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Fairness in education: the Italian university before and after the reform

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  • Paolo Brunori
  • Vito Peragine
  • Laura Serlenga

Abstract

In 2001 the Italian tertiary education system embarked in a broad process of reform. The main novelty brought by the reform was a reduction of the length of study to get a first level degree together with the introduction of a 2-years, second level, master degree. This paper aims at studying the effects of the reform in terms of fairness in educational opportunity. In order to do so we first define fairness criteria following a well developed responsibility sensitive egalitarian literature, we then discuss existing inequality of opportunity measures consistent with these criteria, we show their relationship, and we adapt them to the educational framework. We finally employ this set of measures to show the evolution of fairness in the access to university in Italy before and after the reform.

Suggested Citation

  • Paolo Brunori & Vito Peragine & Laura Serlenga, 2010. "Fairness in education: the Italian university before and after the reform," CHILD Working Papers wp07_10, CHILD - Centre for Household, Income, Labour and Demographic economics - ITALY.
    • Handle: RePEc:wpc:wplist:wp07_10
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    Cited by:

    1. Paul Hufe & Andreas Peichl, 2020. "Beyond Equal Rights: Equality of Opportunity in Political Participation," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 66(3), pages 477-511, September.
    2. Alessandro Balestrino & Lisa Grazzini & Annalisa Luporini, 2017. "A normative justification of compulsory education," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 30(2), pages 537-567, April.
    3. Ferreira, Francisco H. G. & Peragine, Vito, 2015. "Equality of Opportunity: Theory and Evidence," IZA Discussion Papers 8994, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Asadullah, M. Niaz & Trannoy, Alain & Tubeuf, Sandy & Yalonetzky, Gaston, 2021. "Measuring educational inequality of opportunity: pupil’s effort matters," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    5. Flaviana Palmisano & Federico Biagi & Vito Peragine, 2022. "Inequality of Opportunity in Tertiary Education: Evidence from Europe," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 63(3), pages 514-565, May.
    6. Vincenzo Carrieri & Apostolos Davillas & Andrew M. Jones, 2023. "Equality of opportunity and the expansion of higher education in the UK," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 69(4), pages 861-885, December.
    7. Dirk Van de gaer & Xavier Ramos, 2020. "Measurement of inequality of opportunity based on counterfactuals," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 55(3), pages 595-627, October.
    8. Camarero Garcia, Sebastian, 2018. "Inequality of educational opportunities and the role of learning intensity: Evidence from a quasi-experiment in Germany," ZEW Discussion Papers 18-021, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    9. repec:ces:ifodic:v:11:y:2013:i:2:p:19094729 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Delogu, Marco & Lagravinese, Raffaele & Paolini, Dimitri & Resce, Giuliano, 2024. "Predicting dropout from higher education: Evidence from Italy," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    11. Umut Türk, 2019. "Socio-Economic Determinants of Student Mobility and Inequality of Access to Higher Education in Italy," Networks and Spatial Economics, Springer, vol. 19(1), pages 125-148, March.
    12. Flaviana Palmisano & Vito Peragine & Federico Biagi, 2019. "Inequality of opportunity in tertiary education in Europe," JRC Research Reports JRC118543, Joint Research Centre.
    13. Paolo Brunori & Vito Peragine & Laura Serlenga, 2013. "The Bologna Process and Fairness in University Education: Evidence from Italy," ifo DICE Report, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 11(2), pages 19-22, 07.
    14. Kroher, Martina & Leuze, Kathrin & Thomsen, Stephan L. & Trunzer, Johannes, 2021. "Did the "Bologna Process" Achieve Its Goals? 20 Years of Empirical Evidence on Student Enrolment, Study Success and Labour Market Outcomes," IZA Discussion Papers 14757, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    15. Laura Chies & Grazia Graziosi & Francesco Pauli, 2019. "The Impact of the Bologna Process on Graduation: New Evidence from Italy," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 60(2), pages 203-218, March.
    16. Paolo Brunori & Vito Peragine & Laura Serlenga, 2013. "The Bologna Process and Fairness in University Education: Evidence from Italy," ifo DICE Report, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 11(02), pages 19-22, July.
    17. Lucia Rizzica, 2013. "Home or away? Gender differences in the effects of an expansion of tertiary education supply," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 181, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    18. Tamás Keller & Guido Neidhöfer, 2014. "Who Dares, Wins?: A Sibling Analysis of Tertiary Education Transition in Germany," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 713, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    19. Camarero Garcia, Sebastian, 2022. "Inequality of Educational Opportunities and the Role of Learning Intensity," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    20. Calogero Guccio & Marco Ferdinando Martorana & Isidoro Mazza, 2016. "Efficiency assessment and convergence in teaching and research in Italian public universities," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 107(3), pages 1063-1094, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Equality of opportunity; Higher education;

    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • C14 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - Semiparametric and Nonparametric Methods: General
    • I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education

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