People Who Are Part of the Group
Rafael Merino
Associate Professor (Tenured Doctor) in the Department of Sociology at UAB. Coordinator of GRET since 2011. My research interests include the school-to-work transition, vocational training, and youth, education, and labor policies. I teach in the field of sociology of education in the Social Education and Pedagogy undergraduate programs, as well as in the initial teacher training master’s program for secondary education. Member of the teaching team of the Interuniversity Master’s in Youth and Society.
Maribel Garcia
Graduate in Sociology from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (1989) and Doctor in Sociology from the same university (2001), with the thesis “L’absentisme escolar en zones socialment desafavorides” supervised by Dr. Joaquim Casal i Bataller. Member of GRET since 1991, researching the educational and labor trajectories of young people, with a particular focus on school dropout and education, training, and youth policies. Teaches in the field of sociology of education in the Early Childhood and Primary Education undergraduate programs and the Sociology degree, as well as in various master’s programs (Initial Teacher Training for Secondary Education, Interuniversity Master’s in Youth and Society, and Master’s in Social Policy, Work, and Welfare).
Helena Troiano
Doctor in Sociology from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (1999). She began her research career at GRET in 1992 and her teaching activities in 1993. She currently holds a position as an associate professor, teaching primarily at the Faculty of Education Sciences, and continues at GRET as the head of the research line on university studies. Throughout her research career, her areas of interest and projects have focused on university studies, including graduate labor market integration, students’ living conditions and experiences, the implementation of educational reforms, equity in access, and student trajectories within the university, among others.
Laia Sánchez-Guerrero
Laia Sánchez Guerrero is a María Zambrano researcher in the Department of Sociology. She holds a PhD in Political and Social Sciences (European University Institute); a degree in Sociology from the Universitat de Barcelona; a master’s in Public and Social Policies from Universitat IDEC-Pompeu Fabra & Johns Hopkins University; and a master’s in Research on Sociology and Demography from Universitat Pompeu Fabra. She has worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Tübingen (2017–2022) and as a junior researcher at the Consortium of the Institute of Childhood and Urban World (2009–2012). Her research focuses on educational opportunity inequalities, social stratification, and gender, racial, and ethnic inequalities.
DOCTORAL STUDENTS
Berta Sellarès Gómez
Graduate in Humanities (Universitat Pompeu Fabra).
Master’s in Anthropology of Education and Globalisation (Aarhus University).
Currently developing the doctoral thesis entitled “Post-Compulsory Academic Continuity Choices of Migrant Students in Highly Complex Schools: An Intersectional Perspective on Educational Choice Mechanisms,” supervised and directed by Dr. Maribel Garcia.
Aileen Chales Aoun
Graduate in Sociology from the Universidad de Concepción, Chile.
Master’s in Pedagogy for Higher Education from the Universidad Católica de la Santísima Concepción, Chile, and in Research Methodology in Social Sciences: Innovations and Applications from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid.
Currently developing the doctoral thesis: Acceso y trayectorias universitarias en Chile. Propuesta de encuesta longitudinal.
Gülsah Narlu
Graduate in Foreign Language Education from Boğaziçi University, Turkey.
Master’s in English Language and Literature from Kutahya Dumlupinar University, Turkey.
Currently developing the doctoral thesis: A Life Course Perspective on Syrian Female Graduates’ Transition Trajectories from Higher Education to the Turkish Labour Market.
Isaac Fierro Silva
Sociologist graduated from the Universidad Central de Chile. He holds a master’s in Educational Research with a specialization in Development and Management of Organizations for Change from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. He is currently pursuing a PhD in Sociology, with a thesis entitled Trayectorias Formativo-Laborales de los Egresados de la Educación Técnico-Profesional en Chile: Toma de decisión en búsqueda de la realización personal y social, supervised by Rafael Merino.
FOUNDING MEMBERS
Josep Maria Masjuan
Born in 1939, he has been a professor in the Department of Sociology at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona since 1975. He is one of the founders of GRET, where, starting in 1995, he established the research line on higher education, beginning with the analysis of university graduates’ labor market integration.
Jordi Planas
Born in 1950, he is a Professor of Sociology at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. He holds a degree in Economics and a PhD in Sociology. He has been a researcher at GRET (Research Group on Education and Work) for 30 years, serving as the Principal Investigator for 22 years. He has been a visiting professor at the universities of Toulouse 1 (FR), La Sapienza (Rome, IT), CNAM (Paris, FR), London (UK), and Guadalajara (MX). He has also served as a European Official at CEDEFOP (Thessaloniki, GR) and as Research Director at the French Conseil National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS). Author of numerous publications (articles, books, and book chapters) on the relationship between education, training, and work in Catalan, Spanish, English, French, Italian, German, and Portuguese.
Joaquim Casal (1947-2022)
Doctor in Sociology from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona since 1993, and professor of Sociology since 1980. Specializing in the Sociology of Education, he taught primarily at the Faculty of Education Sciences at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, as well as at the Faculty of Political Science and Sociology, where he held the position of Vice-Dean for professional practices and coordinated parts of the Department of Sociology and the UAB Master’s in Youth and Society (MIJS). His research activities have been carried out within GRET since its inception. His most recent publication was with INJUVE in 2015, together with M. Garcia and R. Merino, titled Pasado, presente y futuro en los estudios sobre las transiciones de los jóvenes. He passed away in August 2022.
