Mapping mobility – pathways, institutions and structural effects of youth mobility in Europe

Project summary

The overall ambition of MOVE is to provide a research-informed contribution towards an improvement of the conditions of the mobility of young people in Europe and a reduction of the negative impacts of mobility through the identification of ways of good practice thus fostering sustainable development and wellbeing. The main research question is: How can the mobility of young people be ‘good’ both for socio-economic development and for individual development of young people, and what are the factors that foster/hinder such beneficial mobility?

Based on an interdisciplinary and multilevel research approach the main objectives of MOVE are to:

[1] carry out a comprehensive analysis of the phenomenon of mobility of young people in the EU;

[2] generate systematic data about young people’s mobility patterns in Europe based on qualitative case studies, a mobility survey and on secondary data analysis;

[3] provide a quantitative integrated database on European youth mobility;

[4] offer a data based theoretical framework in which mobility can be reflected.

MOVE is based on a multilevel research design, including case studies on six types of mobility (higher education, voluntary work, employment, vocational training, pupil's exchange and entrepreneurship), a survey (N=6400) and secondary data analysis, taking into consideration social inequality (e.g. migration background, gender, educational inequalities, impairments). The focus will be on the regional contexts of mobility and the agency of young people.