School Segregation in the Italian Urban Context: The Role of Institutional Actors and Students’ Families on Segregating Patterns

In quasi-market education systems, where families can (almost) freely choose schools outside their designated catchment areas, sociological research has shown that parents are often engaged in an active selection of the school for their children. More precisely, native and/or highly educated parents are more likely to avoid “disadvantaged” schools, opting for either non-state schools or state schools characterized by a school body population predominantly “white” and with a high socio-economic background. Yet, if empirical evidence has clearly stressed that the level of residential segregation is lower than the level of school segregation (in terms of socio-demographic characteristics) research has not already completely explained which criteria actually lead parents in school selection.

This paper explores the drivers behind parental school choice and their impact on school composition, with a focus on the interplay between schools and the local dimension. Proximity to the school, attractiveness of the neighbourhood, school’s reputation, socio-demographic profile of its students, and unequal access to information families can draw from are among the examined factors which are found to influence parents’ choices and which, in turn, shape schools’ composition. The study is based on qualitative research involving interviews with both school representatives (principals and teachers) and families of diverse ethnic (including autochthonous) and socio-economic background. The research centres on two lower secondary schools in Bologna, Italy—one characterized by a mixed student body and the other by a segregated composition—chosen for their contrasting demographics, yet both located in a non-segregated area.

Such data is critical in two respects: first, it sheds light on the role of both school actors and families in the creation and perpetuation of school segregation dynamics. Second, it offers a comparative analysis of a segregated and a mixed school context, identifying practices contributing to school segregation, despite their surrounding’s non-segregated residential patterns.