MCI Student Presents Research at Poverty Conference

Katharina Eisenköck showcases her master’s thesis in Salzburg

Katharina Eisenköck, a student in the master’s program “Social Work, Social Policy & Management” at MCI, presented her master’s thesis at the 15th Poverty Conference, which took place recently at the St. Virgil Education and Conference Center in Salzburg under the theme “It’s your own fault! Poverty and the myth of merit.” The conference focused on the social and structural causes of poverty and provided a forum for exchange among academia, practitioners, and policymakers.

As part of the pre-conference event “Wealth of Ideas” for young poverty researchers, Katharina Eisenköck presented her master’s thesis, “The experiences of women* affected by poverty with the social welfare system in Austria”. The event offers early-career researchers the opportunity to present and discuss current research and to network with peers in the field. In addition, the thesis was made accessible to a broad audience of experts as part of a poster walk.

This study examines the experiences of women* living in poverty with the Austrian social welfare system. The results show that those affected face various obstacles at the individual, institutional, and structural levels. At the same time, it becomes clear that positive experiences often depend on the personal commitment of individual professionals.

The master’s thesis was supervised by Robert Koglek, lecturer at the MCI department of Social Work. The department of Social Work extends its congratulations to Katharina Eisenköck on the successful presentation of her research findings at one of Austria’s most important social policy conferences.

Her participation underscores the high academic quality and practical relevance of the research conducted in the Social Work, Social Policy & Management master’s program at MCIand demonstrates how students actively contribute to current professional and sociopolitical debates even while they are still studying.