Abstract

This article shows that inequality of educational opportunity has significantly declined in contemporary Italy. This decline is a long-term trend involving predominantly, but not exclusively, the agricultural classes. It takes place at all educational levels, though at a lower pace in university education. The influence of parental education has progressively weakened over time. At the same time, after six decades of economic modernization and educational expansion, schooling inequalities still remain strong at all educational levels in Italy. Moreover, in university education the reduction of the relative distances in education between social classes has not prevented an increase of absolute distances. Finally, there are signs that the downward trend has slowed down, or even run out, in the youngest birth cohort.