Irene Psifidou is an Expert in Education and Training Policy at the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop) and the organiser of the present event. She is the responsible project manager and researcher for various European research projects related to European tools, qualifications, learning outcomes and early leaving from education and training. She is currently managing a pan-European comparative study on the role of VET in reducing early leaving from education and training. She is member of high level advisory and thematic working groups set up by the European Commission (DG EAC) in the context of ET 2020. Before Joining Cedefop in 2004, she was education consultant at the World Bank, in Washington DC; she worked on the preparation of World Bank’s strategy on secondary education and managed education development and research projects in transitional Balkan countries.
A graduate of the Aristotle University in Thessaloniki (Greece), she holds a PhD in Comparative Education Policy from the Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona (UAB) in Spain, and two M.Sc., one in International Studies and Developmental Cooperation for the Alleviation of Poverty (University of Barcelona) and a second, in Applied Linguistics (UAB). Irene has published widely in peer-reviewed academic journals and international handbooks on issues related to qualifications´ comparability and transparency, learning outcomes, curriculum policy and practice, teaching methods, teachers and trainers, learners’ assessment, inclusive education and early school leaving.