The study entitled “Do Support Mechanisms Ensure a Smooth Labor Market Transition? A Cross-Cultural Qualitative Study on Vocational High School Graduates in Türkiye,” co-authored by Prof. Dr. Volkan Işık, Deputy Manager of Hacettepe University Vocational School of Social Sciences, Prof. Dr. Mustafa Çağlar Özdemir, and Research Assistant Dr. Bünyamin Yasin Çakmak of Sakarya University, received the Best Article Award in the Article Category of the Social Policy Research Association 2026 Social Policy Awards.
The award was presented at the 25th Congress on Labour Economics and Industrial Relations, hosted by Aydın Adnan Menderes University.
The study examines the transition of Turkish and Syrian vocational and technical secondary education students and graduates into the labour market and is based on interviews with 154 stakeholders across five provinces. It explores the mismatch between vocational education and labour market expectations, employer attitudes, and the effects of employment support mechanisms, and offers policy recommendations aimed at strengthening school–employer cooperation and better aligning vocational education with the needs of industry.
