Meril Ümarik

Meril Ümarik is a Lecturer and Researcher at Tallinn University, specializing in vocational education, civic education, and higher education research. Her work focuses on educational reforms, vulnerable youth, teacher professionalism, and gender segregation in vocational settings. She coordinates large-scale international projects like the IEA International Civic Education Survey (ICCS 2022) in Estonia.

Her research explores systemic challenges in vocational education, including early leaving risks, teacher agency, and the integration of marginalized groups. She employs mixed-methods approaches to analyze policy impacts and institutional capacities, particularly in post-Soviet contexts. Key themes include social ecology of youth vulnerability, cross-national comparisons of educational systems, and the role of neoliberal policies in shaping vocational ecosystems.

Her articles address topics like boundary-crossing practices for at-risk students, teacher self-efficacy in multicultural classrooms, and the necessity of systemic reforms in Estonia. She emphasizes practical innovations such as educational learning labs to support educators and vulnerable learners.