From 7 to 10 July 2026, ProSkills2Work researcher Dr Lucy Hunt participated in the 24th Bulgarian Comparative Education Society (BCES) Conference, held at the Mercure Sofia City Hotel in Sofia, Bulgaria.
The conference brought together scholars and practitioners from around the world to discuss its central theme, “Education as an Ecosystem: A Global Dialogue.” The programme provided a platform for comparative perspectives on education systems, social inequalities, and the relationship between education and the wider social and economic environment.
Dr Hunt presented a systematic review conducted as part of the ProSkills2Work research programme. The study compares the school-to-work transitions of the majority and minority young people in Central and Eastern Europe.
The review shows that young people’s transitions from education to employment are systematically shaped by their social positions, particularly ethnicity, gender, rural background, disability and migration background. These factors often result in slower, less secure and more precarious pathways for groups that have historically experienced disadvantage.
The findings contributed to the design of the ProSkills2Work research programme, particularly its ongoing longitudinal qualitative panel study examining education-to-work transitions in Bulgaria. The study follows young people over time to better understand how their educational experiences, social circumstances and individual decisions influence their pathways into employment.