As part of the Flemish Science Agency (FWO)-funded SBO research project From Camp to Campus, we re organising an international expert workshop that will bring together scholars working at the intersection of higher education, labour market integration, and newcomer trajectories.
The workshop aims to create a space for in-depth discussion, collective reflection, and knowledge exchange, rather than a conventional conference format. Contributions will receive extensive feedback and encourage dialogue across disciplines, methods, and national contexts.
Below you can find the detailed programme of the event:
Day 1: 11/06/2026
- 09:00–09:30 Registration and Coffee
- 09:30–09:45 Welcome and Introduction
- 09:45–10:40 Short Keynote and Q&A
- 10:40–11:00 Coffee Break
- 11:00-12:30 Panel 1: Credential Recognition and the Education-to-Work Gap
- Moderator: Anton Neronov
- Saena Chakkar: Do Recognition Characteristics Matter? Evidence on the Labour Market Returns to Foreign Qualification Recognition
- Oleh Bohatov: Degrees in Transition: Highly Educated Ukrainian Newcomers and the Belgian Education-to-Work Gap
- Abdullah Hemmet Abdullah: Educated but Excluded: Credential Recognition and Refugee Labour Market Integration
- 12:30-13:30 Lunch
- 13:30-15:00 Panel 2: Intersectional Barriers, Gatekeeping and Labour Market Positioning
- Moderator: Sinem Yilmaz
- Discussant: Eva Van Belle
- Ksenija Ivanović: Intersectional implications of Estonian active labor market policies for contextually skilled migrants
- Runa Isfeld: Marginalisation and Unequal Social Positioning of Migrant Women in the Faroe Islands
- Reihaneh Rahmatjou: Reference requirements as hidden barriers in transnational education and labour market transitions
- 15:00-15:20 Coffee Break
- 15:20-16:50 Panel 3: Higher Education, Mobility and Global Education-toWork Transitions
- Moderator: Tuba Bircan
- Dorina Dedgjoni: From Mobility to Precarity: Unequal Education-to-Work Transitions of Albanian Graduates in Italy.
- Rica Agnes Castaneda: Policy shifts among the highly skilled: comparing international student migration policy and practice in Canada and Germany
- Hakan Dursun: From Camp to Campus: Mapping English-Taught Higher Education in Flanders through a Social Investment Lens
- Louise Surinx, Marieke Bleyaert, Dries Dingenen & Inge Pasteels: From Camp to Campus: Access of Refugees and Newcomers in Flemish Higher Education
Day 2: 12/06/2026
- 9:00-9:30 Arrival-Coffee
- 9:30-11:00 Panel 4: Integration in Practice: Socio-Economic Pathways, Work Cultures and Readiness
- Moderator: Fatima Silpagar
- Discussant: Basak Yavcan
- ABD ALKADER ALHAG FTEAH: Tales of Integration: An Exploration of the Integration Experience of Immigrants and Refugees
- Thomas Huddleston: College Readiness as a Long-Term Integration Process: Lessons from a Refugee Higher Education Pilot in an Under-Served U.S. Region
- Anton Neronov & Tuba Bircan: Recogniton of Competences and Qualificatons, and Admissions to Higher Education in Flanders
- 11:00-11:20 Coffee Break
- 11:20-12:50 Closing Roundtable: What Shapes Newcomers’ Education-toWork Trajectories?
- Chair: Tuba Bircan
- Participants: All presenters
- The closing roundtable will bring together insights from all panels and discuss how the workshop papers could be developed into a coherent special issue. The discussion will focus on comparative gaps, methodological challenges, and theoretical directions. A short set of guiding questions will be shared with participants before the workshop, so that they can reflect on these themes during the panel discussions and come prepared for the final roundtable.
- 12:50-13:30 Lunch
