Minja Petrović is an education policy researcher working on adult learning and development, the transformation of education systems, and the position of young people. Her interests include the consequences of post-socialist and neoliberal education reforms, university autonomy, the Bologna Process, and the relationship between education, the labour market, and democracy. Professionally, she works on educational programme design, competency assessment, and the development of leadership and communication skills.
Long biography Minja Petrović is an education policy researcher whose work connects education, adult development, and broader social transformation. She graduated from Indiana University, where she studied at the Russian and East European Institute (REEI) and focused on education policy in post-socialist societies.
Her academic work examines the transformation of education systems after socialism, with particular attention to the ways neoliberal reforms have reshaped universities, the position of students, and the relationship between education and the labour market. Her areas of interest include the Bologna Process, university autonomy, education policy, and the position of young people in Serbia and across the wider region.
She is particularly interested in what happens when education is no longer understood primarily as a public good and is increasingly evaluated through the logic of markets, employability, and individual competition. Within this framework, she explores the broader social consequences of changes in higher education, including access to education, institutional autonomy, and young people’s ability to participate in democratic and social life.
Professionally, she works in the field of adult learning and development, contributing to the design and implementation of educational programmes, competency assessment, and leadership development. Her work includes developing training programmes and academies focused on managerial and communication skills, as well as improving quality standards in education and professional development.
Her interests bring together education policy, the transformation of universities, the position of young people in contemporary capitalist societies, and the relationship between education, work, and democracy. She approaches education not only as a process of acquiring knowledge and skills, but also as a space in which social inequalities, professional opportunities, and citizens’ capacity to participate in democratic life are shaped.