Best Paper Award 2015

• Link to chapter "Greek Roma in Higher Education: How Did They Get There?" in the book "The Roma in European Higher Education: Recasting Identities, Re-Imagining Futures"

Panagiota Gkofa’s paper ‘Greek Roma’s Educational Pathways: Mapping Factors Leading to Success’ is based on a qualitative study which examines how twenty Greek Roma who have entered higher education account for their educational success. The paper presents five key factors which influenced the participants’ uptake of higher education: a) family/home circumstances; b) school factors; c) community factors; d) locality; and e) individual issues and circumstances. It argues that supportive parenting and teacher mentoring made a significant difference to the participants’ educational success. The paper highlights some of the lessons from the Greek setting that may contribute towards addressing aspects related to Roma’s educational exclusion in the European context more widely.

Panagiota has recently passed her PhD viva/exam at the Department of Education and Professional Studies, King’s College London. Her research interests include social justice and inequalities, school exclusion and educational success, issues of class, race, gender, teachers’ development and school curriculum.

She will be attending ERC and ECER 2016 in Dublin in August.