With Start Stem scholarships SIA Foundation bets on young talent in Italy

(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - Between 2013 and 2022, the number of young Italians transferring their residence abroad steadily increased. On the contrary, there were far fewer returns to the homeland. In this period, in fact, according to ISTAT data, of more than one million expatriate citizens, one third (352 thousand) were between 25 and 34 years old and, among these, over 132 thousand (equal to 37.7%) were in possession of a university degree at the time of departure. Translated, this means that in 10 years Italy has trained over 130 thousand young people and then 'given' their skills to companies abroad. Giving young men and women an adequate education and the opportunity to make it work in Italian companies is the priority of the Fondazione SIA, Fondazione per gli Studi di Interesse Aziendale initiative, which together with the U Unione Industriali Torino, a founding partner and nine local companies, annually announces a large number of scholarships, Start Stem scholarships, destined for UniTo and PoliTo master's students in the Stem (Science, technology, engineering and mathematics) disciplines.

"Over the past five years we have provided around 300 scholarships of EUR 3,000 each," says Gianfranco Carbonato, president of Fondazione SIA. "The grants are awarded on a strictly meritocratic basis, so there are no social criteria or differentiation between Italian and foreign students. We are talking about 110-plus students in the first stage of university study, i.e. the Bachelor's degree," the president explains further. The scholarship, therefore, helps students gain access to a master's degree: "it is an important and concrete contribution that helps them choose to continue their studies," Carbonato comments. Around 80% of the winners enrolled in Master's degrees at the Politecnico di Torino (where the entire spectrum of engineering is covered), while 20% attend courses at the University of Turin (degrees in physics, chemistry, mathematics, computer science).

Three special features distinguish the Start Stem scholarships from other similar initiatives. First of all, the fact that the funds allocated to the scholarships do not come entirely from the foundation's assets, but are open to contributions from third parties: 'there are companies from the business or service world that contribute with donations. We are an open foundation,' explains the president. "The other important aspect," Carbonato continues, "is that, since we have a female employment deficit in Italy, 50% of these grants are awarded to female students. This is also a way of encouraging girls to undertake studies in the Stem field since, numbers in hand, there are fewer women in these faculties than men. "Female applications for scholarships are around 32%. In Stem subjects it is not obvious to find a female presence and this can be an incentive. Fortunately, this percentage is improving'.

Finally, the other distinctive aspect 'is that the student who receives the grant is also asked to make a small contribution of his or her own, which takes the form of providing a certain number of hours of training to middle school students'. The students who receive the grant therefore become tutors in the mathematical subjects of the younger boys and girls, with the Unione Industriali Torino putting them in direct contact with the school heads. "This is a very innovative, interesting aspect that has been very well received by the Turin schools. We already have a dozen institutes with which we collaborate in this sense, with a twofold purpose, the first is to help those who struggle in these subjects,' Carbonato recounts. 'There are some students who struggle more in mathematics, in this way we give them some support to try to move forward with the curriculum. The other aspect is to incentivise, i.e. stimulate, those who, on the contrary, are particularly well versed in these subjects. There are some children who show a natural aptitude for scientific subjects right from the start. In this way, a tutoring action is performed on them and their growth as students is accelerated'.

The aim of this initiative is to "make a contribution to waking up from the technological torpor not only this city, but the whole country, because the students come from all over Italy," emphasises the SIA Foundation president, specifying that "we need to direct young people towards the right schools, the right subjects". Carbonato, in fact, highlights the great mismatch that exists between supply and demand in the world of work: "on the one hand we have many graduates who cannot find a job, unfortunately, because they are graduates in disciplines that are not interesting for the corporate world, and on the other hand companies cannot find the professionals they need, from engineers to IT experts". But this disparity does not only exist for university graduates: 'even looking below the degree level, at graduates, the situation is similar'.