Speaker
Description
This contribution presents the research conducted as part of the PRIN 2022 project From High School to University: Assessing Peers’ Influence in Educational Inequalities and Performances, carried out by the research units of Cagliari, Florence, and Salerno and has the main aim to provide an insight on its two main objectives and research outcomes.
The research provides evidence for analysing the mechanisms behind the reproduction of educational inequalities from upper secondary school to university, with a focus on socioeconomic conditions, gender gaps, and peer effects. Particular attention is devoted to the role played by school and peer context and to the extent to which school contexts reduce or amplify initial disadvantages and gender disparities, acting as drivers of egalitarian processes.
As for the first objective, national-level data from the Italian INVALSI surveys in upper secondary schools are used to
assess disparities in learning outcomes at grade 13 and
identify patterns of inequality at school level. In addition, the MOBYSU.IT dataset, which contains information on students’ careers at university, linked with INVALSI data at grade 13, is employed to analyse the transition from high school to university and to monitor high schools effectiveness.
As a result, the first research outcome is a system of indicators for monitoring and mapping educational inequalities in high schools, with reference to educational choices, skill levels, and university trajectories.
For the second objective, three surveys have been carried out by the three research units in their respective territories (Campania, Tuscany & Sardinia) through the administration of questionnaires to students in the fourth and fifth years of high school. They provide evidence to shed light on factors influencing educational choices and the role of social influence in the decision to continue studying, the choice of disciplinary field, and the preference for attending a local or non-local university.
Keywords/Topics
Peers, school, transition, social influence
