Andrey Felipe Sgorla, Italian-Brazilian, is a researcher in Didactics and Educational Research at the Department of Social, Political, and Cognitive Sciences, University of Siena. His two doctoral theses — in Social Sciences (Brazil) and in Learning and Innovation in Social and Work Contexts (Italy) — developed a comparative ethnographic study of neo-artisanal careers across Brazil, Italy, Portugal, and Spain, examining professionals who left conventional careers to create new ones in craft contexts. From this empirical base, his research investigates how professional futures are imagined, recognised, and sustained — and why some become institutionally accessible while others remain structurally invisible.
His current research sits at the intersection of the sociology of education, career and guidance studies, the sociology of imagined futures, and research on educational and professional transitions. It is organised around three lines: Vocational Imagination and Professional Futures, which advances original concepts such as fictional fragility, fictional displacement, and vocational imagination; Career Guidance, Institutional Recognition, and Inclusion, which examines how universities, VET systems, and guidance services distribute or obstruct access to credible professional futures; and Transition Pedagogy and Guidance Practice, which develops pedagogical frameworks for lifelong guidance.
He has held postdoctoral appointments at the Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies and the University of Gastronomic Sciences, as well as visiting positions at universities in Brazil, Portugal, Spain, and the United Kingdom. His publications include Fermented Craftsmanship in the Bottle: Practices of Entrepreneurship Linked to Passion, Work and Territory (Ethics Press, 2024) and Fazer Cerveja: Mercado, Autenticidade e Trabalho Artesanal no Brasil (Imprensa de Ciências Sociais, Universidade de Lisboa, 2026).