In Salerno, a degree? A luxury: enrollments are falling

In the province of Salerno only one in three graduates decides to continue their studies by enrolling in university. And the percentage of those who choose to get a degree – 36,5% – and the lowest in Italy. This is what emerges from a recent research by Openpolis, which assigns the black jersey, as regards the continuation of studies after the high school diploma, to the Salerno area. Which, together with Napoliis the only province in Italy that does not even reach the threshold of 40%. A fact that gives pause for thought and that, according to Istat, is dictated by the impact of family conditions on educational choices.

The transition from middle school

In the transition from middle school to high school, in fact, those who believe they have a family background with greater difficulties are less likely to choose high school. And they are three times more likely than their advantaged peers to choose a vocational school. The same conditioning is also recorded in the transition from middle school to university. More than two out of three young people (67.1%) with a family in good economic conditions want to go to university. While if the economic condition is considered negative the share drops to less than half of the total (46%). Processes of self-segregation, Openpolis underlines, which contribute to deepening the educational gaps in the youth population compared to the social class of origin.

Young people and university

In 2022 51.7% of young graduates enrolled in university. A share that varies across the country from 57% in central Italy to 53.5% in the North, and falls below half the total in the South (47.4%). Among the regions – excluding Trentino Alto Adige, which is affected by the phenomenon of young people enrolling in Austrian universities – those in the last places are all southern. These are Campania (39.2%), Sicily (49.6%), Sardinia (51.5%) and Calabria, the latter with a figure similar to that of Veneto (52.3%). These data, while not including other tertiary training courses – such as ITS and higher education institutes of art – offer a rather clear view of the post-school choices of graduates in the various areas of the country.