Post-doctoral researcher - “LINEup - Longitudinal Data for Inequalities in Education” Project

Description of the Institute

The French Institute for Demographic Studies (INED) is a Public Scientific and Technical Research Establishment (EPST); its missions include conducting research on various demographic issues (fertility and family, health and mortality, migration, etc.) and keeping the general public informed about demographic trends and developments. With a multidisciplinary approach both in terms of recruitment and research, the Institute has a total of 250 staff and researchers (tenured researchers, contractors, doctoral students, etc.) and hosts a number of associate researchers and foreign guests. INED forms the hub of a network of national and international research partnerships.

Description of unit or project

The LINEup project is a research project funded by the European Commission under its Horizon Europe programme. The project focuses on educational inequalities from a multidisciplinary perspective. Twelve European institutions are involved, based in 6 different countries (Germany, Spain, France, Greece, Italy, and Portugal). It is coordinated by the Fondazione per la Scuola in Italy. At INED, the project is being hosted by the “Economic Demography” research unit (UR09) and is being run by Léonard Moulin.

LINEup aims to identify the key factors for educational success by mapping and analysing existing longitudinal data on the scholastic performances of primary and secondary school children (aged 6 to 18 years). LINEup will provide an overview of the availability, quality, use and potential use of existing longitudinal data across multiple countries. A feasibility study will shed light on the comparability of these existing data sets. The mapping will be supplemented by qualitative research conducted within the countries under study, exploring the impact of policies and interventions to improve educational outcomes for disadvantaged pupils.

The aim of the project is to produce recommendations for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers on how to overcome educational inequalities.

Role and Responsibilities

The job involves working on the quantitative part of the project and consists of two phases:

1. Conducting a literature review of research on educational inequalities with a longitudinal design, produced since the 1990s, to gain an understanding of the types of data available in Europe. Analysis will show the key role that longitudinal data can play in studying inequalities in the area of education. The successful applicant will also be required to produce recommendations on how longitudinal data from the various countries could be improved to make them more easily comparable.
2. Analysing these data in order to evaluate pupils’ results and acquisition of basic skills in relation to their sociodemographic profiles (socioeconomic background, migration background, gender, etc.).

Main activities:

• Conducting an in-depth literature review
• Analysing databases using econometric tools
• Helping to draft reports and research articles, and attending project meetings, as well as presenting interim results at these meetings
• Working with other members of the project across Europe. Note: travel to partner countries is expected.

In accordance with INED’s policy, the recruited post-doctoral researcher will be able to spend 20% of their time on their own work, such as the publication or promotion of previous work, conducting personal research work, or preparing applications for research positions. They will have a dedicated workspace with a computer, access to INED’s subsidized canteen, and a budget for attending international conferences and training courses. INED’s charter on hosting contract researchers is available on its website

(https://www.ined.fr/fichier/rte/General/Recherche/Postdocs/Chartechercheurs- contractuels.pdf ).

Skills and Experience

Applicants must have a doctorate in social sciences (economics, demography, sociology, or a related discipline) awarded within the last three years, or defend their thesis prior to their start date.

Skills expected are:

• Good command of English: written and spoken (level B2)
• Strong skills in quantitative analysis, using Stata software
• Proven interest in and knowledge of the project’s themes (educational inequalities and pathways)
• Ability to work independently and good organisational skills
• Familiarity with qualitative methods would also be an asset.