2013-16: “Family background, beliefs about education and participation in higher education: an experiment integrated with a longitudinal survey”, PRIN 2010-2011, coordinatore nazionale Antonio Schizzerotto

The project involves three key policy issues concerning participation in Higher Education (HE) in Italy: uneven distribution of graduates among fields of study; high university dropout rates; lower enrolment in HE of students from less advantaged families. Research will involve students attending the fifth (and last) year of high school. At the beginning of the school year, the first wave of the longitudinal survey will draw a detailed picture of the level of (mis)information of school-leavers about their future decisions. The first wave will be followed by a cycle of information initiatives about HE in some of the schools (experimental group), while other schools in the same provinces (control group) will not receive this intervention. The second wave will take place after the closure of university enrolments and assess which students have, in fact, enrolled and in which field. The third and last wave will take place during the second year of university, establish if enrolled students are still at university and record their academic results. The study provides a unique opportunity to analyze the determinants of participation in HE but will also generate strong empirical evidence as to some potential remedies to the above-mentioned problems.