Skip to main content

Projects

EDU-LAB – European Youth in Education and in Transition to the Labour Market

EDU-LAB is a European research project focused on understanding and improving the pathways and transitions of young people (aged 15–30) in education and training (E&T) and their entry into the labour market. With an emphasis on equity and inclusion, the project examines participation, progression, and completion rates in secondary and tertiary education as well as vocational training. By analyzing policies, investments, and systemic factors across the European Education Area, EDU-LAB aims to identify effective strategies to promote inclusion, reduce early school leaving, and boost work-based learning opportunities.

EDU-LAB will develop comprehensive models of pathways and transitions per country in the European Education Area (EEA) including their intersectional and largely generic determinants. Second, an efficiency assessment of policies and investments in GE and PVET will be carried out. Third, novel quantitative and qualitative evidence will be provided on how determinants, including policies and investments, contribute to young people’s pathways and transitions, specifically to inclusion and equity, and their participation and completion of GE and PVET.

EDU-LAB relies on a mixed-methods approach, with emphasis being placed on secondary quantitative analyses of openly available empirical data and newly collected qualitative empirical data. The following EEA targets are scrutinized:

(a) increasing the rate of youth with tertiary education attainment;
(b) reducing the share of early leavers from E&T;
(c) increasing work-based learning in vocational E&T;
(d) increasing the number of students belonging to groups underrepresented in educational fields (e.g., based on gender, ethnic minority, migration, etc.).

CeiED/University Lusófona coordinates WP4 Hearing Young People’s Voices: Qualitative Case Studies. The WP study design relies on qualitative case studies and adopts an exploratory approach to research based on principles of the Research-Practice Partnerships (RPPs). WP4's focus is on documenting young people’s actions and processes as they share their insider knowledge and lived expertise on their choices, pathways and transitions in E&T and from E&T to the LM. Specifically,

  • The (intersecting) factors hindering and enabling these choices, pathways and transitions
  • Their solutions for optimizing participation and completion of general education and vocational education and training, as well as their transition to the labour market.

Objectives

WP4 aims are:

(1) To arrive at an in-depth understanding of young people’s careers (E&T and early labour market integration) and career-related experiences by focusing on:

  • How, why and when specific E&T or employment-related decisions were made (e.g., stay in or drop out of education; choose an academic or a vocational track; change jobs).
  • What (intersecting) factors explain how young people’s E&T or employment pathways and transitions unfolded
  • How and why these (intersecting) factors hindered or enabled young people’s choices, pathways and transitions in E&T and from E&T to the LM

(2) To co-construct solutions with young people that optimize their participation and completion of E&T and labour market integration.

Data will be collected simultaneously in 7 European countries (Austria, Finland, Italy, Kosovo, Poland, Portugal, and the UK) and 12 regions or cities in these countries.

Research Team

Partners

Consortium coordinator

Work Packages Coordinators

Other Partners in the Consortium

website
  • Período Date
    01.2025 - 12.2027
  • Financiamento Funding
    European Research Executive Agency (REA) (3 000 000.00 EUR)
  • Referência do Projeto Project Reference
    101177428 — EDU-LAB
  • Papel no projeto Role in project
    Partner