by Maria Taddia

In supposedly post-feminist times, where high-achieving girlhood entails high expectations but is riddled with contradiction, this multiple site case study explores how Italian upper-secondary school female students construct their identities as high achievers. Fifteen semi-structured interviews with students from three Northern Italian upper-secondary institutions were carried out and analyzed. Research findings illustrate the prevalence of narratives constructing success as a multidimensional and contradicting position to occupy, thus emphasizing the influence of deceitful notions around neoliberal individualism and post-feminism.