Quali scuole scelgono i genitori? Evidenze dal contesto milanese

Dynamics guiding parents’ school choices are a topic that is still under-investigated in Mediterranean contexts and especially in the Italian one. The concrete school choices of families reflect both individual (and parents’) preferences and the characteristics and compositions of the educational offer. Analysing the case of lower secondary school in Milan, this article highlights how much the possibility of choosing schools located outside their own catchment area, allowed by the Italian institutional framework, is actually implemented by parents and what are the main drivers of this choice. The analysis shows how Italian families tend to avoid schools characterised by a strong presence of foreign students and/or with disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds, while the schools’ performances in tests on achievements play only a partial role in families’ choices. Among foreign families these dynamics are present, but with a lower intensity. These mobility patterns based mainly on the avoidance of schools with concentrations of disadvantage and the search for schools with users with higher socio-economic backgrounds has the consequence of contributing to increasing levels of segregation in the Milanese school system.