Given the same level of confidence in their academic abilities, a student with a migrant background is less likely to choose college-preparatory school (as opposed to technical/vocational school) than an Italian peer. This is one of the findings of the research project MIRROR (Making Educational Services Representative to Foster Inclusive Communities), developed by SDA Bocconi and the University of Milan with the support of Fondazione Cariplo.
The research shows that, for many young people, the path to upper secondary school—which in Italy leads to either technical/vocational school or college-preparatory school—is shaped by family, social, economic, and organizational factors that can limit opportunities. Indeed, these aspects are more influential than academic performance or merit, even among students with the same potential.
The finding is particularly notable because it comes from a project that does not merely document inequalities, but seeks to understand how to design educational services that truly reflect the needs of students from widely different backgrounds.
When education is “representative”
A school is truly inclusive when it can adapt to the needs of the people it serves, rather than offering everyone the same service indiscriminately. The researchers define this characteristic as the “representativeness” of educational services: the ability to align service design and delivery with the characteristics of the student population.
The research begins in a rapidly changing context. The Milan metropolitan area is a particularly interesting laboratory because it is a combination of strong economic appeal, growing social polarization, and an increasingly diverse student population in both cultural and socioeconomic terms. Here, schools can become powerful engines of social mobility or, conversely, they may help reinforce existing inequalities.
The research therefore focuses on three questions.
- The first concerns inequalities : How do social, economic, and cultural factors influence students’ participation and educational choices?
- The second seeks to identify which characteristics of school organization make services more inclusive, considering not only teaching, but also school climate, leadership, support services, and relationships with the local community.
- The third looks at the practical implications: What strategies can school leaders and policy makers adopt to build more inclusive schools?
Inclusion is a group issue
The research began with a systematic review of the international literature, which was used to develop a framework that considers inclusion as the result of the interaction among multiple factors: the characteristics of students and families, service organization, school leadership, staff, the local environment, and the lived experiences of users.
The researchers then conducted fieldwork in four comprehensive schools in the Milan metropolitan area (two in Milan and two in in the Milan metropolitan area) carrying out in-depth interviews with school leaders, teachers, students and families, in addition to administrative, technical, and support staff. This qualitative phase produced a detailed picture of the factors that shape inclusion.
Students’ aspirations were found to be strongly influenced by their family context. In more )ulnerable families, educational expectations tend to be more cautious and oriented toward vocational pathways, while access to social networks, extracurricular activities, and a positive family environment helps broaden the opportunities students perceive as available to them. Schools also play an essential role: The presence of cultural mediators, the quality of facilities, staff stability, school leadership, and relationships with the local community all have a powerful impact on the educational experience.
The quantitative phase, involving 622 students in the second and third years of lower secondary school , consisted of a questionnaire administered between March and April 2026. The sample breakdown was 46.3% girls and 50.8% boys; in 32.2% of cases, both parents were of non-Italian origin, while in 9.8% of cases only one parent had a migrant background. The questionnaire measured ten dimensions of the school experience, including the quality of facilities, classroom climate, relationships among students, relationships with teachers, feeling heard, satisfaction, inclusion, educational guidance, and self-assessment of academic performance.
Among Italian students, the likelihood of choosing high school as opposed to technical school increases as their perception of achieving good academic results rises. Among students with a migrant background, however, this relationship is much weaker: Even when they expect to receive high grades, they are less likely to choose to continue on to high school than their Italian peers. The research therefore suggests that, in addition to academic performance, other factors shape students’ decisions, specifically family expectations, economic circumstances, the guidance students receive, and social capital.
The study also highlights a second noteworthy finding: Students’ perception of inclusion depends primarily on the quality of peer relationships. In fact, this is the factor with the strongest association with feeling part of the school community, followed by students’ personal characteristics, the quality of school facilities, and the support they receive while learning.
A pivotal role is played by the relationship with teachers. The questionnaires show that students view their teachers as highly competent educators, but much less as sources of personal support. When students are upset, anxious, or need reassurance, they rarely report turning to their teachers. In interviews, however, they call for teachers to listen more, show greater empathy, and foster less judgmental relationships.
Local and system-level interventions
Inclusion cannot be achieved simply by offering everyone the same services. Schools should be able to do more to personalize their service provision, adapting it to the needs of different students. This could mean, for example, upgrading language-learning programs for students arriving from other countries, providing enrichment activities for high-achievers, developing more comprehensive educational guidance programs, and getting families more involved, particularly those who currently participate less in school life.
The feedback collected from students points in the same direction: They call for more interactive teaching, with greater use of technology, group work, and workshops; more genuine listening from teachers; more involvement in decisions concerning school life; more after-school activities; and better-designed spaces.
Nevertheless, not everything depends on individual schools. Some interventions require system-level decisions, such as investments in infrastructure, greater continuity of funding, more flexibility in organizing school schedules, a review of assessment models, and services that are organized to allow for genuinely personalized educational pathways.
For public managers and policy makers, the MIRROR project offers insights that extend beyond the world of education. As with many public services, treating everyone in the same way does not necessarily guarantee equal opportunities. Equity requires services designed around the characteristics of the people who use them. According to the researchers, this is the condition that can enable schools to become genuine instruments of inclusion and social mobility, rather than simply reflecting the inequalities already present in society.
Government, Health & Not for Profit (GHNP), SDA Bocconi School of Management, Dipartimento di Scienze Sociali e Politiche, Università degli Studi di Milano . Making Educational Services Representative to Foster Inclusive Communities (MIRROR) . Presentazione del progetto di ricerca .
