Destination University: open until Sunday, December 17, selection kicks off to participate in the "Me.Mo - Merit and Social Mobility" orientation project for 360 high school students with parents who are not college graduates

Giving the tools to students in upper secondary schools, who achieve excellent results but live in fragile social and economic contexts, to attend university, choosing the path best suited to their abilities and personal and professional ambitions: they are targeted by "Me.Mo - Merit and Social Mobility," the university orientation project promoted by the Sant'Anna School, which has just launched the selection phase, open until Sunday, December 17.

The project, which will involve 360 students from upper secondary schools, has been regulated by a memorandum of understanding with the italian Ministry of Merit Education and is an orientation pathway selected for funding through the PNRR.

"Considering the overall population between the ages of 45 and 64, the share of college graduates is 14.1 percent among men and 16.1 percent among women. But if we focus attention on the parents of college graduates, these shares rise to 21.1 percent and 21.8 percent". These data, released by Almalaurea and referring to 2021, show that the chances of graduating are higher for those who have at least one parent with a degree. The "Me.Mo - Merit and Social Mobility" project starts precisely from the analysis of this data to direct young people in the penultimate year of high school, daughters and sons of parents who do not have a college degree, and therefore come from potentially fragile backgrounds, in social and economic terms, toward the university choice.

Why apply. "Me.Mo - Merit and Social Mobility" is distinguished by three features. It considers merit in terms of the achievements of female and male students who participate in the project, but also and above all the starting point - having parents who are not college graduates - trying to reverse the "fate" of those who come from fragile backgrounds. It sets a goal of strategic relevance for the future of Italy, to bring new generations closer to universities, toward any type of studies, regardless of the Italian university chosen. It works with "peer-to-peer" learning processes ("peer to peer"), that is, those who participate are confronted with female university students and university students whose age difference is one, two, three years at most, zeroing the distances in communication and by lived experiences. 

How to apply. In early November, educational institutions received an email from the offices of the Sant'Anna School in Pisa with all the details of the project and with relevant information notes.  The first step in participating in the project comes from the teachers, who are asked to identify female students who stand out in terms of learning and achievement and who live in social conditions that make it difficult for them to choose a university, due to knowledge and possibilities, such as precisely the low educational qualifications of their parents. After being identified by the teachers of the institutions involved, female and male students must register on the dedicated portal and made known in the email sent to schools to the project by Sunday, December 10, 2023 to participate in the selection of 360 students who will take part in the pathway for the 2023 / 2024 school year. 

How the project takes place. The entire pathway is free of charge and lasts one school year. There are thematic meetings both in the territories involved, online, and at the Sant'Anna School, in Pisa, in three-day residential internships (stages). In these meetings, in addition to deepening the subjects of study, there are discussions of the tools and possibilities that university studies offer, in-depth moments with professors and prominent figures, simulations of tests for admission to university studies and personalized mentoring (guidance) paths. Students' participation in the project - subject to agreement with each individual home school - can be formalized within the "Pathways for Transversal Skills and Orientation" ("PCTO").

To learn more. You can visit this webpage or request information by writing to memo@santannapisa.it.