Difference between revisions of "Barone (Italy)"

When considering the Italian system of Higher Education, a comparison is often made with practices in the Spanish Higher Education system as it is considered to be the most closely related to the Italian case, although the levels of localism in appointments in Spanish Universities seem to be lower (Francalacci 2014)<ref>Francalacci, P. 2014. ‘Sul sistema di recultamento spagnolo’, ROARS, Return On Academic Research, 17 May, http://www.roars.it/online/sul-sistema-di-reclutamento-spagnolo/</ref>. A study conducted between 2000-2010 looked at family connections in the Italian university system. It found evidence of the recruitment or promotion of a close relative (defined as ‘son or daughter, spouse, nephew or niece, son or daughter in law’) in 18 out of the 57 universities it surveyed across Italy. This practice could be detected in six of the 10 largest universities in the country (Bari, Bologna, Florence, Milan, Naples and Palermo) (Durante et al 2011)<ref>Durante, R., Labartino, G. and Perotti, R. 2011. ‘Academic Dynasties: Decentralization and Familism in Italian Academia’, http://www.nber.org/papers/w17572</ref>. In 2008, at the Faculty of Medicine in Palermo, 58 of the 384 professors had at least one close relative in the same faculty, while in 2010, at the medical faculty in Messina, 100 out of 531 instances of nepotism were found, and in the Faculty of Law, 27 out of 75 members of the faculty were found to have appointed a close family member. A prosecutorial inquiry in Bari was reportedly known as the ‘Do ut des’ trial (‘I give, so that you will give’), which seems to accurately describe the nature of relationships within the local network.

When considering the Italian system of Higher Education, a comparison is often made with practices in the Spanish Higher Education system as it is considered to be the most closely related to the Italian case, although the levels of localism in appointments in Spanish Universities seem to be lower (Francalacci 2014)<ref>Francalacci, P. 2014. ‘Sul sistema di recultamento spagnolo’, ROARS, Return On Academic Research, 17 May, http://www.roars.it/online/sul-sistema-di-reclutamento-spagnolo/</ref>. A study conducted between 2000-2010 looked at family connections in the Italian university system. It found evidence of the recruitment or promotion of a close relative (defined as ‘son or daughter, spouse, nephew or niece, son or daughter in law’) in 18 out of the 57 universities it surveyed across Italy. This practice could be detected in six of the 10 largest universities in the country (Bari, Bologna, Florence, Milan, Naples and Palermo) (Durante et al 2011)<ref>Durante, R., Labartino, G. and Perotti, R. 2011. ‘Academic Dynasties: Decentralization and Familism in Italian Academia’, http://www.nber.org/papers/w17572</ref>. In 2008, at the Faculty of Medicine in Palermo, 58 of the 384 professors had at least one close relative in the same faculty, while in 2010, at the medical faculty in Messina, 100 out of 531 instances of nepotism were found, and in the Faculty of Law, 27 out of 75 members of the faculty were found to have appointed a close family member. A prosecutorial inquiry in Bari was reportedly known as the ‘Do ut des’ trial (‘I give, so that you will give’), which seems to accurately describe the nature of relationships within the local network.

The impact of ‘familism’ in universities also has a negative effect in terms of the quality of research within departments. Studies show that the higher the levels of familism, the poorer the research performance. Further, an examination of poor civic values, along with a low sense of civic responsibility, shows that the decentralisation implemented after the 1998 educational reforms instigated by Minister Luigi Berlinguer had a negative impact, resulting in an even higher incidence of nepotism (Durante et al. 2011: 23)<ref>Durante, R., Labartino, G. and Perotti, R. 2011. ‘Academic Dynasties: Decentralization and Familism in Italian Academia’, http://www.nber.org/papers/w17572</ref>. The Berlinguer Act implemented by the Ministry of Education, University and Research (MIUR)<ref>MIUR (ud) ‘Abilitazione Scientifica Nazionale’, http://abilitazione.miur.it/public/pubblicarisultati.php?lang=eng</ref>, enabled universities to appoint staff at a local level and replaced the previous system in which the national committee (concorso nazionale) had decided the selection of candidates. The reform was well intentioned in that it sought to speed up the hiring process and diminish bureaucratic selection processes (Verzillo 2013)<ref>Verzillo, S. 2013 ‘Decentralized academic selection mechanisms in Italy: opportunity or parochialism?’,http://2013.economicsofeducation.com/user/pdfsesiones/111.pdf</ref>, but had unexpected consequences.

The impact of ‘familism’ in universities also has a negative effect in terms of the quality of research within departments. Studies show that the higher the levels of familism, the poorer the research performance. Further, an examination of poor civic values, along with a low sense of civic responsibility, shows that the decentralisation implemented after the 1998 educational reforms instigated by Minister Luigi Berlinguer had a negative impact, resulting in an even higher incidence of nepotism (Durante et al. 2011: 23)<ref>Durante, R., Labartino, G. and Perotti, R. 2011. ‘Academic Dynasties: Decentralization and Familism in Italian Academia’, http://www.nber.org/papers/w17572</ref>. The Berlinguer Act implemented by the Ministry of Education, University and Research (MIUR)<ref>MIUR (ud) ‘Abilitazione Scientifica Nazionale’, http://abilitazione.miur.it/public/pubblicarisultati.php?lang=eng</ref>, enabled universities to appoint staff at a local level and replaced the previous system in which the national committee (concorso nazionale) had decided the selection of candidates. The reform was well intentioned in that it sought to speed up the hiring process and diminish bureaucratic selection processes (Verzillo 2013)<ref>Verzillo, S. 2013 ‘Decentralized academic selection mechanisms in Italy: opportunity or parochialism?’,http://2013.economicsofeducation.com/user/pdfsesiones/111.pdf</ref>, but had unexpected consequences.