The 8 project partners of PATHS2INCLUDE gathered in Girona on the 22nd and 23rd of November 2023 for the second in-person consortium meeting. It was the occasion to exchange on the progress in different areas of the project, discuss important methodological implications, foster synergies between the different thematic areas of the research and share innovative ideas.
The literature review and the database review identifying gaps in employment research, conducted by Dr Robin Samuel and Dr Ona Valls from the University of Luxembourg, seem very promising. The factorial survey experiment, developed by Dr Christian Imdorf and Dr Dominik Buttler from the Leibniz University of Hannover, will be launched soon. It will present to employers in Germany, Poland, Romania, and Norway hypothetical job candidates’ profiles for specific occupations to assess mechanisms of discrimination in hiring taking into consideration gender, ethnicity, and care responsibilities. It will be complemented by 15 qualitative interviews with companies to identify organisational factors affecting discrimination. The interviews will be conducted by Dr Justyna Bell and Dr Jon Rogstad from the Oslo Metropolitan University. Other work package leaders presented their ambitious plans and addressed methodological choices to be made. Dr Sara Ayllón Gatnau from the University of Girona is working on producing new knowledge on the influence of gender norms on the gender and motherhood employment gap across Europe. Dr Laura Tufa presented the work of her team from the University of Bucharest on exploring the impact of national employment policies and institutional factors on early and late work exit. Dr Iga Magda and her team from the Institute for Structural Research (IBS) are working on identifying risk factors in labour market attachment and in the future of work. Finally, Dr Federico Cianni and Dr Arianna Vivioli from Action Research for Co-Development (ARCO) presented their plan to use machine learning techniques to discover factors that reduce barriers for labour market inclusion of persons in vulnerable situations. More updates on the progress of the research will be shared in the project section of our website and included in the next edition of our newsletter, make sure to subscribe!
We also discussed the importance of Open Science in particular thanks to the comprehensive presentation from Silvia Alfreider from OsloMet as well as the organisation of future events such as a policy forum that will take place in Hannover in May 2024 (stay tuned!). Finally, the meeting was the perfect occasion to visit the beautiful city of Girona and taste some of the culinary specialties of Catalonia.
The meeting was hosted by Dr Sara Ayllón Gatnau from the University of Girona. We thank her and her team for the great preparation and the wonderful experience.