Hi! I am José David López Blanco, a Research Fellow at the University of Bologna (Italy), affiliated to the Department of Political and Social Sciences.

My research focuses on how social stratification shapes people’s lives across various dimensions—migration and labor market integration, the relationship between spatial and social mobility, gender and educational inequalities, fertility and family arrangements, and later-life outcomes. I’m particularly interested in how these dynamics intersect and evolve over time.

I completed my Ph.D. at the University Carlos III of Madrid, where I studied internal and international migration during Spain’s economic crisis in the 2010s. My research explored migration decision-making processes and labor market integration. Currently, I focus on two main areas: digital inequalities among older adults in Italy, as part of the ICTAGE project, and the impact of return migration on social mobility—both for migrants and their descendants—tracing back to the large-scale migrations of the 1950s-1970s.

Beyond research, I have enjoyed teaching undergraduate courses at the University Carlos III and serving on Master’s thesis committees at Universidad Europea de Madrid. My academic journey has also taken me to institutions such as Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona as a research assistant and the Berlin Social Science Center (WZB) as a Visiting Scholar.

Whether analyzing how families navigate fertility decisions or the barriers to accessing education and technology, I am passionate about understanding the structures that shape opportunities—and finding ways to challenge persistent inequalities.

If you work on similar topics or are interested in my research, feel free to get in touch via email at jose.lopezblanco[@]unibo.it.