Junior Research Assistant

Project Background:

The Centre for Lebanese Studies (CLS) is conducting a comparative longitudinal study of the refugee education provisions (policies, programs and practices) in relation to the types of refugee settlement policies offered in four countries: Lebanon, Austria, Australia and Turkey. This study examines the development and progression of Arabic-speaking refugee children enrolled in formal schools in both, middle and secondary levels over a five-year period starting from 2018 till 2023.

The study aims to investigate and address the following questions:

1.  What are the various existing paradigms of education provisions (policies, programs and practices), for refugees in the selected destination countries offering short-, medium- and long-term settlement?

2.  To what extent have the various education provisions demonstrated the progression (or regression) of refugee education?

CLS is recruiting a junior researcher to work in its Beirut office to support with data collection and analysis for this study. The incumbent will work closely with other project staff to support a range of research related tasks as described below.  

Main Job Tasks and Responsibilities

• Plan and coordinate research activities in close coordination with other project staff
• Analyze and interpret qualitative and quantitative data
• Support fieldwork and data collection. Tasks will include conducting interviews and administering surveys face to face and in person with a range of stakeholders (policymakers, teachers, parents and students)
• Undertake data cleaning and data preparation including transcribing interviews and conducting data entry tasks
• Draft reports and papers of academic standard
• Support the organization of meetings and conferences as needed
• Work within a strict framework of research ethics and confidentiality.

The incumbent will be based in CLS’ office in Beirut and will report to the Senior Researcher and Programme Manager on the above-listed tasks.

Skills and Competencies

• Masters’ degree in the social science field
• 2 to 5 years’ experience in research
• Dynamic attitude, multitasking skills and team player
• Experience working with qualitative and quantitative data
• Experience working with statistical software (SPSS or Stata)
• Experience working across the different levels of the research process (from data collection, to data analysis and writing up research results)
• Fluency in word processing, spreadsheets, and internet technology.
• Proven interest in working on issues related to forced migration and social policy within the Lebanese context
• Excellent writing and oral communication skills in Arabic and English
• Attention to detail and high professionalism.