IS THE FUTURE DECIDED AT 13?

In Italy, the choice of high school is made at the age of thirteen and has profound implications for the rest of one’s life. Why is this choice so decisive? Why do students with the same marks take different paths? Does the guidance advice given by schools reduce or reproduce inequalities? Is the choice made too early? What is the role of the different actors in this process, and what can be expected of guidance? The panel seeks to answer these and other questions from a multidisciplinary – sociological, statistical and operational – perspective, to examine the role of school guidance in the transmission of inequalities.