Global trends in social inequalities in Europe and Latin America and exploring innovative ways to reduce them through life, occupational and educational trajectories research to face uncertainty

Project Information

INCASI

Grant agreement ID: 691004

DOI

10.3030/691004

Project closed

EC signature date 29 October 2015

Start date 1 January 2016

End date 31 December 2019

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 2 344 500,00

EU contribution

€ 2 344 500,00

Coordinated by

UNIVERSITAT AUTONOMA DE BARCELONA
Spain

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - INCASI (Global trends in social inequalities in Europe and Latin America and exploring innovative ways to reduce them through life, occupational and educational trajectories research to face uncertainty)

Reporting period: 2018-01-01 to 2019-12-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

INCASI, International Network for Comparative Analysis of Social Inequalities, aims to create and consolidate a network of research and training between Europe and Latin America. To this end, we develop the project Global trends in social inequalities in Europe and Latin America and exploring innovative ways to reduce them through life, occupational and educational trajectories research to face uncertainty.
Through this network, we hope to foster a space for collective reflection and the development of synergies between network partners that allow us to undertake innovative studies whose outputs have an impact on academic and policy debates on the subject. The project will also contribute to informing the design of public policies to tackle social inequalities. In so doing, we aim to contribute innovative solutions that improve citizens’ living standards, reduce social inequalities and promote social justice. This is in line with Horizon 2020’s objectives.
Through the INCASI network, it is planned to establish the conceptual and methodological bases for, on the one hand, the development of a longer-term international comparative research program and, on the other hand, to design an international postgraduate study program that analyzes social inequalities in a comparative perspective.

The project is developed by establishing 8 main objectives:
1) Develop a general framework of collaboration for the creation and consolidation of a research and training network among research centers of European and Latin American universities.

2) Analyze the trajectories that the citizens have followed in the labor market, identifying their results in terms of mobility and social inequality and to develop a model that explains these trajectories in comparative terms between Latin America and Europe.

3) Identify and understand the different strategies that are developed and how resources and capacities have been mobilized to identify, classify and compare patterns of social behavior adopted to address the uncertainties in each region.

4) Specifically study these trajectories and strategies by analyzing the relationship between work, training and employment, and connecting the life trajectories of citizens, including the productive and reproductive spheres.

5) To examine the social policies that have tried to address inequalities in different areas, focusing the interest in the participating countries and more generally addressed in a comparative context between Europe and Latin America.

6) Develop models of macro and micro analysis and comparative methodologies adopting dynamic and longitudinal perspectives. A mixed-methods approach will be adopted by combining qualitative and quantitative techniques.

7) Draw practical conclusions that help to inform the design of innovative public policies to deal with situations of social inequality, particularly in relation to employment and education policies.

8) To project the INCASI network by establishing the conceptual and methodological bases for, on the one hand, the development of an international comparative program in the longer term, and, on the other hand, to design an international master program that analyzes social inequalities in a comparative perspective.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The whole project is structured on the basis of the following four pillars:
1) Substantive background and explanatory models of social inequalities which comprises eight thematic axes integrated in a model of analysis called AMOSIT (Analytical Model of Social Inequalities and Trajectories).
2) Methodology for the analysis of social inequalities
3) Social policies to counteract social inequalities
4) Gender inequalities’ transversal perspective

To achieve our objectives, we organize the proposal chronologically through four work packages:
1) Compilation: to review the accumulated scientific capital that exists among network’s members.
2) Construction: AMOSIT model.
3) Innovation: to propose a new theoretical and methodological perspective on social inequalities.
4) Projection: to planning the sustainability of the network through two specific lines of action in research and teaching, and to disseminating-communicating project outcomes.
And one transversal work package of organization and coordination of INCASI network activities.

During the project we follow four work packages (Months 1-48) and we complete the 100% the academics activities and 99% of secondment projected. We performed the following activities:
-Creation of the web site: http://incasi.uab.es.
-Compilation of the scientific production of the INCASI network (300)
-A total of 516 month of secondments where 165 investigators that have done research, training and networking from Europe to Latin America and from Latin America to Europe.
- 198 seminars and conferences.
- 7 Local Workshops
- 4 Global Meeting
- 53 press release
- 164 Flyers
- 126 Participation to congress
- Structuration of model of research (AMOSIT).
- Collecting Data sources from Europe & Latin America.
- 34 Training courses. 2 editions of “Graduate Certificate of Methodology for analysis of social inequalities” (MADES), in online format and with 30 ECTS credits. 58 researchers where beneficiaries of MADES 1 and 49 of MADES 2. A total of 3 researchers complete the entire training obtaining the title from UAB
- A total of 129 publications are produced and updating to Open Aire as individual publication in Journals or collaborative Monographics (Papers, RES, Revista de Educación y Derecho) books (Clacso-ODSA-INCASI). Creation and publication of INCASI Working Paper Series (IWPS), with 9 number published and 2 more forthcoming.
Publication forthcoming during 2020 and 2021:
a) Journals Monographic:
a.1) RES Spanish Journal of Sociology
a.2) EMPIRIA, Social science methodology magazine
a.3) Social Indicator Research Journal
a.4) Foro de Educación Jounal
a.5) Cuestiones Sociológicas Journal
b) Books:
b.1) CIS-Academia, Center of Sociological Research of Spain
b.2) Edtions du Croquant (France)
b.3) Springer (Germany)

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The project concentrates in creation and strengthening of a new network of international institutions and researchers. It focuses on strengthening collaborative, innovative work relating to the comparative study of social inequalities. Hence:

1. We contributed to innovation in scientific research of social inequalities, developing a model for comparative analysis between Europe and Latin America. The aim of this model is to establish a base of research program in the area of inequality and promote the generation of innovative proposals to conduct new comparative studies internationally. On the basis of the synergy and knowledge stemming from comparative and comprehensive methodology, models can be derived to analyze local situations and to create diagnoses and recommendations for design and/or re-orientation of social policies.

2. We are organized seminars and annual meetings for members of the participating institutions for exchange, discussions and the
construction of research proposals, educational training master and innovative methodologies in order to study social inequalities.

3. We encouraged academic collaboration amongst the researchers, by supporting the dialogue between different academic areas and by expanding of the INCASI network in the future.

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