About

Project description

EDU-LAB is a European study examining factors influencing young people’s (aged 15–30) education and training (E&T) choices, pathways, and transitions into the labour market. The focus is on equity and inclusion, and on youth participation, progression, and completion of upper secondary and tertiary general education (GE) and professional/vocational education (PVET, at ISCED levels 3-8), as well as on their transitions to and from the labour market.

Developing comprehensive models of pathways and transitions per country in the European Education Area (EEA) including their intersectional and largely generic determinants

Carrying out an assessment of the efficiency of policies and investments in GE and PVET

Providing novel quantitative and qualitative evidence 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. Specifically, EDU-LAB considers all stakeholders and conducts a systematic literature review, qualitative conceptual analysis, quantitative trend and regression analysis, difference-in-differences analysis, expert interviews and surveys, and qualitative case studies focusing on young people’s voices and based on Research-Practice Partnerships. The following EEA targets are scrutinized:

Increasing the rate of youth with tertiary education attainment

Reducing the share of early leavers from E&T

Increasing work-based learning in vocational E&T

Increasing the number of students belonging to underrepresented groups (e.g., based on gender, ethnic minority, migration, etc.)