Report on the ISA RC28 Online Meeting on Educational Inequalities

Abstract

The Research Committee 28 on Social Stratification and Mobility (RC28) of the International Sociological Association (ISA) organized an online meeting (January 20–21, 2026) that was devoted to educational inequalities, positioning education as a central institutional arena in the reproduction and transformation of social stratification in contemporary societies. Bringing together scholars from Europe, North and Latin America, Asia, and Africa, the conference offered a comprehensive overview of contemporary research on how inequalities emerge, persist, and evolve across educational stages and institutional contexts. The conference featured parallel thematic sessions addressing inequalities in student achievement, immigrant and ethno-racial disparities, educational aspirations, intergenerational inequality and family processes, vocational training and student skills, the impact of COVID-19 and natural disasters on learning, segregation and private education, early childhood and family dynamics, gender inequalities, higher education and social stratification, education policy, school and classroom segregation, and returns to education. Collectively, these sessions adopted a life-course perspective, linking early childhood conditions, school-level mechanisms, higher-education trajectories, and labor-market outcomes.