Our team and Partners

Project Coordinator - Dr. Marge Unt

As a kid, I never wanted to grow up. To me, the grown-up world was not something to look for. What is this "work" they always claim to have? Why do they refuse to run around in fields and find shapes in clouds? And why do adults assume that they know it all and are still so stressed? Now, I have made this transition and have entered the world of my own family and work. However, I am still deeply interested in how youth experience becoming an adult in different contexts.

 

Project Co-coordinator - Prof. Dr. Michael Gebel

When I grew up, Germany experienced serious mass unemployment and was called the “sick man of Europe”. I saw friends suffering from unemployment and insecure jobs. But there were also success stories of friends coping with such a situation and also escaping from it. Nowadays, after a period of policy reforms, the situation is better in Germany but there are still many problems. These observations raised my interest in understanding how youths avoid getting into trouble and which policies help.

 

 

Get to know all researchers that are engaged in the project. Read the personal story of each researcher by clicking on her/his picture.

Jędrzej Stasiowski

Jędrzej Stasiowski

Position: Senior Researcher

Field of study: Sociology

Research topics: Social stratification and inequalities, vocational education, social problems,   social exclusion and deviation. Public policy analysis and evaluation research

What pushed me into sociological studies was a deep interest in how society, with its norms, values and institutions, shapes individual’s life. When I was in the secondary school I had this overwhelming impression that we might believe that we can steer our future, but truly it doesn’t work like this… The place where we grow up, our family, friends, our school and numerous public institutions have a huge impact on the most momentous decisions we (don’t) make and steps we take. Sociology gave me tools to observe and analyse these mechanisms – the goal is not only to understand, but also to bring a change. Public policy analysis and educational studies give us a chance to improve our educational systems and introduce labour market policies. We can support young people with taking right decisions and getting things right if they make any mistakes. The question remains – how to do that in a reasonable way.

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Advisory board:

Hans-Peter Blossfeld
Caroline Dewilde
Duncan Gallie
Massimiliano Mascherini
Jale Tosun
Gianfranco Bordone
Laura Orestano
Franco Chiaramonte
Luca Chiapella
Vanessa Di Paola
Virginie Mora
Ruth Santos-Brien
Rita Bergstein

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