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Education as a Lifelong Process – Comparing Educational Trajectories in Modern Societies

Scientific Background

Studying educational opportunities has a long tradition in sociological inequality research and many have argued that education is key to stratification in society. Modern societies have evolved into knowledge-based economies in which the role of education and the acquisition of skills have become important in all phases of the life course. In contrast to most empirical research on education, which is based on cross-sectional studies, the eduLIFE project takes a longitudinal view of educational careers over the life course.

Research

The eduLIFE project analyses the educational career over the life course in four phases covering early childhood education, secondary and tertiary education, the transition from school to work, and adult learning. A number of country studies are conducted within each of these phases in collaboration with country experts and using high-quality longitudinal data. Based on cross-national comparisons, eduLIFE aims to establish the generality of findings as well as the impact of institutional contexts.

Project Stages

2016

Integration of research results

In focus: integrating the main findings of the eduLIFE project

Final conference, 23-24 May "Education as a Lifelong Process - Comparing Educational Trajectories in Modern Societies. Summary of Core Results"

Methodological issues

In focus: rethinking methodological issues of longitudinal surveys

2015

Pre-school education:

In focus: short- and long-term consequences of pre-school attendance and quality.

7th Workshop, 21-22 May "Childcare arrangements and social inequalities: A cross-country comparison"
8th Workshop, 12-13 November "Childcare arrangements and social inequalities: A cross-country comparison"

2014

Secondary education:

In focus: school differentiation and social inequalities in educational attainment.

5th Workshop, 22-23 May 2014 “Differences in Secondary Education and their Short- and Longer-Term Effects on Inequalities of Educational Opportunities”
6th Workshop, 27-28 Nov 2014 "Differences in Secondary Education and their Short- and Longer-Term Effects on Inequalities of Educational Opportunities"

2013

School-to-work transition:

In focus: gender, education and consequences on early labor market success.

3rd workshop, 30-31 May 2013 "Gender Imbalances in Education and Labour Market Entry"

4th workshop, 14-15 November 2013 "Education and gender differences in school-to-work transitions"

2012

Adult learning:

In focus: participation patterns in different types of adult learning and labor market outcomes.

1st Workshop, 23-24 March 2012 "'Adult Learning, Returns to Education and Social Inequalities in Modern Societies"
2nd workshop, 9-10 November 2012 "Lifelong Learning: Social Inequalities Related to Adult Learning in Different Countries"

Research Team

eduLIFE505 Current Research Team, 4th eduLIFE conference. eduLIFE team 1 Former Research Team, 3rd eduLIFE conference.

Outcomes of the final conference of the eduLIFE project

Description: short report on the eduLIFE final conference
Date:: 30/05/2016

Final Conference of the eduLIFE project

Description: At the final conference, the eduLIFE research team will present and discuss the key results of the project with outstanding experts in the field. 23-24 May 2016, Badia Fiesolana
Date:: 27/04/2016

All News

The project is supported by an Advanced Grant of the European Research Council (ERC)

Started at Bamberg University in Germany, the project moved to the European University Institute in Fiesole (Florence), Italy In September 2012, .

The principal investigator of the eduLIFE project is Professor Hans-Peter Blossfeld.

Project Homepage