Intersectional inequalities in (trans)national education-to-work transitions

This paper examines intersectional inequalities in the process of (trans)national education-to-work transitions in state-regulated welfare professions. It focuses on generations who were entering the Slovenian or EU-wide labour market in the context of the global economic crisis and austerity, which destabilised the traditional entry routes into these professions and stimulated intra-EU migration. The study is based on the analysis of secondary data and interviews with 66 people at various stages of transition, with diverse social and migration status, age, gender and other characteristics. It draws on life-course theory to examine what intersectional inequalities emerge in the process of education-to-work transitions, and how these shape the precarity of diverse individuals in their attempts to (re)integrate on a professional labour market in Slovenia or other EU countries. The paper offers an innovative intersectionally sensitive life-course approach to studying intersectional inequalities in education-to-work transitions, which goes beyond static and standard categories of difference. It exposes how the category of age intersects with other categories across time, place, and various transitional domains, creating significant class, gender, and migration lags that hinder present and future employment and social security, and inform particular coping and exit strategies.