Perspectives on (Un-)Employment
The 16th International Ph.D. Workshop, “Perspectives on (Un-)Employment”, was held on January 23 and 24, 2025, at the Institute for Employment Research (IAB). This interdisciplinary event offered graduate students from diverse fields in labor economics and sociology a platform to present their research and gain valuable feedback from leading scholars at the frontier of their disciplines.
The 2023 cohort of the joint doctoral programme of the IAB (GradAB) and the School of Business, Economics, and Society of the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU) organized this year’s edition of the traditional Ph.D. Workshop. Over the two workshop days, 24 doctoral students from universities and research institutes across Europe and the United States presented their research. The participants came from diverse academic backgrounds and were at different stages of their Ph.D. journeys, from newcomers to those nearing completion. Highlights of this year´s event were the inspiring keynote speeches delivered by Libertad González (Universitat Pompeu Fabra and Barcelona School of Economics) and Thijs Bol (University of Amsterdam and Amsterdam Centre for Inequality Studies).
The workshop began with an engaging session on gender economics and inequalities, setting the stage for the first keynote lecture by Libertad González, “Gender Gaps in the Labor Market: The Last Chapter?” After the lunch break, Bernd Fitzenberger, the director of the IAB, officially welcomed the participants on behalf of the Institute.
The second half of the first day featured a session on “Migration and International Labor Markets” and included a brief introduction to IAB data by Matthias Umkehrer from the Research Data Centre (FDZ), followed by a poster session about the different IAB data products.
The first day of the workshop concluded with a session on “Macroeconomic Perspectives”. Doctoral students, keynote speakers, and senior researchers continued their discussions during a brief city tour of Nuremberg, followed by a conference dinner at the restaurant Estragon.
On the second workshop day, the doctoral students presented their research in three sessions with the topics "Human Capital and Occupations", "Labor Market Behavior", and “Labor Markets in Transformation". A perfect fit for the second day was Thijs Bol’s keynote speech on “Vocational Education and Labor Market Outcomes,” which followed the morning session.
In the afternoon, a poster session provided an interactive platform for workshop participants to present and discuss their work. Throughout the workshop, lively discussions and networking took place over lunch and coffee breaks, while keynote speakers and session chairs provided thoughtful and constructive feedback to the doctoral students, enriching the experience for everyone involved. The 16th Ph.D. workshop offered new insights into current labor market research, fostering lively discussions and interdisciplinary exchange across institutions and countries. The organizing team would like to thank the keynote speakers, all the presenters, the session chairs, and all other participants for their valuable contributions as well as the IAB and FAU for providing funding and resources for this important part of the GradAB-programme