During the last 10 years, the Italian government adopted various measures to deal with the emigration phenomenon, mainly by providing economic aid to expatriate graduates who are thinking to return to Italy. With this purpose, the Italian government, through the “Growth” decree, has increased the amount of tax relief and with the “Relaunch” decree resulting from the COVID19 emergency, it has foreseen 1 billion and 400 thousand euros with an extraordinary allocation for the immediate hiring of 4,940 researchers from 2021 to be diluted in two years.
Among the main initiatives to tackle depopulation there is the one of internationalization of universities. The role of Business Schools according to the data of the latest CRUI report (2019) on the internationalization of higher education in Italy highlighted some interesting elements related to the level of attractiveness of foreign talents in Italian universities and Business Schools, showing how the the number of “degree seekers” who choose Italy to study is constantly growing.
There were 85,356 international students enrolled in different types of degree during 2017 – 2018 out of a total of 1,722,322 students, a number certainly destined to grow also in light of the proposal of the British Parliament according to which, starting from the 2020 academic year -2021, the universities of the United Kingdom will convert students to ‘international’ and, consequently, the relative university rates of European students.
While in the past, EU-UK citizens benefited from a reciprocity relationship, according to which university fees did not change based on the student’s origin.
The numbers related to the internationalization of higher education in Italy are therefore growing and in this context it should be remembered that the training offer in English is one of the most marked emergencies but, also in this respect, significant progress has been made in recent years: in 2013/2014 there were 143 courses delivered in English while they became 398 in the 2018/2019 academic year, with an increase – truly pressing over the years – of 178%. As regards, however, the digitization of universities, as experienced on the occasion of COVID-19, is now of fundamental importance.
Another determining factor regarding the importance of the business schools in Italy is identifying the needs of the job environment and in providing educational programs related to supply and demand. In fact data tells us that 80 percent of enrolled students have managed to achieve important results and professional progress, with employment rates of 85% three months after graduation, 121% more compared to the pre-master average.
