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Innova&on  and  Crea&vity  in  Educa&onalChoices:  The  Italian  Way  to  Crea&vity

Assunta  Viteri-,  Orazio  Giancola

University  of  Rome,  “Sapienza”

Istanbul  2013,  Network  28.  Sociologies  of  EducaLon

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Structure  of  the  presenta&on

1. General  quesLons  and  theoreLcalbackground

2. Data  and  methods

3. Some  evidences  from  the  analysis

4. ConsideraLons  and  conclusions

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Some premises• Choices are made by individuals, and individuals are bearers of social

and cultural factors.

• Social and material choices and actions, performed by individuals,produce short- and long-term changes.

• Educational choices are indeed fertile ground for understanding howpeople subjectively respond to the pressures exerted by more generalfactors.

• The most relevant education international studies are traditionalcomparative analyses focusing on the efficiency of educational systemsand individual performances in relation to a variety of competences:writing, reading, sciences, etc. (OECD/PISA or OECD/PIAAC).

• Little consideration is instead given to micro-trends in the educationaland professional choices of individuals, which may actually revealinnovative and creative patterns.

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• Based on this premise, the perspectiveof our paper moves away from thegeneral rhetoric of macro-systems andtries to introduce elements that gobeyond the mere understanding ofmacro-phenomena in terms of socio-cultural reproduction.

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General  ques&ons,  theore&cal  background

• We intend to show whether and how individual choicesin education show signs of innovation and creativity.

• Two processes which seem to characterize what mightbe defined The Italian Way to Creativity emerge:

1) the impact of what we might term feminization ineducation (both at upper secondary and tertiary level)and also how the educational choices of young women atschool and university are changing;

2) what other post-diploma choices are made by youngpeople who choose not to attend university.

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• Both processes show the widening ofsocial inclusion within the Italianeducational system, and adifferentiation of choice within andwithout the university

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Our  aims• We detected micro-trajectories that seem to break the

chains of social reproduction and go beyond the domain ofself-interest and instrumental (or strategic) rationality.

• We intends to reflect on the Italian pathway towardsinnovation, which emerges in two directions:

• 1) expansion and differentiation in educational choices dueto the process of feminization and the inclusion of lower andmiddle social classes;

• 2) differentiation in non-university (non-academic)educational choices.

Data  and  methods  (1)In our analysis, we shall adopt two sources of data:- data produced by the National Statistics Institute (ISTAT) and the

Ministry of Education, University and Research (MIUR);- data resulting from a survey conducted in Rome (city and province).

The target population is made up of students in their final year ofupper-secondary education. From this population was extracted astatistically significant sample (N=1018).

Overallpercentage Female Male

%  from"general"  track

(Liceo)

%  from"Voca&onal"

track  (Tecnico  &Professionale)

University 55,3 58,1 51,5 71,4 30,1University  &Work  (part-­‐&me  student)

26,1 25,6 27,5 20,4 28,5

Work 10,5 8,8 12,3 3,1 30,2Non  academic

training8,1 7,5 8,7 5,1 11,2

100,0% 100% 100,0% 100,0% 100,0%

Data  and  methods  (2)• The  target  populaLon  was  invesLgated  using  a“mapping”  technique,  with  quesLons  formulated  insuch  a  way  as  to  gain  an  insight  of  student’s  differentinclinaLons  in  future  educaLonal  choices,  thusallowing  us  to  define  their  “cluster  of  choices”:through  the  analysis  of  inclinaLons  we  can  try  totrace  the  socio-­‐cultural  aspects  inscribed  in  thechoices.

• The  mapping  technique  allows  us  to  disaggregate  thedata  and  observe  the  co-­‐existence  of  phenomenarelaLve    to  change  and  stability.

Enrolment  in  ter&ary  educa&on  in  Italy:    significant  changes  inwomen's  par&cipa&on  (source:  MIUR;  our  elabora2on)

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Today sees the growing presence of women who are breaking throughthe barriers of reproduction of gender choice and also thereproduction mechanisms of social class, in educational sectors onceconsidered typically male.

We can have aclose-up of themacro-grouprelative toMedicine,Chemistry andPharmacy, andsee that in thisgroup there aremore and morewomen.

• At  “local”   level,  naLonal  data  are  confirmed  and  the  trendsin   social   reproducLon   of   gender   in   areas   with   a   strongfemale   presence   (Psychology,     EducaLonal   Science,   SocialSciences)   and   a   strong   male   presence   (MathemaLcs   andPhysics,  Engineering  and  StaLsLcs)  are  observed.

• At  same  Lme,  we  can  see  a  new  space  characterized  by  anincreasing  presence  of  women  in  scienLfic  fields.

• Another   element   is   the   inclusion   within   the   universitysystem  of  a  growing  number  of  lower-­‐middle  class  studentsfrom  technical  and  vocaLon  schools  who  achieved  high-­‐levelscholasLc  results

Where  the  innova,on  is  …  the  “map”  of  enrolement  at  the  ter&arylevel  by  gender  (ra&o  F/M)  and  family  background(source:  survey  on  Roma  and  Provincia  di  Roma)

Reproduction ofgender andsocialinequalities

Increasing presenceof women in

scientific fields

Where  the  innova,on  is  …  Inclusion  in  ter&ary  educa&on  throughschool  track  and  performances

(source:  survey  on  Roma  and  Provincia  di  Roma)

High achieverstudentsfrom technicaland vocationschools

We can see students who choose:

- schools of art or design or colleges of music (mainlywomen from middle-upper class and from the generalupper secondary track, “Liceo”);

- post-diploma training options in the spheres ofgraphics or I.T. or technical fields (mainly malestudents from lower-to-middle social classes inpossession of vocational or technical diplomas;

- vocational training (prevalence of males withvocational diplomas).

Non-university type choices

Where  innova,on  is  …  Comparison  (by  “Percentage  of  women”  and“Family  background”)  between  academic  choices  (University)  and

non-­‐academic  choices(source:  survey  on  Roma  and  Provincia  di  Roma)

Mainly women frommiddle-upper class

Mainly malestudents from

lower-to-middlesocial classes in

possession ofvocational or

technical diplomas

Prevalence ofmales withvocationaldiplomas

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Considera&ons  and  conclusions  (1)

• In choosing their field of study, an increasingnumber of girls follow a non-traditional genderorientation, opting for scientific studies;

• Young people from lower-middle class families areincreasingly oriented towards highly-skilledtechnical careers;

• There is also an increase in the demand for non-academic education, with a preference for othercreative or highly-skilled and self-fulfillingeducational pathways.

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• The results of the study show that, even intimes of crisis and economic uncertainty, thereare educational choices oriented towardsinnovation, creativity and self-fulfilment.

• The two forces – the feminization ofeducational choices on the one hand, and non-academic educational choices on the other –risk dispersion due to weak cultural, socialand economic policies.

Considera&ons  and  conclusions  (2)

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• While social life produces innovation in individualchoices, our educational and economic systems areyet unable to recognize and sustain these innovations.

• These changes have uncovered innovationphenomena which are mainly of a cultural nature andunaligned with previous scholastic reform processes.

• The biggest risk is that of a growing rift between thecultural innovations which regard new generations ofstudents and the administrative and bureaucraticprocesses at the center of the reforms.

Considera&ons  and  conclusions  (3)

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• Educational reform policies should focus on realprocesses, on how the educational needs of thenew generations are changing, on how to trainteachers capable of facing up to these changes.

Considera&ons  and  conclusions  (4)

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• Will the innovation represented today by educational mobility of genderbe transformed into social, and subsequently occupational andeconomic innovation?

• Ten years from now, will the most highly- educated women take theirplaces within the professional and occupational system, or will theyremain imprisoned within their cocoons?

• Will the systems of social policy, welfare, the family and labor supportthese cultural changes, which represent a true innovation for Italy, orwill many brilliant young people seek their fortunes abroad aftergraduating (one of the most striking phenomena in the Italianpanorama)?

• Will the Italian system know how to sustain this challenge? Willeducational policy follow these processes of innovation?

Some final questions with no answers (for now)

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This is the real challenge facing Italyin the coming years.

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Thanks!

For  feedback,  comments,  etc..

Assunta  Viteri-  assunta.viteri-@uniroma1.itOrazio  Giancola  orazio.giancola@uniroma1.it

Istanbul  2013,  Network  28.  Sociologies  of  EducaLon