Transitions in Youth (TiY) 2024

The 31st annual workshop of the European Research Network on Transitions in Youth (TiY) will take place in Warsaw, Poland on 4-6 September 2024. The workshop will be hosted by the Faculty of Sociology, University of Warsaw.

The theme of this year’s workshop is:

Youth Transitions in Vulnerable Populations: New Challenges in Uncertain Times

Recent years have been marked by a series of unprecedented and consequential developments: digitalization and the rise of artificial intelligence, the COVID-19 pandemic, and mass migration driven by wars and economic disparities – which will deeply transform European societies for decades to come. These global phenomena are reshaping the challenges faced by young people navigating their transition into adulthood, by exacerbating existing inequalities while introducing new sources of vulnerability. Youth from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds experience a higher risk of early school leaving and persistent or recurring episodes of joblessness. Refugees and asylum-seeking youth, compelled to navigate unfamiliar legal frameworks and cultural landscapes, encounter numerous obstacles as they strive to integrate into European societies. These and other vulnerabilities, such as those related to spatial divides, gender orientation, or poor health status, expose youth to multiple barriers in the pursuit of happiness and socio-economic progress. Simultaneously, the rise in AI technologies amplifies the uncertainty of youth transitions by reshaping labour markets, leading to transformations in many job sectors and displacement in others.

More research is needed to better understand the specificity of the life-course dynamics experienced by various groups of contemporary vulnerable youth and the challenges they are facing in their efforts to access vocational training, higher education, and the labour market, or to establish their own lives.

For the 31st annual TIY workshop, the Network Committee invites authors from disciplines in the field (Economics, Education, Psychology and Sociology) to submit contributions that focus on the transitions of vulnerable youth in a variety of life domains. To increase our understanding of the specific barriers that vulnerable youth face while transitioning to adulthood, different sources of vulnerability and their intersections may be considered. Papers on the long-term effects of vulnerabilities on occupational attainment, living conditions, health and well-being are also welcome, as are critical and theory-driven analyses of policies and interventions to support the transitions of vulnerable youth.

Specific topics that may be included are:

• The role of educational, health or spatial inequalities in school to work transitions (StWT)
• The transition to adulthood of young refugees and migrants
• NEET episodes in the StWT
• COVID-19 effects on the dynamic of health, wellbeing and other domains of young people’s lives
• Intersectionality and its impact on transition experiences
• The role of economic and structural changes, such as globalisation, digitalisation, and robotization, on youth transition patterns and their life-course consequences;
• Outcomes of policies to address vulnerabilities for youth transitions, labour market outcomes and overall well-being;

The above list of themes is neither complete nor exclusive. Theoretically grounded empirical research on other aspects of youth transitions that is based on high-quality longitudinal data, experimental and intervention studies is also welcome. Additionally, the committee invites conceptual contributions, systematic reviews, and meta analyses.

We are pleased to announce that Prof. Anna Matysiak, head of the Interdisciplinary Centre for Labour Market and Family Dynamics (LabFam) at the University of Warsaw, will be the keynote speaker at the event.

If you wish to present a paper or poster at the workshop, please submit an abstract (c.a. 500 words) by April 1, 2024. In keeping with our usual procedures, abstracts will be assessed for selection by the members of the Network Committee on the basis of their quality and relevance to the theme of the workshop. Authors will be notified of the decision regarding their paper no later than May 15, 2024.

To submit an abstract please use the following link: https://forms.gle/6GTLwYTHW7Sawbkj8 or click on the button below

Local organising team: Anna Kiersztyn, Katarzyna Kopycka, Paweł Downarowicz, Stefan Bieńkowski,

E-mail: tiy2024@is.uw.edu.pl.