I am an Assistant Professor at the University of Florence. Within the Population and Society Research Unit at the Department of Statistics, Computer Science, Applications (DiSIA), I conduct research on social stratification and demography. I teach methodological courses on statistical (MA in Geoengineering; MA in Geography) and longitudinal (MA in Statistics and Data Science) data analysis, along with thematic courses on social inequalities (PhD in Life Course Research; PhD in Social Sciences for Sustainability and Wellbeing) at the postgraduate level.

I am a quantitative sociologist conducting theoretically-driven empirical research with interdisciplinary interests in social inequality. I defended my PhD thesis on educational inequality at the European University Institute (EUI), including a visiting fellowship at the WZB Berlin Social Science Centre (ERC-funded EFFORT project) and the ECSR Prize. I hold a Master of Research in Sociology and Demography from Pompeu Fabra University, a Master of Science in Sociology from Tilburg University, and a Master of Research in Political and Social Sciences from the EUI.

Before joining the University of Florence, I worked as a Social Scientist at the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre on the DIGCLASS project, exploring the implications of the digital revolution for class inequalities. Before that, I was a research fellow at Trinity College Dublin and the University of Trento, working on projects examining the impact of digital devices on child mental health and the measurement of equality of opportunity. During my postgraduate studies, I worked as a research assistant at Tilburg University (European Values Study and Social Mobility) and as an external consultant for the Eurofound.

The role of social policy and institutions at the intersection between labour markets, welfare states and families is a central concern in my research. Accordingly, I have participated in policy workshops at the European Commission and in an expert commission on social inequality appointed by the Foresight Unit of the Spanish Government (España 2050).

My work has been widely covered in the media and published in high-ranked journals and editorials, including Sociological Science, Sociology of Education, European Sociological Review, Social Science Research, Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, Work, Employment & Society, and Stanford University Press.

Media – Dissemination

The Gender Achievement and Grading Gap

– Presentation (slides) at the INVALSI X Seminar "Data from and for the educational system: tools for research and teaching" (English):

https://www.youtube.com/embed/2_p6HyItF6A?showinfo=0

Income and Fertility, and the Child Penalty

– Policy seminar on the economic consequences of the demographic transition in Tuscany (Italy). Intervention (slides) on the link between income and fertility and the child penalty within couples [start 28:57] (Italian):

https://www.youtube.com/embed/kN_NyBnP6iE?showinfo=0

Wealth Inequality

– Post on wealth stratification by social classes in the LSE International Inequalities Institute Blog (English): https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/inequalities/2024/04/17/social-classes-and-wealth-inequality-a-missing-link/

Teacher Bias

– Presentation of the teacher bias experiment at the Carlos III - Effort Workshop [start at 26:25] (English): https://www.youtube.com/embed/n4bnM7bomzI?showinfo=0

– Presentation of the experiment on teacher bias at the University of Seville - Educational Inequality Seminar (Spanish): https://videos.us.es/media/El+sesgo+evaluador+del+profesoradoA+Un+experimento+sobre+discriminaci%C3%B3n+y+reproducci%C3%B3n+cultural+en+20+facultades+de+educaci%C3%B3n/1_topqt4jj

– Coverage of our teacher bias experiment in LASEXTA Clave (TV) (Spanish): https://www.lasexta.com/programas/lasexta-clave/asi-afectan-estereotipos-profesores-primaria-cuando-evaluan-sus-alumnos_2024031965f9f97acb58620001015feb.html?so=so%3Asour-twitter%3Acn-lasextaclave

– Article / Interview covering our experiment on teacher bias in El Confidencial (Newspaper) (Spanish): https://www.elconfidencial.com/espana/2024-03-13/lucia-daniel-experimento-profesores-espanoles_3847466/

– Article / Interview covering our experiment on teacher bias in ABC (Newspaper) (Spanish): https://www.abc.es/sociedad/profesor-mania-informe-indica-existe-sesgo-poner-nota-espana-20240408061500-nt.html

– Article covering our experiment on teacher bias in eldiario.es (Newspaper) (Spanish): https://www.eldiario.es/sociedad/maria-tendra-mejor-nota-youssef-estudio-analiza-prejuicios-profesores_1_11217468.html

– Blog post in eldiario.es about our experiment on teacher bias (Newspaper) (Spanish): https://www.eldiario.es/piedrasdepapel/profesores-merito-escolar-experimento-veinte-facultades_132_11797043.html

Gene-Environment Interaction

– Article / Interview covering our paper on gene-environment interactions in educational attainment in El Confidencial (Newspaper) (Spanish): https://www.elconfidencial.com/tecnologia/ciencia/2023-12-22/loteria-en-la-que-los-ricos-siempre-ganan_3795588/

– Article / Interview covering our paper on gene-environment interactions in educational attainment in El Español (Newspaper) (Spanish): https://www.elespanol.com/ciencia/20230416/busca-adn-triunfador-determina-genetica-puedes-llegar/755674553_0.html

Meritocracy

– Debate with César Rendueles on meritocracy organized by ATTAC (Spanish): https://www.youtube.com/embed/fLHGSqXW2lo?showinfo=0

– Opening article about a meritocracy debate in Espacio Público (Newspaper) (Spanish): https://espacio-publico.com/la-meritocracia-un-principio-conservador-o-progresista

– Article / Interview about meritocracy perceptions in Spain in El Confidencial (Newspaper) (Spanish): https://www.elconfidencial.com/espana/2023-09-26/espana-dejo-creer-meritocracia_3739665/

– Panel discussion at COTEC Foundation for Innovation alongside experts from academia, policy, and data science (Spanish): https://cotec.es/noticias-cpt/encuentro-virtual-sobre-meritocracia-y-educacion/

– Debate La formula della meritocrazia è quella giusta? Capacità, impegno e disuguaglianza, Caffè Europa (Europe Direct), Università degli Studi di Firenze (Italian). https://europedirect.comune.fi.it/blog/caffe-europa-tornano-gli-incontri-su-vecchie-e-nuove-vulnerabilita-tra-firenze-e-lue

– Intervention in a debate on young people's meritocracy perceptions on the TV program "La Roca" in LASEXTA (TV) (Spanish):

https://www.youtube.com/embed/0yk5AFginGw?showinfo=0

PhD Thesis (meritocracy and educational inequality)

– Interview about my PhD thesis in LASEXTA Columna (TV) (Spanish): https://www.lasexta.com/programas/sexta-columna/esta-estropeado-ascensor-social-datos-que-demuestran_20220603629a6bcb1d1a9700019e5ef0.html

https://x.com/FuturePolicyLab/status/1533006763523457024/video/1

– Interview about my PhD thesis in El Confidencial (Newspaper) (Spanish): https://www.elconfidencial.com/espana/2021-10-19/mejor-tesis-ano-nazareno-meritocracia_3306618/

– Coverage of my PhD thesis in LASEXTA Clave (TV) (Spanish): https://www.lasexta.com/programas/lasexta-clave/estudio-que-desenmascara-trampa-meritocracia-movilidad-social-depende-solo-talento_2021102561771aaa0fa89c0001ce2f4d.html

https://www.youtube.com/embed/-KfDmYCLW6c?showinfo=0

– Interview about my PhD thesis in Cadena Ser (Radio) (Spanish): https://cadenaser.com/audio/1635175656132/

– Video about meritocracy based on my PhD thesis by Spanish Revolution (Spanish): https://www.youtube.com/embed/ETOOWqPT7Zg?showinfo=0

– Interview about my thesis on Radio W Colombia (Radio) (Spanish): https://www.youtube.com/embed/peJu02qN2J8?showinfo=0

– Presentation of my PhD thesis at the University of Seville - Department of Sociology Seminar (Spanish): https://www.youtube.com/embed/Q8JG0L_yxVI?showinfo=0

– Interview about my PhD thesis in REDES (Radio) (Spanish): https://www.ivoox.com/en/entrevista-sociologo-carlos-gil-hernandez-audios-mp3_rf_78211195_1.html

Class Wage Gap and Occupational Reproduction

– Article / Interview covering our paper on the class wage gap and occupational reproduction in El Confidencial (Newspaper) (Spanish): https://www.elconfidencial.com/espana/2022-08-25/ser-ceo-trabajo-pasa-padres-hijos_3479533/

– Blog post in eldiario.es about the class gap in the labour market (Spanish): https://www.eldiario.es/piedrasdepapel/astilla-profesiones-heredan-padres-espana_132_1955084.html

– Intervention in the International Seminar on Social Mobility and Inequality in Times of Change at “la Caixa” Foundation (Barcelona): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJMYBNBl70s

https://www.youtube.com/embed/BJMYBNBl70s?showinfo=0

Class Voting

– Blog post in AgendaPública-ELPAÍS about class voting in Catalonia (Spanish): https://agendapublica.elpais.com/noticia/13827/pela-es-pela-renta-clase-social-secesionismo