Career guidance in multicultural contexts : an Italian case study

Abstract

The wave of migrants and refugees arriving in Europe presents a challenge not just for society as a whole, but also for the response that career guidance can make. Over and above humanitarian measures, the welfare and integration of the new arrivals requires the putting into place of appropriate training and job placement services, with career guidance potentially playing a valuable role. Guidance can help reduce the initial disorientation that inevitably affects displacement, ensuring that the migrants’ cultural, emotional and intellectual resources are acknowledged, valued, and deployed in ways that open up opportunities to make a living and to flourish in the host country. Such career guidance needs to be attuned to the cultural differences, and to tailor services in ways that respect diversity. Italy, however, has not drawn benefit from the experience of other countries, nor drawn lessons from the long-standing international literature on successful multiculturalism. Not only have few institutions taken up the challenge of developing bespoke guidance programmes for migrants, but those that have been developed often lack the advanced and specialised competences that are required. This chapter casts a critical eye over the situation in Italy, highlighting in particular the fate of the growing number of unaccompanied minors who disembark on the peninsula in search of a new life and work opportunities. Going beyond critique, the chapter also describes a programme that has been put into place specifically to address the needs of this group who make it to the Italian island of Sicily.