Abstract

It has long been known that Italy differs from other European countries due to higher levels of regulation of licensed professions. These professions are orga nized in powerful professional associations named "ordini professionali" which regulate both access to a profession and the behaviour of professionals. In the literature of social mobility, little attention has been given to the link between professional regulation and educational or professional stratification. Indeed, most studies of social stratification in Italy have been conducted using a big- class approach. This article focuses on the value of the micro-class approach i analysing educational inequality in Italy. By using Istat's survey "Inserimento professionale dei laureati" (2011) and by employing multinomial regression analyses and log-linear models, I demonstrate that licensed professionals' children are likely to graduate in a field of study in line with the professional domain of their parents. By comparing results obtained from the big and the micro-class approach, I show that the additional specification of professional groups allows giving more depth to the understanding of the influence of social origin on education. Insights regarding gender and geographical differences are also offered.