Project overview

PATHS2INCLUDE is a European research project focusing on understanding processes that shape barriers or facilitate inclusive labour markets. It aims to uncover factors that can be changed and revised by political decisions aiming to reduce inequalities and promote social inclusion in the European labour markets.

Discrimination and poor inclusion of persons in vulnerable situations in the labour market, often related to gender, ethnicity, age, health, and family situation, is detrimental to the EU economy and societal unity. By combining diverse methods, data and disciplines (economics, political science and sociology), PATHS2INCLUDE intends to uncover how European policies aimed at protecting persons in vulnerable situations on the labour market reflect, speak to, and support the ways in which employers themselves perceive challenges related to recruitment, career trajectories and work exit. As the world of work is changing, we will develop empirical tools to discover combinations of context and individual characteristics that generate vulnerable situations and positions in the labour market today, and new risk factors in the future of work. Based on this knowledge, PATHS2INCLUDE will develop proposals for effective policies combatting labour market discrimination and promote inclusion in the EU.