Research Interests & Expertise
My research examines how inequalities shape access to, experiences within, and trajectories through higher education systems in Europe and globally. I focus on social mobility, access to elite universities, international student mobility, doctoral education, and academic careers. Drawing on both quantitative and qualitative methods, I analyse how institutional contexts, social and ethnic backgrounds, and global hierarchies structure educational opportunities, academic pathways, and career outcomes.
PUBLICATIONS: Journal articles
(2025) Early career academics/researchers - Editors' Foreword to the special issue by Széll Krisztián - Pásztor Adél - Kováts Gergely, Educatio 34 (1): 1-3.
(2025) PhD pályák. Egyenlőtlen esélyek a doktori képzésben Angliában [PhD pathways. Unequal chances in doctoral education in England], Educatio 34 (1): 84-94.
(2025) ‘It’s like two Europes here, the West and the East’. Belonging and fitting in at an elite graduate school. Studies in Higher Education, 50(3), 483–493.
(2023) ‘This is how the game works’: navigating access and choice in transnational higher education fields. Globalisation Societies and Education, pp. 1-11.
(2018) Pásztor A, Wakeling P. All PhDs are equal but some are more equal than others: institutional and social stratification in access to the doctorate. British Journal of Sociology of Education 39(7): 982-997.
(2018) Destination unknown? Study choices and graduate destinations of Hungarian youth in Slovakia. European Journal of Education 53(1), 118–127.
(2016) Divergent Pathways: The Road to Higher Education for Second-Generation Turks in Austria. Race Ethnicity and Education 19(4): 880-900.
(2015) Careers on the move: International doctoral students at an elite British university. Population, Space and Place
21(8): 832-42.
(2014) 'Most Challenging? To Fit in with People While Remaining Myself.' Social Integration of Second Generation Turks
Within the Dutch Higher Education Setting. Sociological Research Online 19(4): 4.
(2014) Education Matters: Continuity and Change in Attitudes to Education and Social Mobility among the Offspring of
Turkish Guest Workers in the Netherlands and Austria. International Studies in Sociology of Education 24(3): 290-303.
(2012) Imagined Futures: Why business studies dominate the higher education choices of second generation Turks
in the Netherlands? Ethnic and Racial Studies 35 (4): 704-717.
(2010) ‘Go, go on and go higher an’ higher’. Second generation Turks’ understanding of the role of education and their
struggle through the Dutch school system. British Journal of Sociology of Education 31(1): 59-70.
(2009) Different settings, different choosers? Applying Ball’s framework on the case of second generation Turks.
International Studies in Sociology of Education 19(3-4): 209-15.
(2008) The children of guest workers. Comparative analysis of scholastic achievement of Turkish pupils throughout
Europe. Intercultural Education (5):407-419.
(2006) National minorities with respect to education. Review of Sociology (2):5-35.
(2006) Őshonos kisebbség mint nem önkéntes kisebbség. Ogbu kulturális-ökológiai elméletének tesztelése Európában. Szociológiai Szemle (2): 3-36.
(2005) Mobilitás – diákszemmel EDUCATIO 2005/2, pp. 441-452.
Book chapters & monographs
(2010) ‘Talking the same language: how does education in the mother tongue affect autochthonous minority pupils’ educational expectations and achievement?’ in: Dronkers, J. (ed.) Quality and Inequality of Education, Springer
(2010) 'Equal opportunity in a public system: experiences of ethnic minority students in Dutch Higher Education' in Lazin, Evans and Jayaram (eds) Higher Education and Equality of Opportunity: Cross-National Perspectives, Lexington Books (together with R. Wolff)
(2007) Olaszország – a Firenzei Egyetem [Italy - the University of Florence] in Hrubos Ildikó, Tomasz Gábor (edt.) A bolognai folyamat intézményi szinten [The Bologna process on an institutional level] KUTATÁS KÖZBEN 278, FELSŐOKTATÁSI KUTATÓINTÉZET Budapest
(2004) Az oklevélmelléklet rendszere néhány európai egyetemen, I-II. kötet [The system of the Diploma Supplement at some European universities, I-II. volumes], Budapest: Research Institute of Higher Education, pp. 50-89 (chapters 5 and 6) (together with Biró, Hrubos, Lovász)
Research reports
(2009) Valkuilen en springplanken in het onderwijs. Tweede generatie Turkse jongeren in Europa vergeleken. [Traps and springboards in education. A comparison of second generation Turks across Europe] Policy Paper, The Hague: NICIS (together with Crul, Lelie, Mijs and Schnell)
(2009) De lange route in international vergelijkend perspectief [The ‘long route’ in international comparative perspective] Report commissioned by the Dutch Ministry of Education, Amsterdam: University of Amsterdam (together with Crul, Lelie, Mijs and Schnell)
(2008) De tweede generatie. Uitdaging en kansen voor de stad [The second generation. Challenges and opportunities for the city] Policy Paper, The Hague: NICIS (together with Crul and Lelie)
