Overlooked dynamics and consequences of educational expansion

• Department of Political and Social Sciences

This masterclass is given by Fabrizio Bernardi, Professor of Sociology at the Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, within the framework of the SPS Departmental Seminar series

Educational expansion is typically understood as the outcome of exogenous institutional reforms and analysed in terms of its effects on inequality across cohorts. This masterclass develops a complementary perspective by focusing on overlooked dynamics and consequences of expansion. First, it introduces a model of endogenous educational expansion in which intergenerational transmission of advantage generates self-sustaining growth in attainment. Second, it examines how expansion feeds back into the stratification process by altering the consequences of parental education. Drawing on comparative evidence, we discuss how declining selectivity, overqualification, and changes in the value of cultural capital may weaken the advantages of university-educated families and reshape inequality across cohorts.

The event will take place in person only at the EUI premises, Seminar room 4, Badia Fiesolana.