This article comparatively analyzes some results of a survey carried out within the framework of the TRESEGY Project, involving the two cities of Genoa and Rome and their surrounding administrative districts. Secondary school students in these areas were asked to answer a questionnaire. In both cities, the sub-sample of 300 foreign students was compared to a numerically equivalent group of  Italian students.

The aim of this closer examination is to explore some aspects of the information gathered through the TRESEGY survey, focusing on the issues of self-perception and perception by others, evaluation of discrimination suffered and/or witnessed, identity-building processes and their crucial elements. The results of the survey can be sorted by different criteria: nationality (foreign and Italian students), area of residence (students from Genoa and from Rome) and generation (using the “decimal” method proposed by Rumbaut to distinguish different generations of immigrants). This allows the researcher to compare “immigration styles” according to the different contexts in which migrants live and to evaluate their consequences in terms of self-perception and social inclusion.

Keywords: youth migration, generation, Genoa, Rome, self definition.