technicians and
Page 39 of 55
Italian Report
March 2007
administrative staff. The data could be explained by the fact that fellowships provided by CNR are
included in the total and imply part time contracts. Considering foreign researchers, out of 165, 96
had a full time job (58,2%) and 69 had a fixed-term contract (41,8%). Looking at the gender
disaggregation, foreign men had a full time contract in the vast majority of cases (69/100), while the
vast majority of women had a fixed-term contract (38/65) (direct data from CNR, 2006)
Tab. 26 Work contracts of CNR total personnel
Absolute values
Full time
Researchers and
Tecnologi
Technicians
Administrative staff
Total
Source: Palomba, 2000
Part time
% by column
Total
3,613
2,192
432
156
4,045
2,348
896
149
1,045
6,701
737
7,438
Full time
Part time
Total
53.9
58.6
54.4
32.7
21.2
31.6
13.4
100.0
20.2
100.0
14.0
100.0
4.2.2 Local level
In 2006, the number of men and women in the administrative staff of Bari University was similar:
women were almost half of the total (table 27). Looking at gender, therefore, the administrative
staff in Bari was quite homogeneous. There was only a level in which women outnumbered men
and this was the third level. This level is the last one before getting to a higher occupational
category. In other terms, men manage to go through the administrative low level career in larger
numbers. Finally, among managers, we found 60% of men and 40% of women.
Tab. 27 Categories of non academic staff by gender, Bari
Men
Explanation about the
hierarchy (examples)
Managers
6
High professionals
170
3 level (D)
388
2 level (C)
294
1 level (B)
70
Total
928
Absolute values
Women
Total
4
123
433
262
49
871
Page 40 of 55
10
293
821
556
119
1,799
Men
60.0
58.0
47.3
52.9
58.8
51.6
%
Women
40.0
42.0
52.7
47.1
41.2
48.4
Total
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
Italian Report
March 2007
Table 28 shows work contracts of the administrative staff. In Bari, in 2005, only 2% of total
administrative staff had a part time contract. As it could be expected, of these three quarters were
women. In general terms, therefore, there was a small amount of part time and was concentrated
among women.
Tab. 28 Non academic staff by gender and work contracts, Bari
Part time
Absolute values
Full time
Women
26
Men
9
Total
35
841
913
1,754
Total
Part time
867
922
1,789
%
Full time
74.3
25.7
100.0
Total
47.9
52.1
100.0
48.5
51.5
100.0
At the University of Bari, in 2005 there were around 2,000 academics: men were more than 1,200
and women more than 770 (table 29). More than 40% were lecturers. Full and associated professors
were more than a quarter each.
Tab. 29 Academic and scientific staff by gender, Bari
Men
Language assistants
Lecturers
Full professors
Others
Total
Women
13
407
356
452
35
1,263
Total
44
417
186
121
8
776
57
824
542
573
43
2,039
Table 30 shows the composition of academic and scientific staff by gender in Bari (% by row).
Women’s presence among academics stood at 38% of the total. Data confirm that some
occupational levels were more feminised than other (i.e. Language assistants). It is interesting to
note that women were the majority among lecturers which is the initial level of the hierarchy. Their
percentage tends to decrease as one passes from the initial to higher positions in the career: among
associated professors, women were slightly more than a third; among full professors, women
became only 21%.
Page 41 of 55
Italian Report
March 2007
Tab. 30 Academic and scientific by gender, Bari
Men
Language assistants
Lecturers
Full professors
Others
Total
Women
22.8
49.4
65.7
78.9
81.4
61.9
Total
77.2
50.6
34.3
21.1
18.6
38.1
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
Looking at the composition of the academic staff by nationality and gender, we can contends that
our university shows limited signs of internationalisation as it attracts only a few foreign academics
(table 31). In total, they were 93 academics and they represented 4.6% of the total. Foreign women
were more than men: 58 against 35, but foreign women in Bari were confined almost exclusively
among language assistants. Foreign full professors were almost exclusively men, while a more even
distribution existed among lecturers. It can be argued therefore that the University of Bari the
system is penalising also for Italian women especially when they start to climb the career ladder.
Tab. 31 Academic and scientific staff by gender and nationality, Bari
Italians
Men
Language assistants
0.1
Lecturers
32.7
28.5
Full professors
36.2
Others
2.5
Total
100.0
Foreigners
Women
Men
0.6
56.7
25.1
16.7
1.0
100.0
34.3
17.1
17.1
20.0
11.4
100.0
Total
Women
69.0
17.2
10.3
1.7
1.7
100.0
Men
Women
1.0
32.2
28.2
35.8
2.8
100.0
5.7
53.7
24.0
15.6
1.0
100.0
Total
% by
column
2.7
40.0
26.7
28.5
2.1
100.0
Table 32 shows that foreign presence at Bari University was mainly constituted by women. In
general their numbers were very low in absolute terms and therefore percentages were not really
significant. However, women outnumbered men especially when they come from EU-15 as they
teach foreign languages (mainly EU languages).
Page 42 of 55
Italian Report
March 2007
Tab. 32 Foreign academic and scientific staff by gender and areas of origin, Bari (absolute value in
appendix)
Associated
Full
Language
Other
Gross
professors
professors
experts
spec.contracts
total
Lecturers
Total
Women Men Women
Men Women Men Women Men Women Men Women Men
Italians
6.2 22.9
9.2 18.0
EU-15
Other EU
America
Africa
Others
1.9 1.9
0.0 23.5
0.0 5.9
0.0 0.0
0.0 33.3
7.4 5.6
5.9 5.9
0.0 11.8
50.0 0.0
0.0 0.0
1.1 7.5
Foreigners
6.5
20.9 20.6
6.5
0.2
0.1
0.4
1.6
7.4
17.6
11.8
0.0
33.3
7.4
5.9
5.9
0.0
0.0
42.6 20.4
29.4 0.0
58.8 5.9
50.0 0.0
33.3 0.0
1.9 3.7
0.0 11.8
0.0 0.0
0.0 0.0
0.0 0.0
10.8
6.5
43.0 12.9
1.1
4.3
36.9 63.1 100.0
61.1
52.9
70.6
100.0
66.7
38.9
47.1
29.4
0.0
33.3
62.4 37.6 100.0
Table 33 considers academic work contracts at Bari University. As for the administrative staff, also
among academics, full time was a privileged option. It is important to stress that part-time was more
used by men but for reasons connected to the carrying out of private professional activities. The
Italian laws in fact oblige academics to choose part time contracts if they have another professional
activity besides the university one.
Tab. 33 Academic and scientific staff by gender and work contracts, Bari
Women
Part time
Men
Total
Women
Full Time
Men
Total
Total
Full professors
Senior lecturers
0.7
0.4
1.3
5.6
5.4
5.6
6.3
5.7
6.9
20.4
33.9
48.7
73.3
60.3
44.4
93.7
94.3
93.1
100.0
100.0
100.0
TOTAL
0.8
5.5
6.3
34.2
59.5
93.7
100.0
Page 43 of 55
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
Italian Report
March 2007
Chapter 5 – Studies on women scientists
I ricercatori stranieri in Italia: fattori di push e pull by Brandi and Cerbara. Studi Emigrazione
This article is the first quantitative survey on foreign presence in public research centres in Italy. It
analyses push (from their country) and pull (to Italy) factors affecting the decision to do research in
Italy. In addition, it focuses on the difficulties of doing research in Italy and gathers opinions on the
brain drain problem.
From a methodological perspective, the article collected data through a questionnaire sent to the
main Italian research structures (60 research structured answered the questionnaire out of 459). The
sample was not statistically significant; only those who wanted to take part in the research were
included. The targeted group was foreign researchers, working as physicists, biologists, chemists,
engineers. Despite the difficulties encountered while working in Italy (for instance, the
bureaucracy), overall it emerged that the positive attitude of Italians towards foreigners acts as a
strong pull factor. The survey emphasised that better wages and more stable work contracts would
improve the attractiveness of Italy as a country of skilled migrants.
La mobilità delle alte qualifiche in Europa, Canada e USA by Sveva Avveduto. Studi emigrazione
After a brief analysis of EU situation of human resources for science and technology, the article
focuses on the mobility of highly qualified migrants in Canada and USA. The targeted group was
highly skilled migrants, especially in science and technologies. In both countries, the flow of
migrants from Europe has reduced while the quality of such migrants, in terms of educational
qualifications, has increased. The paper analyses the situation of Italian high qualified immigration
in the two countries. Both temporary and permanent migration flows are considered. The analysis
proposed in the article can contribute to the evaluation of the EU role and of Italy in particular to
the development of high qualified personnel and therefore to the overall innovation performance of
the receiving countries. From a methodological perspective, the article uses the EU Labour Force
Survey, data from Canada’s department of Citizenship and Immigration, and data from the US
immigration and naturalisation service.
Page 44 of 55
Italian Report
March 2007
La formazione e l’occupazione degli stranieri residenti a Roma nel 1996: potenziali risorse umane
per la scienza e la tecnologia by Brandi. Studi Emigrazione
The article focuses on the education and employment of foreign residents living in Rome in 1996. It
starts from the OCSE guidelines which recognised that the human resources for science and
technology stock of any given country is sharply affected by migration flows of qualified people.
The conclusion of the research is that the resident foreign population in Rome has a high mean level
of education by no means lower than the mean level than Romans. The analysis of the professions
exercised by immigrants showed that they are concentrated into two distinct groups: intellectual,
scientific and highly specialised jobs and jobs which no qualifications at all. Analysis of the cross
over between level of study acquired and type of employment shows however that a large group of
the immigrants with a medium high qualifications do jobs below their level of education. The
phenomenon is limited but by no means not negligible among male graduates, but becomes very
conspicuous among female graduates and all diploma holders, irrespective of gender.
Figlie di Minerva by Palomba (ed.)
This book is the first analysis of female careers in public research centres in Italy (CNR, ENEA,
ISS, ISTAT, INRAN, INFN, INFM, CNEL). Its main goal is to suggest equal opportunity policies.
The research shows that a greater number of women are entering scientific and research careers.
Nonetheless, there still exists situations of horizontal and vertical segregation. The book suggests a
number of policy interventions. They are the valorisation of the female component of the research
workforce, the issuing of statistics by gender, the support to personnel in disadvantaged work
situations. Specifically, it suggests that at least 40% of evaluators should be women; that there
should be equal opportunities to get research grants and to manage research projects.
The data analysed in the book come directly from each research centre. Other data are collect from
ISTAT.
L’alternativa negata by Gabetta
This book is written by a female engineer who aimed to study women in male research occupations.
The book is based on the results of a postal questionnaire sent to women scientists (mainly
engineers, physics (physics of matter), chemists) of whom 127 replied (29 in Italy). None of these
women work in their country of origin. The questionnaire deals with a number of topics: the choice
Page 45 of 55
Italian Report
March 2007
of a scientific career; the relationship with their managers; the working time; the family and the
children; and the obstacles in the job. The main conclusion is that, even if having scientific careers,
women should not lose their own cultural identity to follow male standards at work and ways of
behaving. This is because female features can create more value added in the research world.
Pari opportunità nelle istituzioni di ricerca by CNR-INFN
The book stems from a national conference on equal opportunities in Italian public research
institutions. It focuses especially on two main research centres: CNR and INFN. These two research
centres are analysed in depth with direct data on the type of workforce, level of education, women’s
presence, hierarchical levels. Another section of the book deals with the analysis of laws and
regulations on equal opportunities in Italy and Europe. The last section of the book concerns all
positive actions established in CNR and INFN to support women’s presence.
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Italian Report
March 2007
Chapter 6 – Policies, measures and programmes
The first Minister for equal opportunities was appointed in Italy in 1996, with responsibilities for
mainstreaming functions. In March 1997, a directive was passed which aimed at empowering
women, at raising awareness on gender diversity and, finally, at suggesting policies for the
promotion and development of occupations.
In 1999, the then Government passed a law which required that all statistical information should be
disaggregated by gender. This decision was due to the fact that in Italy there were no statistical
sources which supplied data disaggregated by gender. The Parliament never approved the final bill.
In 2000 the Italian Women and Science steering committee was officially established at Ministry of
University and Scientific Research as a working group to advice and make proposals on all issues
pertaining to women and science. During the same year, the first research report on women’s
careers in public research centres was presented. For the first time, on the basis of official statistical
data, there was evidence of women’s segregation in these activities (Palomba, 2000).
Contrary to other countries (for instance France), at the time, Italy lacked of any national
framework on gender policies in research.
It was only in the last decade that a national plan focusing on equal opportunities was launched. A
number of laws (law 29/1993, law 196/2000, law 165/2001) were consequently passed.
The plan obliged the creation of equal opportunities committees (CPO) in all Universities, public
institutions and research centres. These have to approve three years programme to enhance equal
opportunities. CPOs’s members are both men and women and they work on the following goals: to
propose mechanisms to favour equality between men and women and women’s empowerment and
to advice public offices on the management of human resources.
Specifically, public administration’s offices are obliged to reserve women a third of places into
committees that select public jobs, unless this is impossible to obtain; to pursue training
programmes that are compatible with the needs of the female workforce. As it could be expected, a
series of studies had showed that women’s careers in research are more difficult than men’s and that
competence is less important than gender belonging. In fact, those who select and are in high
position are mainly men: assessment is made on the basis of their own features and therefore
masculine traits and values become the primary values.
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Italian Report
March 2007
Since 2000, the University of Bari has established its own CPO whose guidelines are the following:
-
to reconcile work and family time;
-
to promote activities on the value of a gender approach in the workplaces;
-
to promote training and information for women who work at the university,
-
to involve female students in the life of their University.
No mention is made to ethnicity.
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March 2007
Chapter 7 – The networks
NEWS Project:
http://www.ulb.ac.be/socio/gem/index_en.htm
7.1 Women scientists networks
Associazione Donne e Scienza
7.2 Women Studies
Università di Milano, Prof. B. Beccalli Centre des études femmes "Milly Villa" , Université de
Calabre, Prof. D. Barazzetti, [email protected]
Rete Informativa Lilith. Réseau de centre de documentations, d'archives et de bibliothèques de
femmes
7.3 Education and research
Ministero dell'Università e della Ricerca
L'Istituto di Ricerche sulla Popolazione di Roma (IRPPS) is an Institute of CNR
Forum per la tecnologia dell'informazione
APRE is the First not-profit Agency for the Promotion of European Research which is supported by
40 members organisations and is closely related to the Ministry of Research.
7.4 Equal opportunities
Comitato per le Pari Opportunità uomo-donna
Comitato per le Pari Opportunità
National office against racial discrimination
Page 49 of 55
Italian Report
March 2007
Chapter 8- National specificity
The key finding of this report suggests that ethnicity does not “intervene” on gender discrimination.
In Italy, in universities and research institutions, penalisation or even discrimination appears to be
primarily gender based. In other words, (the few) foreign women working in Italy encounter the
same obstacles and problems that Italian women face every day.
In the European panorama, together with other Southern European countries, Italy holds a peculiar
position concerning migration. The phenomenon is recent; its consistence is relatively limited and,
so far, it deals with an instable population characterised by a high turn over. The country therefore
faces challenges that are different from the ones that are typical in the countries of old migration. It
follows that the political agenda is deeply influenced by such situation. Political responses to
migration problems concern almost exclusively the acknowledgement of basic rights in the arrival
society.
Nonetheless, there is statistical evidence that suggests foreign presence in primary and secondary
schools. It is just at these levels that the phenomenon is visible.
For the above reason, the research theme of this network -foreigners’ discrimination in research
careers - is not topical in Italy.
On the contrary, the debate in Italy revolves around Italian researchers who leave the country to go
to work in better Universities and research centres abroad, namely to the States and to the UK. The
number of qualified personnel leaving Italy is growing every year and it is higher than the number
of foreigners entering the country. This implies that the country is losing qualified workforce
without acquiring new highly skilled personnel, with a significant loss for the national innovation
system (Brandi, 2004). How to face this problem is an unresolved question.
Page 50 of 55
Italian Report
March 2007
Chapter 9 - Recommendations
On the basis of the evidence presented in this report, it is possible to suggest the following
recommendations:
-
To recognise degrees and qualifications obtained abroad in the educational system and in the
labour market.
-
To pass specific policies to attract highly skilled personnel from abroad, also by issuing
specific types of visas.
Specifically for women:
- to develop knowledge on women scientists . This means to gather statistics and sound information
on women’s presence in sciences, on horizontal and vertical segregation. This does not consist only
of a refinement of statistical tools (i.e. gendered data). A further added value could be the reaching
of a deeper understanding of women’s issues.
-
to make it visible research works carried out by women scientists (i.e. advertise their
research results such as new discoveries, new patents); develop knowledge on women
scientists (i.e. publications and statistics that describe women’s condition at work in
scientific and technological fields).
-
To favour the accountability of governing research bodies. The crux of the problem lies in
the low (in many cases, inexistent) presence of women in decision making positions. This
refers mainly to the research boards that decide about funds allocation, about national
competitions to obtain jobs in academia and research, about research management (which,
made by men, often discriminate women). This is known as tokenism.
Page 51 of 55
Italian Report
March 2007
Bibliography
Avveduto, S. (2004) La mobilità delle alte qualifiche in Europa, Canada e USA. Studi Emigrazione,
XLI, n.156
Avveduto, S. and Brandi, MC. (2004) Le migrazioni qualificate in Italia. Studi Emigrazioni, XLI, n.
156.
Barsotti, O. (1996) , L'inserimento occupazionale degli immigrati e il loro ruolo nei confronti della
forza lavoro autoctona. Mercato del lavoro e migrazione, vol. LN.2.
Brandi, MC. (2004) Le politiche relative alle migrazioni qualificate. Studi Emigrazione, XLI n.156
Brandi, MC. (1998) la formazione e l’occupazione degli stranieri residenti a Roma nel 1996.
Potenziali risorse umane per la scienza e la tecnologia. Studi Emigrazione, XXXV, n.131
Brandi, MC. e Cerbara, L. (2004) I ricercatori stranieri in Italia: fattori push e pull. Studi
Emigrazione, XLI, n.156
Caritas (Various years) Immigrazione. Dossier statistico. Roma.
CNR-INFN (2002) Pari opportunità nelle istituzioni di ricerca. Roma.
Colavita, K. (1999) Italy and the New Immigration. In Cornelius, W., Martin, P. and Hollifielf, J.
Controlling Immigration. A Global Perspective. Stanford University Press, Stanford.
EU- Commission (2006) She figures, 2006. Brussels.
EU- Commission (2003) She figures, 2003. Brussels.
EU- Commission (2003) Third EU Report on Science and Technology. Brussels.
Gabetta, G. (2003) L’alternativa negata. Egea, Milano.
Gaillard, AM. E Gaillard, J. (1998) The international circulation of scientists and technologists.
Science Communication, vol. 20, n. 1.
King, R. and Black, R. (ed)(1997) Southern Europe and the New Immigration. Sussex, Academic
Press
Kofman, E. (2005) Rethinking female migrations: sites and skilled work in globalised social
reproduction. Tanger, 15-19 November.
Kofman, E. (2000) The invisibility of skilled female migrants and gender relations in studies of
skilled migration in Europe. International Journal of population geography, n.6.
Iredale, R. (2004) Gender, immigration policies and accreditation: valuing the skills of professional
women migrants. Geoforum, n. 36.
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March 2007
Iredale, R. (2001) The migration of professionals: theories and typologies. International migration,
vol. 39, n. 5, special issue.
ISTAT (2001) Donne all’università. Roma.
ISTAT (2001) Censimento della popolazione. Roma.
ISTAT (2006) Popolazione residente al 2006. www.istat.it
Livi Bacci, M. (2002) Immigrazione: nuova legge, ma quale politica. Il Mulino, n. 403.
Mahroun, S. (1999) Competing for the highly skilled: Europe in perspective. Science and Public
Policy, vol. 26, n. 1.
Morano-Foadi, S. (2005) Scientific mobility, career progression and excellence in the European
Research Area. International Migration, vol.43, n. 5.
Palomba, R. (a cura di) (2000) Figlie di Minerva. F. Angeli, Milano.
Petrillo, A. (1999) Povertà, esclusione sociale e disaffiliation: note sul dibattito francese. Sociologia
e Politiche Sociali, n. 3.
Sciortino, G. (1999) Planning in the dark: the evolution of Italian immigration control. In
Brochmann, G. and Hammar, T. (eds.) Mechanisms of Immigration Control: A Comparative
Analysis of European Regulation Policies. Oxford, New York.
Villari, R. (1984) Storia contemporanea. Laterza, Roma.
Zincone, G. (1994) Immigration into Italy: Data and Policies. In Heckmann, F. and Bosswick, W.
(eds). Migration Policies: A Comparative Perspective. Bamberg, Efms.
Page 53 of 55
Italian Report
Glossary
CINECA:
Consorzio Interuniversitario per il calcolo automatico
CNR:
Consiglio nazionale delle ricerche
CNEL:
Consiglio nazionale dell’economia e del lavoro
ENEA:
Ente per le nuove tecnologie, l’energia e l’ambiente
INFM:
Istituto nazionale per la fisica della materia
INFN:
Istituto nazionale di fisica nucleare
INRAN:
Istituto nazionale di ricerca per gli alimenti e la nutrizione
ISS:
Istituto superiore di sanità
ISTAT:
Istituto nazionale di statistica
MIUR:
Ministero dell’Università e della Ricerca
Page 54 of 55
March 2007
Italian Report
Statistical Appendix
Page 55 of 55
March 2007

Italian report - NEWS Network on Ethnicity and Women Scientists Fr

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