Learner identity and learning trajectories in secondary education

Team

Aina Tarabini

Aina Tarabini (PI) is Full Professor of Sociology in the Autonomous University of Barcelona and, since December 2025, director of the research centre GEPS – Globalisation, Education and Social Policy (https://geps-uab.cat/). 

Her research focuses on the study of social inequalities in education, with particular attention to secondary education and to the mechanisms through which education systems contribute to the (re)production and/or transformation of social inequalities. More specifically, her research examines processes of educational (dis)engagement, dropping out and early school leaving; explores young people’s educational trajectories, experiences and identities; and analyses curriculum, pedagogy, and teachers’ practices and beliefs, from a critical sociological perspective. Her work is grounded in a social justice approach that foregrounds the relational dimensions of education and attributes a central role to affective and care relations in processes of learning and school engagement. Overall, her research seeks to connect the subjective, institutional and systemic dimensions of inequality through a qualitative-driven approach.

Some of her books include: Tarabini, A. (2022). Educational Transitions and Social Justice:  Understanding Upper Secondary School Choices in Urban Contexts (Policy Press); Tarabini, A. (2019) The Conditions for School Success: Examining Educational Exclusion and Dropping Out (Palgrave); Tarabini, A. & Ingram. N. (2018). Educational Choices, Transitions and Aspirations in Europe (Routledge).

Check her publications at:
Google scholar
Academia.edu
ResearchGate
ORCID

Mail: aina.tarabini@uab.cat

Bluesky @ainatarabini.bsky.social

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