Abstract

The article deals with an issue that is little addressed in Italy, questioning the real capacity of the European lifelong learning paradigm to promote social inclusion. In particular, we illustrate a research based on the re-elaboration of OECD-PISA 2018 data concerning Italian students aged 15 attending upper-secondary school. Through Bernstein’s theoretical framework (in particular resorting to the concept of pedagogical devices), joined to Bourdieu’s one and the critical research field about the neoliberal reform of educational system, we show that some new learning activities (career guidance at schools, guided tours of workplaces, and so on) affect students’ professional aspirations, contributing to some extent to the reproduction of inequalities between social classes.