Social origin and women’s occupational careers. The role of parenthood in shaping social inequality among Italian women

This paper studies in longitudinal perspective the direct effect of social origin (DESO) on the careers of women in Italy, focusing on the role of motherhood in shaping the DESO and its pattern over the life course. Career out- comes are seen in terms of employment interruptions and of occupational status. First, the paper analyzes when the DESO appears, and how it evolves over the occupational career and the life course. Second, it investigates whether and how motherhood shapes the magnitude and trend over the career of the DESO. Results, based on growth curve models, show that the DESO in occupational status already appears at first job, and then slightly changes over the life course, whereas the social origin gap in the probability of career breaks is small in the first years after labour market entry and then increases. Parenthood does not help to explain the DESO because women from low social origin are more likely to have children than women from high social origin. Rather, it contributes to the increase of the DESO over the life course because of different career trajectories after moth- erhood, with higher risks to leave employment among women from the lower classes and (slightly) higher occupational premia among women from the service class

the educational integration of second generation southern italian migrants to the north

Background: After WW2 Italy experienced a huge internal migration from the south to the northern Italian regions. More than two million individuals moved up north, and the majority of them settled down permanently. How were southern internal migrants integrated into northern Italian society? Despite the theoretical and substantial relevance of the topic, there has been little systematic research on it. Objective: This work studies the assimilation of this migration flux from a long-term perspective, comparing the school outcomes of the children of southern migrants to those of both northerners' children and children of southern families who did not move. Methods: To this aim, logit models of three different school transitions are applied to data from the Italian Longitudinal Household Survey (ILHS), a retrospective panel survey that includes detailed life-course information on a representative sample of roughly 11,000 Italians. Results: There is no difference between the educational performance of both generation 2 and the mix generation and that of the northerners. However, strong and significant disadvantages were found with regard to generation 1.5, due to the disruption in individual school experience caused by the migration itself. Conclusions: The Italian educational system played an important role in facilitating the integration of the second generation of Southern immigrants, but it was less able to assimilate those who had already begun their studies in the south before following their parents to the north

Parents and teachers’ compensatory strategies during COVID-19 school closures: A scoping review

After the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, most countries decided to close schools in 2020 to slow down the spread of the virus. The abrupt closure of schools required teachers and families to adapt quickly to an online setting for school activities. The literature review presented here focuses on this adaptive process, summarising research on how parents and teachers tried to curtail the potentially detrimental effects of school closure and remote schooling on students’ learning, identifying the compensatory strategies adopted and analysing their impact on students’ learning experience and performance. The review highlights that the shift from in-person to remote learning led to significant learning losses, as well as to the emergence of new inequalities and the exacerbation of old ones. Teachers and parents played a pivotal role in minimising learning loss due to emergency remote teaching (ERT). Concerning parents, the three main types of strategies were related to: (1) parental socioeconomic and/or demographic factors; (2) parental involvement and support in learning activities; and (3) the family environment. Concerning teachers, two strategies emerged: (1) the implementation of activities favouring interaction between teachers and students and/or among students; and (2) ad-hoc teaching activities. In almost all cases, the compensatory strategies identified were positively associated with students’ learning experience, with a few exceptions

CyCoNP lncRNA establishes cis and trans RNA-RNA interactions to supervise neuron physiology

The combination of morphogenetic and transcription factors together with the synergic aid of noncoding RNAs and their cognate RNA binding proteins contribute to shape motor neurons (MN) identity. Here, we extend the noncoding perspective of human MN, by detailing the molecular and biological activity of CyCoNP (as Cytoplasmic Coordinator of Neural Progenitors) a highly expressed and MN-enriched human lncRNA. Through in silico prediction, in vivo RNA purification and loss of function experiments followed by RNA-sequencing, we found that CyCoNP sustains a specific neuron differentiation program, required for the physiology of both neuroblastoma cells and hiPSC-derived MN, which mainly involves miR-4492 and NCAM1 mRNA. We propose a novel lncRNA-mediated 'dual mode' of action, in which CyCoNP acts in trans as a classical RNA sponge by sequestering miR-4492 from its pro-neuronal targets, including NCAM1 mRNA, and at the same time it plays an additional role in cis by interacting with NCAM1 mRNA and regulating the availability and localization of the miR-4492 in its proximity. These data highlight novel insights into the noncoding RNA-mediated control of human neuron physiology and point out the importance of lncRNA-mediated interactions for the spatial distribution of regulatory molecules.Graphical Abstrac

Social background and education in occupational attainment in 20th century Italy

The paper addresses four research questions concerning the intergenerational occupational association in Italy. First, is there a direct effect of social background on occupational outcomes over and above the effect of education? Second, has the direct effect declined over time? Third, does it vary depending on the level of education achieved and, more precisely, is it weaker among more educated individuals? Finally, have returns to education changed over time in contemporary Italy?These questions are addressed using the Indagine nazionale sulla mobilità sociale (INMS, 1985), the Indagine longitudinale sulle famiglie italiane (ILFI, 1997-2005) and the Indagine sui bilanci delle famiglie italiane (SHIW, 1992-2008). Many measures of success in the labour market (LM) are considered: a) ISEI score of the first job; b) ISEI score of the current job; c) net earnings of the current job. Moreover, we also look at class attainment in terms of d) the probability to enter the service class (EGP I-II) in the first job; e) the probability to enter the service class in the first or the current job; f) the probability to avoid the working class (EGP IIIb, V-VI-VIIab) in the first job; g) the probability to avoid the working class in the first and in the current job.The main findings of the paper are as follows. First, there is a considerable effect of social origins on LM success. When controlling for education, this effect decreases substantially, but it stills remains pronounced. Second, this direct effect is largely stable over time. Third, it shows some variation conditioned on the education, but the sign of the interaction depends on the specific measure of LM success: in the case of social class it is negative, while in the case of income it is positive. Finally, there is strong evidence of credential inflation, involving both secondary and tertiary titles

Capitale sociale e benessere delle nazioni: una nota sulle ricerche di R. D. Putnam

Queste pagine intendono presentare il recente lavoro di R. D. Putnam, Bowling Alone. The Collapse and Revival of American Community (Simon e Schuster, New York, 2000), alla luce della precedente ricerca dello stesso autore sul rendimento istituzionale delle Regioni italiane, e della discussione cui questa ha dato luogo. In particolare, si descriveranno le strategie empiriche utilizzate per misurare e spiegare i fenomeni raccolti dall’autore nel concetto di capitale sociale, tra i più discussi..