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The aim of this paper is to propose an original analysis of the association between social status and attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccines regarding upper-secondary students in Italy. The research was conducted by administering an online survey on a probabilistic and stratified sample of 5,699 students, in the spring of 2021, when the vaccination campaign in Italy had been underway for only a few months. Following the bourdieusian perspective, we have used a multiple correspondence analysis to examine the polarization between pro-vaccine and anti-vaccine groups as the clash of stances that agents take in accordance with their position in the cultural field. Our results suggest that the construction of a negative school experience by the subordinate classes is the source of a lack of social recognition in the cultural field, which feeds an aversion to everything the main institutions in this field recommend should be done.

Focusing on the Italian context, this research aims to analyze the relationship between investment in education and economic development through a critical exam of the human capital theory. This paradigm is compared with the social investment paradigm, particularly the Esping-Andersen's thesis, which seems more useful to unfold the link between social stratification and education level as a resource of social innovation. From this standpoint, our hypothesis is that educational policies have positive effects on the economic system if they are oriented to reduce socio-economic inequalities increasing the rate of social inclusion, which can promote a wider social innovation.