The "Trento School of Applied Quantitative Research" provides advanced training on key social science research topics using an analytical approach based on sociological, economic, demographic, statistical and computer science perspectives.
The School aims to provide a systematic integration of the theoretical, methodological and technical ‘cutting-edge’ aspects of applied quantitative research.
The School is addressed to PhD students, post-docs and early-stage researchers of universities, public and private research institutions.
Official language of the School is English.
The fourth edition focuses on Education and Social Inequalities. The School will be held on-site in Trento, Italy, from 25th to 27th October 2023.
Morning session: Educational expectations, the role of social origin and gender
Afternoon session: Comparative analysis using micro and macro data
Morning session: Compensatory advantage and mechanisms of educational inequalities
Afternoon session: Regression discontinuity design
Morning session: Behavioral models and educational inequalities in skill development
Afternoon session: The design of field experiments in education
Luis Ortiz-Gervasi
Luis Ortiz-Gervasi is Associate Professor at the Department of Political and Social Sciences of Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona. His research interests include educational expectations and expansion, skill mismatch, and social inequalities in the transition from education to work. He is member of the editorial board of Work, Employment and Society and committee member of the European Research Network on Transitions in Youth (TiY). He is coordinator of the Research Master in Sociology and Demography at Pompeu Fabra.
Fabrizio Bernardi
Fabrizio Bernardi is Full Professor of Sociology at the Department of Sociology II of UNED in Madrid. Between 2010 and 2022 he was Professor of Sociology at the European University Institute in Florence. His research focuses on social stratification, inequality in educational opportunities and returns, family and labour market dynamics. He is editor in chief of the European Sociological Review. He is currently the leader of the work package on educational inequalities of the Horizon Europe project MapIneq.
Mar C. Espadafor
Mar C. Espadafor is a Postdoctoral Researcher at UNED in Madrid on the Horizon Europe project MapIneq, focusing on inequalities and their transmission across generations and institutions using quantitative methods and causal inference designs. She holds a PhD from the European University Institute in Florence.
Carlo Barone
Carlo Barone is Full Professor at the Centre for Research on Social Inequalities at Sciences Po in Paris. His research focuses on educational inequalities and policies, rational choice and behavioral models, and the application of field experiments for the analysis of educational interventions. He is associate editor of the European Sociological Review. At Sciences Po, he teaches courses on methods for policy evaluation and social inequalities in comparative perspective.
Selection is now closed.
Selected candidates can register following the online procedure.
The fee for participation is € 300; it includes tuition, coffee breaks and lunches during the 3-day event, and the social dinner.
Participants will be responsible for the costs of board and lodging in Trento.
Accommodations at agreed rates can be found in the dedicated page
Selected candidates enrolled at the University of Trento are fee-exempted, but they need to register in any case.
The substantive topics include the role of Technology, Institutions and Demographic Change in shaping income inequality; the impact of Robotization, AI, and Algorithmic Management on jobs availability, job quality and employment structure; as well as the dynamics and mechanisms of intergenerational mobility. Applied sessions cover (1) data, research design and analytical tools applied to the analysis of technologically induced structural change; (2) decomposition techniques and measurement of inequality using survey data; and (3) the use of machine learning for the study of intergenerational mobility.
The substantive topics include the correlates of psychological and physical health in terms of parental marriage and ethnicity, employment and unemployment transitions, and the role of welfare policies in longitudinal and comparative perspectives. Applied sessions cover classification and regression tree (CART) methods, hybrid panel models and difference-in-differences propensity score matching.
The Square School will take place at the Department of Sociology and Social Research of the University of Trento (via Verdi, 26). The Department is located in the heart of the historic centre of Trento, just a short walk from the Cathedral (Piazza Duomo) and 10 minutes’ walk from the railway station.
The main road accesses to Trento are the following:
Strada Statale dell'Abetone e del Brennero SS12;
Autostrada del Brennero - A22 motorway; coming by A22 is necessary take the Trento Sud exit and follow the SS12 direction Trento centro;
Superstrada della Valsugana for those coming from Venice SS47;
Strada Statale 45 bis (Gardesana Occidentale) for those coming from Brescia.
All long-distance Italian and European trains stop in Trento. Timetable details can be seen on the following link: Trenitalia or Italo.
If you are travelling by plain, you can land at:
Travelling within the Province is convenient thanks to the local bus and train network. Taxis can be caught anywhere in the city or booked on the phone number (+39) 0461 930002.
For any further information please write to tn_square.soc@unitn.it
Organising secretariat:
Segreteria Dipartimento di Sociologia e Ricerca Sociale
Via Verdi, 26 - 38122 Trento, Italy
tel. (+39) 0461 281396
segreteria.srs@unitn.it