Pavia (Italy), 29 January – 1 February 2025
The LINEup project was featured at the annual conference of the Italian Society of Economic Sociology (SISEC), held in Pavia from 29 January to 1 February 2025.
Panagiotis Kampylis (University of Piraeus) and Veronica Mobilio (Fondazione per la Scuola) contributed to the session on educational inequalities with the following paper: “Mapping educational inequalities over time: insights from a systematic review of longitudinal research”.
The presentation showcased the main findings of a systematic literature review conducted as part of the LINEup project, which examined how longitudinal and repeated cross-sectional data are used to study educational inequalities in primary and secondary education across Europe.
Key insights include:
- Learning gaps emerge early in students’ educational trajectories, widen over time, and remain widespread across Europe, often linked to students’ socioeconomic backgrounds.
- Student engagement is a critical predictor of academic success and a key factor in preventing early school leaving.
- More inclusive education systems tend to show smaller achievement gaps.
The review identified 77 datasets, 54 analytical methods, and 70 variables, which were organised into a conceptual model connecting student, family, teacher, and system-level factors.
Conducted between February and July 2024, the study followed PRISMA 2020 guidelines and analysed both academic and grey literature published since 1990. It provides a solid evidence base for understanding the multifaceted nature of educational inequalities and for designing data-informed policy responses.
