Inequalities in Argentine secondary school: School trajectories and educative projections

Abstract

This article deals with the forms of subjectivation of social inequality in students in the last year of secondary school in the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It proposes a useful theoretical line of inquiry to analyze educational inequality and to think about its configuration in the context of the pandemic caused by COVID-19. This study explores the logics through which young people project their post-school educational or labor trajectories. In this sense, debates are revised regarding how to characterize secondary education and socialization processes among similar sectors. The main objective of the article is to take up the following question: how did social inequality become sedimented in student experiences? Based on this question, an in-depth analysis is made of the types of paths and expectations that secondary school students develop during their educational experience in order to understand the subjective processing of inequality. In conclusion, we characterize the current expressions of tensions and complexities due to the expansion of secondary schooling and the emerging lines of differentiation that are taking shape. Thus, the importance becomes evident of paying attention to the interrelation between what institutions believe they offer in their educational projects and the students’ expectations about the future.

Keywords

• social inequality
• professional choice
• secondary student
• expectations
• educational options
• educational system