Session Information
02 SES 12 C, Inclusion I: Skills & Identity
Paper Session
Contribution
Background and Main Objective of Study
Of all the migrants that have crossed the Mediterranean Sea to Italy’s shores in the last few years, a large number are unaccompanied minors and young adults (Demurtas, Vitiello, Accorinti, Skoda & Perillo, 2017). Cometa, located in Como, Italy, provides services to minors and young adults and is serving an increasing number of migrants. These young migrants are vulnerable due to their marginalization in areas such as language, cultural differences, and class status, and they face potential risks in not being able to find meaningful employment. This research proposal reports on findings from a qualitative study whose main objective was to examine students’ (who are migrants) and staff members’ growth and development through their involvement in a one-year long training course for housekeepers entitled the “Minimaster”.
The Minimaster targets minors and young adults who are, usually, 17-22 years old NEETs. The program prepares future waiters/waitresses and housekeepers for the (mainly local) hospitality sector, including hotels/restaurants directly involved in the course offering both internships and work-based learning on their premises with their own professionals. In the last 10 years, the number of migrants attending the Minimaster has been increasing (approx. 80 students, 40% of the total). Placement results keeps being very positive. One year after obtaining their certificate, 60% of students have a job. The Minimaster’s success relies on (1) a mix of training on professional subjects, e.g., enology, labour law, and Italian and English language literacy; (2) socio-emotional learning, e.g., communication skills, relationship building with local entrepreneurs; and (3) a combination of didactic methodology, e.g., strong work-based approach, as well as daily coaching and mentoring.
Research Questions
The overall purpose of this study is to explore growth and learning of students and staff associated with Cometa’s Minimaster course (MC). Research questions include:
- What have student/staff learned from their experiences with MC?
- What led the student/staff member to get involved in MC?
- What was life like before the student or staff member became involved in MC? And, how has life changed?
- What challenges have the student/staff member had to face and/or overcome as part of MC, e.g., holding onto cultural customs, identity and language in contrast with embracing new customs and language and social norms held by Italian society)?
Theoretical Framework
Although there are many studies that examine the impact of vocational training on participants (Zimmerman et al., 2013), few have examined the identity development of unaccompanied migrants balanced with the expectations of a program like Cometa that encourages them to integrate into Italian society. The dual perspective (Chestang, 1972; Norton, 1978, 1993) can help us understand tensions likely to emerge between migrants’ identity development and integration into Italian society. The dual perspective places importance on the interactions between diverse groups and their nurturing systems (e.g., family and peers most involved in shaping a migrant’s identity) and the larger Italian society which represents dominant or sustaining systems (e.g., economic, educational and political systems) that may have different values, customs and beliefs from the migrant’s nurturing system.
The dual perspective assists in conceptualizing how family and/or peers of many marginalized groups may not match those of the larger society (e.g., values and religious beliefs). For unaccompanied migrants, their nurturing system may be largely absent, and they may seek support from peers. There will be inherent tensions between their identity development needs and the expectations of the MC (which is to integrate into the dominant society). Staff members must develop a conscious awareness of migrants’ nurturing and sustaining systems which can sensitize them in assessing migrants’ needs and enhancing their coping skills.
Method
This qualitative study explores students’ and staff members’ experiences of growth, development, and challenges in Cometa’s MC. This study is guided by a naturalistic paradigm based on assumptions that there are multiple realities or perspectives of a particular phenomena such as the young migrant’s journey to and integration in Italian society. Participants are students ages 17 through approximately 25 years old and staff members who have been voluntarily recruited from Cometa’s MC through verbal announcements in classes and other activities associated with Cometa. A consultant panel was also developed consisting of former students, current staff, and others to provide feedback on the study’s design. Student participants may not fluently speak or read in English. An Italian to English interpreter who is a volunteer was made available to these students and staff to interpret study materials. Semi-structured face-to-face interviews were conducted at the agency, Cometa or in the community of Como at a place agreed upon by the research participant. Interviews were audiotaped and transcribed, and the researcher(s) assigned a pseudonym for each participant, deidentify all data, and load it into two work computers that both researcher(s) will use for this study. Both computers use data protection software so as to keep all data confidential. Researcher(s) analyzed the interview data based on the constant comparative method described by Lincoln and Guba (1985). The constant comparative method uses a recursive process of moving back and forth between the raw data and tentative codes until final coding categories are developed. This analytic process allows for inferences, tentative conclusions and preliminary perspectives to emerge from the data for the purpose of discovering how research participants understand or make meaning of their involvement, growth and development through Cometa’s MC. The software program Atlas.ti was used to assist in the management of all text data. Strategies were used to establish trustworthiness in this study’s findings including obtaining feedback from consultant panel members on introductory themes that emerged from data analyses of interview; and conducting member checks throughout the interview process. The use of these strategies helped to expand, add to, and refine the codes thereby increasing the credibility of findings (Lincoln, 1995; Lincoln and Guba, 1985).
Expected Outcomes
The expected outcomes from this study can be described as fourfold. First, by exploring students’ and staff members’ growth and development associated with Cometa’s MC, we can develop a greater awareness of the challenges and strengths that students (who are migrants and represent a vulnerable group) and staff have in working in this program. For example, how do we help students who are without family develop nurturing systems (e.g., through peer support) so that they can develop a healthy identity rooted in their cultural and ethnic background? Second, because these students may have migrated alone and are without family, it becomes pivotal to strike a balance between supporting their healthy, cultural and ethnic identity development while at the same time assisting them in integrating into Italian society. Third, if we fail to nurture these students in developing an identity linked to their cultural and ethnic roots, they may experience greater stigmatization and have difficulties functioning in the larger Italian society. We may be introducing a permanent underclass in Italian society. Finally, Cometa’s MC is an example of the kind of program that provides a process not only for supporting migrants, but can also better prepare teachers, trainers, mentors and others to help them understand exactly what tensions migrants are likely to face (e.g., in balancing their cultural identity development and integrating into the larger Italian society) and how best to support and work with the migrants.
References
Chestang, L. W. (1972). Character development in a hostile environment. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago, School of Social Service Administration. Demurtas, P., Vitiello, M., Accorinti, M., Skoda, A. & Perillo, C. (2017). In search of protection: Unaccompanied minors in Italy. New York: Center for Migration Studies. Lincoln, Y. S. (1995) Emerging criteria for quality in qualitative and interpretive research. Qualitative Inquiry, 1, 273–289. Lincoln, Y. S. & Guba, E. G. (1985). Naturalistic Inquiry. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications. Norton, D. G. (1978). The dual perspective: Inclusion of ethnic minority content in the social work curriculum. New York, NY: Council on Social Work Education. Norton, D. G. (1993). Diversity, early socialization, and temporal development: The dual perspective revisited. Social Work, 38(1), 82–90. Zimmermann, K. F., Biavaschi, C., Eichhorst, W., Giulietti, C., Kendzia, M. J., Muravyev, A., Pieters, J., Rodrìguez-Planas, N. and Schmidl, R. (2013). Youth Unemployment and Vocational Training, Foundations and Trends® in Microeconomics, 9(1–2), 1-157.
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