The sociological literature, encompassing both theoretical and empirical perspectives, has extensively examined educational inequalities and the mechanisms responsible for their production and perpetuation. Numerous studies, both qualitative and quantitative, macro and micro in nature, have explored these processes. However, there is a scarcity of research focusing on instances where, under specific conditions, the reproduction of these inequalities does not occur. This paper aims to investigate postgraduate choices and determine the extent to which students deviate from social reproduction processes based on their social origin.

Utilizing data from a comprehensive survey conducted in the Lazio region from March to May 2023 among students concluding their upper secondary education, our analysis initially explores the number of students who depart from reproduction trajectories outlined in the literature, commonly referred to as "resilient students" in performance analysis (OECD, 2011). Subsequently, we estimate the proportion of low-class students pursuing university education, acknowledging that such students typically exhibit reduced continuation rates compared to their high social class counterparts (Snee, Devine, 2014; Romito, 2021a). It is crucial to consider that the chosen upper secondary school track significantly influenced this transition (Ballarino, Panichella, 2014). This observation contributes to the discussion of maximally maintained inequality (Raftery, Hout, 1993), positing that upper-class students dominate higher education transitions, saturating lower levels and limiting access for lower classes.

This analysis is also extended to students with migratory backgrounds. Once groups of cases breaking the chain effect of social reproduction are identified, we characterize them based on gender, school performance, attitudes, and school experiences, aiming to surpass the relative risk aversion approach (Breen, Goldthorpe, 1997; Barone et al., 2021). The underlying hypothesis is that paths of upward educational mobility are influenced less by school and institutional factors and more by individual motivational and performance variables (Van de Werfhost, Hofstede, 2007). The paper reconstructs the chain linking social origin, school track choice, performance, and postgraduate destinations for these students (Giancola, Salmieri, 2022). These destinations are strongly influenced by the mentioned factors, and, in the case of tertiary education, the chosen disciplinary field of study is also affected by these and other factors (Giancola et al., 2023).

In defining social origin, we use a summary measure of the employment and educational backgrounds of students' parents. Additionally, we include the presence of siblings who have undertaken or completed university studies as a control variable, commonly referred to as "first-generation students" in the literature (Romito, 2021b). In summary, the goal is to elucidate both the dynamics of reproducing inequalities in educational expectations and the processes of upward educational mobility, along with the underlying causes.

Through a process that began in the 1990s — by virtue of legislative provisions, such as: Law 168/1989; Law 537/1993; Ministerial Decree 47/2013 — and still ongoing, the University of Turin, like most of the large (major) Italian universities, has established some decentralized branches. These are teaching sites (otherwise called “extra-metropolitan locations” or “satellite university campuses”) located in a municipality other than the one in which the registered office of the University is located. Currently the University of Turin has 7 decentralized locations where 24 degree programs are delivered.
Previous literature has highlighted that such decentralized sites can contribute to the development of local economies, in addition to the institutional objective of decongesting the activities of the headquarters.
This contribution intends to further ascertain whether the foundation of such teaching sites can also constitute a valid means for the reduction of inequalities of educational opportunities by promoting access to university for students with disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds or non-traditional students (e.g. employed or adult students. The empirical analysis is based on a unique set of administrative data and survey data collected through a multipurpose questionnaire to the freshmen enrolled in bachelor’s degree courses and master’s degree courses at the University of Turin in the AY 22-23 (N. 17.041).

Today, in most Western countries, girls drop out of school less frequently, stay longer in the education system, have more linear educational paths, and achieve better school and academic results than boys. The female advantage in education affects not only girls in the middle and upper classes, but also young women from disadvantaged family backgrounds. Regardless of social origins, the values positively judged by educational institutions – seriousness, discipline, docility, respect, composure, and so on – are in fact more coherent with the dispositions that forge female identity, since boys are socially required to demonstrate physical strength, courage, and a sense of honour (Depoilly, 2008; Spanò & Cangiano, 2023).

However, the sociological literature has highlighted aspects that invite us to reconsider the overly optimistic terms in which the issue of gender equality at university has been approached in recent decades, at least with reference to the working-class. On this subject, in a study on orientation paths, Duru-Bellat (1991) showed that girls make “compromise choices”, i.e. they invest in less prestigious fields of study that prepare them for jobs that allow a balance between work and family life.

This paper, based on 15 biographical interviews (Rosenthal, 1993) conducted in Naples, aims to explore the university life of working-class girls. Drawing on Duru-Bellat's reflections, it is argued that, in the context investigated, compromise solutions are not only found in the initial phase, when the girls must choose what to study, but concern their entire university experience. In fact, biographical analysis shows that girls are pushed by their families to avoid particularly long courses of study, which could delay the assumption of the role of wife and mother. Moreover, it reveals that girls in their daily experience are asked to combine their study commitments with housework (for instance, helping their mothers in the running of the home or taking their place when they are absent).

These compromise solutions, from a theoretical point of view, are framed in the relationship between the habitus and the habitat (Spanò & Pitzalis, 2021) of the Neapolitan urban working-class, where the habitus refers to individual and family dispositions, while the habitat refers to the dispositions inscribed in the places. Indeed, in Naples, a traditional gender culture persists in working-class families, according to which girls, unlike boys, should give priority to building their own family and actively participate in home life.

Overall, the biographical analysis underlines that educational choices and the university experience can be sometimes based on logics completely unrelated to the school and academic field, thus highlighting the central role that the domestic sphere plays in the production and reproduction of gender inequalities.

The paper aims to investigate gender differences in training and access to the medical profession in Italy. Medical training and activity is characterized, on the one hand, by a high rate of feminization, but on the other hand, especially in the area of specialization, significant gender differences emerge that show a greater presence of men in some branches (urology, orthopaedics, traumatology, etc.) and women in others (paediatrics, gynaecology, radiotherapy, etc.). These differences are not infrequently linked to inequalities in terms of wages, career expectations and social prestige.

The domain under analysis is therefore particularly interesting because it presents an apparent paradox. On the one hand, we observe a professional sector characterized by high social and labour prestige, high pay levels and significant career opportunities, which is largely accessible to women. On the other hand, however, strong gender segregation within specialties emerges.

In order to be able to analyze which social processes, relational mechanisms, and gender stereotypes operate at the basis of this segregation, the paper aims at accurately reconstructing the gender imbalance situation in Italian medical specialization schools and its variation in the medium term.

For this purpose, we analyze cross-sectional and longitudinal secondary data provided by the Ministry of University and Research, in particular through the "Education Data Portal" database, to build a national atlas of students in medical specialisation courses. The purpose is, therefore, to systematically define the main characteristics of the phenomenon at the national level by bringing out the areas of specialisation where the main differences between men and women are concentrated.

We will also highlight any differences that emerge compared to the general national trends, specifically taking into consideration both the macro-regional subdivision of the country (North-West, North-East, Centre, South, Islands), and the size and location of the universities. The national atlas will consider the results by gender of the national exam for admission to medical specialisation schools - since the choice of the preferred medical specialty depends on the placement in a national ranking established through an annual entrance exam - to check whether gender bias is already forming in this step.

This presentation showcases some methodological reflections on a recently initiated mixed-methods research project on the local schooling contexts, experiences, and trajectories of newcomer pupils to Sweden. The project aims to capture the complex interactions between newcomers’ background characteristics and aspirations on the one hand, and the varieties of local educational policies and practices they are confronted with on the other, which is prone to generate important insights into the variety of factors that feed into the educational choices within this understudied population.

Since 2015, Sweden has advocated for the dispersion of newcomers across all municipalities throughout the country to provide them with more favorable adjustment prospects. However, scant attention has been paid to how local circumstances affect municipalities’ ability to support newcomers in their school adaptation and their transition to upper secondary school. Research has focused far more on schools in stigmatized urban areas than in rural areas (Beach et al. 2018) despite the disparities in resources that can characterize these schools. Furthermore, differences in local education policies and school market characteristics can also affect newcomer pupils’ educational prospects and choices, making the impact of these contexts important to investigate.

While a large literature on the educational aspirations of immigrants and their children suggests that that they are prone to make ambitious educational choices at key stages in the educational system (e.g. Heath & Brinbaum, 2014; Jonsson & Rudolphi, 2011), it is well established that in spite of these aspirations, language difficulties and challenges in adapting to the educational system can greatly hamper the educational achievement of young immigrants, especially the later they arrive in secondary school (Lemmermann & Riphahn, 2018).

The research project draws on a variety of data sources, which provide us with opportunity to explore how local educational policy and school practice interact with the background characteristics and educational aspirations of newcomer youth to shape their educational choices. We will draw upon longitudinal register data for 15 cohorts of youth to examine the transition patterns to upper-secondary school among youth that arrived in Sweden in their early teenage years during the height of the migration wave of 2015. We will also use the statistical data to sample four municipalities that we use as qualitative case studies, where we mobilize a modified ‘policy enactment’ framework to understand how policy is enacted differently based on conditions and levels of operation (Ball et al. 2012; Braun et al. 2011). Using this data, we will conduct a survey and follow-up interviews with youth in these municipalities to explore the factors that conditioned their educational choices, trajectories, and experiences.

In this session we will discuss the methodological advantages and pitfalls that mixed-methods projects such as these can have for understanding the complex ways in which the circumstances of newcomer youth interact with the various opportunity structures they confront and how this conditions their educational choices.