The PhD position is part of the comparative social policy research conducted at SOFI and the project, “Making Time: Organized Labour and the Politics of Care Leave”. Dr. Cassandra Engeman (SOFI) leads the project, which is funded by a European Research Council 2024 Starting Grant. The project uses mixed methods to examine the role of trade unions, their works councils and federations, in advocating and shaping care leave policies. These policies, which vary considerably across countries and over time, grant job-protected time-off from work to address self-care or family care needs for a child, spouse or other relative.
A main task for the PhD candidate will be to build the Care Leave Policy Data Set, which will provide longitudinal and comparative measures of several distinct types of care leave provisions. The work will involve researching and coding country-level social policies and reforms. The PhD candidate will be welcome to use these indicators for their dissertation research. Prior training in quantitative methods is required as is an appreciation for and interest in using qualitative methods. Language proficiency in French or Dutch is not required but an additional asset.
Application deadline: 1 October 2025.
More information and applications: https://su.varbi.com/en/what:job/jobID:836394/