Staff profile

I joined the Sociology Department in September 2020 as a PhD student after finishing my Master’s Degree in Sociology at the University of Coimbra in Portugal. In Portugal, I developed a study called “Not in Higienópolis!”. It was a case study about the segregation of geographic space in São Paulo that shows how the middle class protect their social space.

Originally from Brazil, a country with a huge inequality of class, I could experience how social class is a complex concept across the countries I lived. My focus now is to look at working-class students and their educational trajectories as a social mobility opportunity.

My doctoral research aims to understand how students from disadvantaged backgrounds have accessed the Top Universities in England and Portugal using comparative analyses. This research explores the strategies used by the students to achieve the University, considering the student’s patterns, family education, financing and experiences in the University.

Member of the Higher Education and Social Inequality (HESI) research group.

• Educational inequalities and access to Elite Universities, especially students from lower backgrounds
• Social Class and social mobility
• Qualitative research methods
• Comparative analysis

Book review

• Hordósy, R. (2023). The degree generation: the making of unequal graduate lives, The degree generation: the making of unequal graduate lives , by N. Ingram, A.-M. Bathmaker, J. Abrahams, L. Bentley, H. Bradley, T. Hoare, V. Papafilippou, and R. Waller, 2023, Bristol University Press, Bristol, UK, GPB 14.99, 212 p, ISBN 978-1529208856: by N. Ingram, A.-M. Bathmaker, J. Abrahams, L. Bentley, H. Bradley, T. Hoare, V. Papafilippou, and R. Waller, 2023, Bristol University Press, Bristol, UK, GPB 14.99, 212 p, ISBN 978-1529208856. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 44(7), 1229-1237. https://doi.org/10.1080/01425692.2023.2269504

Chapter in book

• Promenzio, L. (2024). The Experiences of Working-Class Medical Students in England and Portugal. In V. Boliver, & N. Siddiqui (Eds.), Researching Social Inequalities in Higher Education: Access, Diversity and Inclusion. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003452430-7

Presentation

• Promenzio, L. (2024, April). The Hyper-Commodification of Higher Education in England: A Longitudinal and Cross- Nationally Comparative Analysis. Presented at BSA Annual Conference 2024 Crisis, Continuity and Change, Online
• Promenzio, L. (2024, August). The State School as a Development of Academic Capital - a Study of Access to Higher Education in Portugal and England. Presented at 16th Conference of the European Sociological Association Tension, Trust and Transformation, Porto, Portugal