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.

Anna Kvit

Anna Kvit

Position: Research Associate

Field of study: Sociology

Research topics: Labor, gender, post-soviet transition, conflict response 

Ever since I was a child I liked to listen stories about people’s lives: about their school years, how they dreamed to become divers, dancers, professors and ended up as entrepreneurs, teachers and… professors, how they managed to combine work, studying and having children, how they took important decisions, survived hard times of the 90s etc. I have tried to find some patterns in their behavior and learn lessons from their stories. I grew up and I turned this interest into my profession. However, now for me it is not just a curiosity but a tool for understanding a society, its members, institutions and problems in order to make a change for the better. From my own experience and from experience of other people I’ve learned that transition from school to work is one of the crucial stages in a persons’ life, which influences their life satisfaction and further employment situation. I believe that deeper understanding of personal and institutional aspects of unemployment and labor market insecurity of youth will create more opportunities for tackling these problems and building a happier society.

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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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