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The results of international research studies show that early and careful planning, preparation, and implementation can contribute significantly to a successful transition from compulsory education to vocational training and employment. One key aspect in this respect is participative cooperation (i.e., involvement and active participation in the planning process), above all of the youths with disabilities themselves as the target group, but also of their parents. The project Cooperation for Inclusion in Educational Transitions of the Austrian Science Fund is the first Austrian project conducting research into participative cooperation. It aims to find out about and analyse the experiences of cooperation of youths with disabilities and their parents with professionals during the period of transition from education to vocational training and employment. Based on qualitative, longitudinal data material from the project, the present article illustrates the experiences of participative cooperation of the youths with disabilities who participated in the project along with their parents. Our main aim is to show the experiences reported by the interviewed youths and their parents concerning cooperation during the period of transition from education to employment. An additional goal is to provide impulses to improve the planning of vocational transition from education to employment in relation to the inclusion of youths with disabilities.

The results of international research studies show that early and careful planning, preparation, and implementation can contribute significantly to a successful transition from compulsory education to vocational training and employment. One key aspect in this respect is participative cooperation (i.e., involvement and active participation in the planning process), above all of the youths with disabilities themselves as the target group, but also of their parents. The project Cooperation for Inclusion in Educational Transitions of the Austrian Science Fund is the first Austrian project conducting research into participative cooperation. It aims to find out about and analyse the experiences of cooperation of youths with disabilities and their parents with professionals during the period of transition from education to vocational training and employment. Based on qualitative, longitudinal data material from the project, the present article illustrates the experiences of participative cooperation of the youths with disabilities who participated in the project along with their parents. Our main aim is to show the experiences reported by the interviewed youths and their parents concerning cooperation during the period of transition from education to employment. An additional goal is to provide impulses to improve the planning of vocational transition from education to employment in relation to the inclusion of youths with disabilities.

Partizipative Forschung kann als ergiebiger Forschungsstil im Kontext sozialer Ungleichheit verstanden werden. Wie insbesondere an Debatten aus dem Bereich der feministischen Wissenschaftstheorie deutlich wird, ist der Einbezug Angehöriger marginalisierter Gruppen als Co-Forschende nicht nur forschungsethisch, sondern auch epistemologisch bedeutsam, wirft jedoch auch unterschiedliche Probleme auf, so etwa die Forschungshierarchie und damit verbundene Subjektpositionen. Unter Bezugnahme auf den Begriff der Anerkennung werden die Ansprüche partizipativ Forschender in Zusammenhang mit feministischen Kritikpunkten diskutiert. Anerkennung wird dabei nicht nur als wertschätzende Haltung gefasst, sondern als adressierender, performativer Sprechakt, der mit der Vergabe legitimer Sprecher*innenpositionen einhergeht. Die Überlegungen werden an Reflecting Teams (ANDERSEN 2011 [1991]) veranschaulicht, die im Kontext des Forschungsprojekts "Kooperation für Inklusion in Bildungsübergängen" als partizipative Methode eingeführt wurden. In pointierter Weise zeigen wir auf methodologischer und methodischer Ebene fruchtbare Wechselwirkungen zwischen feministischer Epistemologie und partizipativer Forschung vermittels des Anerkennungsbegriffes auf., Participatory research can be considered a fruitful methodology in the study of social inequality. Feminist epistemologists point out the relevance of participants' involvement in research not only for ethical, but also for epistemic reasons. However, their inclusion as co-researchers comes with several difficulties, such as tacit hierarchies in research contexts due to unequal social positions. We argue that these issues can be described as a matter of recognition. Referring to the theory of recognition, we discuss connections between participatory research and feminist epistemologies. Thereby, recognition can be defined not only as a valuing attitude but also as performative acts of speech that affect the participants' social position. As one result, we introduce the term relational recognition. We transfer our considerations to a methodical level by discussing them in relation to reflecting teams (ANDERSEN, 2011 [1991]), a method which has been adopted to evoke more participation within the research project Kooperation für Inklusion in Bildungsübergängen [Cooperation for Inclusion in Educational Transitions]. In doing so, the interdependencies between participatory research and feminist epistemologies can be shown on both a methodological and methodical tier.

"Ein vom Österreichischen Wissenschaftsfonds (FWF) gefördertes Forschungsprojekt am Institut für Bildungswissenschaft der Universität Wien versucht, Partizipationserfahrungen von Menschen mit intellektueller Beeinträchtigung zu erfassen, die sich an der Nahtstelle zwischen Schule und Beruf oder bereits im Arbeitsleben befinden. Neben der in Österreich für diese Personengruppe erstmals durchgeführten bundesweiten quantitativen Erhebung (Übergangsverläufe von der Schule in den Beruf und Strukturdaten für den Arbeitsmarkt) zielt das Projekt primär auf die Rekonstruktion der Perspektive der Betroffenen mit qualitativen Methoden. In einer Längsschnittstudie werden auf Basis der Grounded Theory Daten zu den Erfahrungen in beiden Gruppen (Jugendliche und junge Erwachsene in der Übergangsphase sowie bereits im Arbeitsleben Stehende) bearbeitet. Mit der Einbeziehung von Menschen mit intellektueller Beeinträchtigung in die Interpretation und Validierung qualitativer Daten durch eine Referenzgruppe leistet das Projekt einen Beitrag zur Methodenentwicklung im Bereich partizipativer Forschung." (Autorenreferat), "A research project at the Department of Education and Human Development at the University of Vienna, financed by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF), tries to assess participation experience of persons with intellectual disabilities who are either at the interface of school and occupation or who are already integrated into the labor market. Besides a first nationwide collection of structural quantitative data concerning the transition phase of school to working life and of the labor market opportunities for persons with intellectual disabilities, the investigation focuses on reconstructing possible perspectives. A qualitative longitudinal study with two groups, of youths and young adults in the transition phase and of occupationally integrated persons, analyses the particular participation experiences, based on a grounded theory approach. By including persons with intellectual disabilities into processes of interpretation and validation of qualitative data via a reference group, the project contributes to a methodology development in the area of participatory research." (author's abstract)