Sustainable Education and Employment in the Knowledge Economy (SEEK)
Members of our research group
Description of research group
Knowledge has become a central driver in many economies, propelling societies towards greater innovation, productivity, information exchange and technological development. This knowledge economy increasingly relies on human capital and therefore demands high-quality education and skills that are adaptable to rapidly changing contexts. Strengthening and disseminating the knowledge economy requires accessible and inclusive education, efficient circulation of knowledge between schools, universities, companies, citizens and governments as well as sustainable working and employment conditions. SEEK examines how the world of work can be reshaped within the knowledge economy, with a strong focus on sustainable work and employment.
SEEK adopts an interdisciplinary approach, integrating insights from sociology and labor relations, political economy, labor law, I/O-psychology and human resource management, science policy, and intervention research. The research addresses interactions at the micro level (individual, leader-member relations), meso level (team, organizations and sectors) and macro level (labor market and society). SEEK conducts fundamental, applied and action research using a broad range of methodologies, including surveys, administrative data, focus groups and stakeholder-interviews to monitor careers and employment dynamics. Benchmarking is applied wherever possible.
SEEK is particularly driven by pioneering research that addresses underexplored issues and socially sensitive topics, and by research that fosters dialogue, evidence-based policymaking and win-win solutions. In line with its quadruple-helix approach, SEEK informs and advises researchers, universities, governments, industry and the wider public in Flanders and abroad
Current research topics
Research line: Sustainable work in education and research
In this research line, SEEK builds on more than 25 years of expertise in occupational health and wellbeing, their impact on worker and organizational performance, as well as their individual, organizational and societal antecedents. In our multilevel-approach, we aim at assessing the relative impact of structural vs individual antecedents in sustainable work and its outcomes. While expertise has been gathered in both primary and secondary labor markets, much of our current research addresses sustainable work and employment in schools, universities and R&D intensive companies. We have unique expertise in monitoring careers of doctoral researchers and of doctorate holders, in and beyond academia.
Current research projects
- Policy research for the Flemish Government – ECOOM HR in R&D: monitoring careers of researchers
ECOOM is an interuniversity consortium that monitors the R&D-landscape of Flanders for the Flemish Government. ECOOM has several research units, each addressing a specific research domain (https://www.ecoom.be/). Within UGent, ECOOM HR in R&D studies academic and non-academic careers of researchers. The research on academic careers of all junior researchers, PhD students, postdocs and professors at Flemish universities is based on the Human Resources in Flanders (HRRF)-administrative data (going back to 1991) and on surveys, including the Survey of Junior Researchers (2008, 2013, 2018, 2023). The research on non-academic careers of PhD holders is based on interviews, the Survey of Employers and the PhD Career Survey. ECOOM HR in R&D fosters dialogue between all academic and non-academic stakeholders by communicating its findings in accessible short ECOOM-briefs and reports and by organizing events, such as the “Talent in Demand: The Potential of Doctorate Holders” in collaboration with the Walloon Observatory of Research and Scientific Careers.
Visit our ECOOM HR in R&D-website here. Please note that it is regularly updates with new research.
Researchers: Katia Levecque, Justine Van de Velde, Veerle Huyghe, Alain De Beuckelaer, Anneleen Mortier
- Policy research for Ghent University – Monitoring of non-competitive research funding (Basisfinanciering)
On 8 september 2023, Ghent University partially changed its competitive research funding model, for a model that grants non-competitive research funding to all of its research-active professors. The pioneering model is built on trust and autonomy: the granted funding can be applied for all research purposes. The amount of funding is strategic: when two professors collaborate, the non-competitive funding allows to fund 1 PhD project for 4 years. The aim of the non-competitive model is to decrease workload, stimulate collaboration, performance and wellbeing, and facilitate high risk and innovative research. In order to monitor the use of the non-competitive funding and its targeted and untargeted effects, we set up a monitoring system using a multi-method approach that combines administrative data, surveys, in-depth interviews, and focus groups. Benchmarking will be applied where possible. The model is recently introduced and must be developed step by step: from defining objectives and selecting indicators to reporting and adjusting. The monitoring system will enable Ghent University to make evidence-based decisions regarding competitive and non-competitive research funding in their current and future research policy.
Researchers: Katia Levecque, Anneleen Mortier
- Fundamental research – Wellbeing and workplace harassment in academia
Since 2017 the topic of mental health within academia has been a major focus within SEEK. This is due to the worldwide impact of the article “Levecque et al. (2017). Work organization and Mental Health Problems in PhD students”, Research Policy, 46, 868-879 (see Altmetric.com). The study was covered in Nature and Science and can be downloaded here. In addition to mental health, more recent research also considers physical and social health, turnover and harassment in the academic workplace.
Researchers: Katia Levecque, Justine Van de Velde, Veerle Huyghe, Alain De Beuckelaer, Anneleen Mortier
- Intervention research – Meditation in the workplace
As meditation practitioners, Ramona Vanderswaelmen and Katia Levecque set up an intervention during COVID, engaging 276 teachers and more than 5,000 children in 130 primary schools in Flanders and Brussels in daily meditation. Meditation is accessible across cultures, time- and place independent and its practice entails no financial cost. Findings on the impact of a few minutes of daily meditation on wellbeing can be downloaded here. In response to the high demand of schools and parents, we are currently extending the school project to public libraries in Flanders and Brussels, enabling more children and adults to engage in meditation. Supporting our new intervention are two well-known meditation practitioners: Prof. Dr. Petra De Sutter and Prof. Dr. Steven Laureys.
Researchers: Katia Levecque, Justine Van de Velde
- Research networks
Research line “Sustainable employment relations and social dialogue”
In this research line, SEEK studies employment relations, social and work protection, as well as social dialogue as roads to sustainable work and employment. Well-functioning social dialogue (including representation and negotiation) is a key tool in shaping sustainable working and employment conditions, involving workers, employers and governments at various policy levels. It balances the interests of workers and employers and contributes to both economic competitiveness and social cohesion. Special interest in conflict management, negotiation and mediation. Both Katia Levecque and Agnes Verbruggen are experienced mediators in work-related conflicts and officially recognized as mediators by the Federal Commission of Mediation.
Current research projects
- Fundamental research – Conflict, toxic behavior and law violation in the workplace
HRM is limited in addressing conflict because it assumes shared interests while downplaying underlying power relations between management and employees. By focusing on harmony and individual solutions, it overlooks how structural power imbalances and competing interests generate conflict. In this research project we combine insights from labor relations, organizational sociology, I/O-psychology and HRM and labor law. We study the root causes of conflict in the workplace and how they trigger or enable toxic and law violating behaviors impacting performance and wellbeing.
Researchers: Katia Levecque, Agnes Verbruggen