European Trade Union Committee for Education

The mixed-method research design considers the complex multi-scalar governance architecture of the EU and combines quantitative and qualitative methods. It is critical to the project to capture the dynamics between EU and national levels. In addition to the analysis of EU level developments, four European case systems have been selected for this purpose, representing different clusters in terms of “industrial democracy”, drawing from Eurofound (2018), and defined by four sub-dimensions: 1) autonomy of social partners in collective bargaining; 2) representation rights at both macro- and company level; 3) participation of employees in decision-making at company level; and 4) influence in terms of bargaining power. These are: Sweden, Belgium, Poland and Italy.

The mixed method research design involves different and complementary types of analyses, involving various types of data: statistical analysis, policy document analysis, semi-structured interviews with key stakholeders, policy network analysis and network ethnology. Based on document analysis and interviews, this latter innovative model (policy network and ethnology) will allow to accordingly ‘trace’ how policies have been created and identify the public and private sector organisations involved in IR, social dialogue, and education reform.