Conference Program

In the paper, we analyse how subjective agency and various discursive, structural, and contextual factors intertwine in the production of inspirational or ‘success stories’ of learners. Currently, the dominant policy discourse frames education according to its quantifiable and measurable outcomes (Harris & Clayton, 2019; Ure, 2019). For learners, educational achievements have increasingly been recognised and valued based on their practical application on the labour market (e.g., as credentials, skills, competencies, qualifications etc.). This has valorised and proliferated ‘success stories’ that highlight trajectories of learners who, despite disadvantaged situations, reach notable educational achievements (Nyström et al., 2018; Bosch et al., 2021; Reynen-Woodward et al., 2025). We argue that the prevailing rhetoric of meritocracy undermines the role of discursive, structural, and contextual factors in shaping the educational trajectories of learners and foregrounds individual motivation and skills as the primary determinants of individual achievements. Against this background, the paper aims to yield new evidence on the interplay of subjective agency and various external factors in the production of ‘successful’ educational trajectories and subjectivities. The main research question reads as follows: What factors are involved in the production of successful educational trajectories and how does subjective agency intertwine with dominant understandings of educational achievements?

The paper is based on research findings of the EU-funded research project Constructing Learning Outcomes in Europe: A multi-level analysis of (under)achievement in the life course (CLEAR) (Agreement No. 101061155) and unfolds in three steps: first, we provide an overview of the conceptual underpinnings and current debates on educational quality and learning outcomes and conceptualise successful educational achievements; second, we analyse the role of discursive, contextual, and structural factors in shaping educational trajectories of young learners in multi-disadvantaged positions, comparing two cases of young learners from Germany and Italy; third, we juxtapose and contrast the findings to unveil how subjective agency and dominant framings of educational achievement collide in producing educational trajectories deemed as successful and desirable future models.

Our methodological design is informed by narrative biographical interviews with young people (18–29 years) from vulnerable positions (N=41) and by a quantitative analysis of educational, socio-economic, and employment indicators (N=51) of the countries and regions studied that provide a comprehensive account of the current developments, patterns, and sub-national trajectories. The qualitative data have been collected in the regions of Hamburg and Halle(Saale) for Germany, and Genova and Marche for Italy between the years 2024 and 2025. The quantitative data are based on Eurostat indicators from 2021.

Our findings suggest that subjective agency intertwines with various contextual factors and that successful educational trajectories cannot be decoupled from the experienced socio-economic, cultural, and discursive framings. Our findings also indicate that these factors often render educational systems complicit in reproducing initial social inequalities, hamper on the individual agency, and unequally distribute opportunities. Finally, our analyses advance the study of educational achievements and the concept of agency, which is often viewed as a monolithic subjective capacity rather than a dynamic and fluid exercise of power (Siles et al., 2024).