The gender gap in school-to-university transition in Italy: Insights from the integration between INVALSI and ANS data sources

The issue of the gender gap in university enrolment is widely investigated across the world. Very few studies have comprehensively addressed the topic of university enrolment in Italy by gender, as most research has primarily focused on issues related to academic careers. Nonetheless, female students have consistently shown higher enrolment rates and lower drop-out rates than males. This study aims to describe the transition from upper secondary school to university in Italy, identifying potential gender inequalities based on school macro-region, type of school attended, and the socio-economic status of the upper secondary school. The proposed descriptive analysis may serve as a starting point for: i) Identifying schools that exhibit gender-balanced enrolment trends; ii) Assessing whether gender inequalities exist at the macro level, which could, in turn, encourage further micro-level analyses of the school-to-university transition in Italy and help design targeted policies to promote more equitable access to higher education.