Vocational & technical education
Upskilling as integration policy: Making the most of refugees’ human capital in a context of skill shortage
The integration of refugees is a serious social policy problem in many advanced countries, and current trends suggest that this issue is unlikely to disappear soon. At the same time, these countries are also experiencing skill shortages in expanding sectors. These twin pressures create an opportunity to use education as a tool to pursue refugee integration. We investigate how refugees…
2023
Educational inclusion or inequality? Opportunities and barriers for refugees with a temporary suspension of deportation for the purpose of training in the German vocational education and training system
This article examines the legal novelty of the so-called ‘Ausbildungsduldung’ (temporary suspension of deportation for the purpose of training) in Germany. Since research on this topic is still sparse, the current article analyses the impact of toleration status on training trajectories of young refugees. These trajectories are strongly linked to the completion of vocational training and thus successful integration achievements.…
2023
Quality of life and social inclusion of migrants and refugees attending an elderly care training in four Mediterranean countries: Results from the HERO project
The progressive population ageing observed in Western countries determines a growing need for long-term care for older people. At the same time, migrants and refugees often have integration difficulties in regards to the hosting country society and labour market, with one reason being the lack of EU recognition of the educational degrees obtained in their native country. Creating educational opportunities…
2023
Language and integration of refugee children: Reflections on delinking and decoloniality
In this contribution we illustrate and discuss the decolonial approach adopted in a research project exploring the potential of including in education a language spoken by children and families from refugee backgrounds. The international project team from Palestine and the UK collaboratively designed a bespoke Levantine Arabic language course for beginners tailored to the needs identified by primary school staff,…
2023
Participation through qualification? De-, dis-, and special qualification of refugee women in the German vocational training system
Vocational qualification is generally regarded as a guarantee for sustainable gainful employment of refugees. Since the increased refugee migration in the year 2015, the field of vocational education and training in Germany has diversified considerably. However, despite high employment ambitions and existing qualification needs, refugee women have, so far, hardly ended up in qualified gainful employment or regular vocational training. This…
2024
Researching educational barriers in participatory real-world labs: Vocational training of refugees in rural counties in Germany
Introduction: As a result of the large-scale arrivals of refugees and migrants, Germany is facing the challenge of providing inclusive education pathways not at least for a successful integration into the labor market. In our research project laeneAs (Ländliche Bildugnsumwelten junger Geflüchteter in der beruflichen Ausbildung/The Rural Educational Environments of Young Refugees in Vocational Training), we focus on educational barriers…
2024
Introduction
The book aims at a thorough investigation of critical dimensions of the socio-economic and labour market trajectories and prospects of young people Not in Employment, Education and Training (NEETs) in disadvantaged areas of the Mediterranean Southern Europe, namely in island, coastal or peripheral regions of Greece, Cyprus, Italy and Spain. Moreover, it aims at linking youth’s social situation and dynamics…
2024
Risk and protective factors in the training-employment trajectory of young adult migrants who have left the guardianship system
In recent years, young people's economic and employment possibilities have been compromised, especially in the case of vulnerable populations such as unaccompanied foreign minors who migrate to Spain and enter the guardianship system. The aim of this study was to identify this group's most representative training trajectories, and determine the risk and protective factors involved in their insertion to the…
2024
Psychosocial and integration needs of unaccompanied children in Greece
This article seeks to fill the research gap on the psychosocial and integration needs of unaccompanied children and the challenges they encounter to reach autonomy and social integration. To address this issue, the study utilized a qualitative research survey interviewing 18 field professionals, which indicated that the key challenges include insufficient preparation, institutionalization, uncertainty about the future, asylum procedures, and…
2024
Refugee children’s career aspirations at a hospitality center in Greece
A child-centered approach to education paves the way to discover a child’s personal dreams, aspirations, experiences, abilities, and interests. In child-centered educational contexts, students are encouraged to express and discover themselves. This is particularly relevant for refugee children who have suffered trauma, change, and repeated schooling interruptions that may negatively affect the future-oriented thinking that forms their career ambitions. The…
2024
Comparing pre-war and forced Ukrainian migrants in Poland: Challenges for the labour market and prospects for integration
Before full-scale war broke out in 2022, over 1 million Ukrainians resided legally in Poland. Within weeks of Russia's aggression, around 1.5 million new Ukrainian forced migrants had arrived, many of whom remain in Poland. As of September 2023, 970,000 Ukrainian refugees were still in Poland, where they enjoyed temporary protection status. This paper analyses data from a 2022 survey…
2024
Building bright futures: How to integrate Ukraine’s refugee children through early childhood education and care
Nine out of every 10 refugees arriving in host countries from Ukraine are women and children. Only 1 in 3 of Ukrainian refugee children are enrolled in early childhood education and care services. This emphasizes the need for expanding and strengthening early childhood education systems to ensure sufficient access for all children, and the integration of Ukranian refugee children in…
2023
Normative, rational, and relational motives in crosscoalition coordination for a VET refugee programme
Shared beliefs are seen as a basis for policy coordination in the literature. Actors sharing beliefs coordinate their activities in order to translate their beliefs into policies. However, the literature shows that actors also coordinate for policy change across such belief coalitions for diverse reasons. Drawing on the literature on incentives in collective action organisations, we systematise these motives. We…
2023
Prevalences of mental distress and its associated factors in unaccompanied refugee minors in Germany
Prevalences for mental disorders within minor refugees are comparatively high and heterogeneous. To reduce heterogeneity and identify high-risk subgroups, we compared unaccompanied refugee minors (URM) to accompanied refugee minors (ARM) regarding depressive symptoms and mental distress. Furthermore, we examined associative factors of mental distress in URM on a broad scale. We conducted a survey with a cross-sectional design in four…
2023
Gender
English
Resilience & adaptation
Unaccompanied & separated children
Mental health & psychosocial well-being
Formal education
Tertiary education
Detention & deportation
Language education
Germany
Surveys & questionnaire
Cross-sectional study
Regression analysis
Vocational & technical education
Integration & assimilation
Adult education & training
Caregivers
Place of Residence Does Matter for Educational Integration: The Relevance of Spatial Contexts for Refugees’ Transition to VET in Germany
For the mostly young refugees who arrived in Germany around 2015/2016, completing vocational education and training (VET) represents the most promising opportunity for professional and social integration. However, access opportunities to VET are characterized by spatial inequalities: German districts vary considerably according to labour market structure, economic productivity and demographic development, which constitute the supply and demand for training places…
2023
Restoring Children’s Right to Education during and after War The Case of Ukraine
The need to protect children in armed conflicts has become urgent, especially since the 1990s , is now outstanding in the war in Ukraine. Among the violations against children in Ukraine that were identified by the UN Secretary General in 2005, were attacks on schools , hospitals. This article discusses the question of how the violation of the right to…
2023
Chances and discrimination in dual vocational training of refugees and immigrants in Germany
This article depicts the obstacles within the vocational education for trainees with escape and migration experience in Germany. The structure of the highly formalised vocational training system in Germany is based on the assumption of a ‘normal case’ of an educational biography. However, this neither applies to the often-broken educational pathways of refugees and immigrants, nor to an increasing number…
2023
“Coming to Norway as a refugee can be misinterpreted as a bad thing” Exploring the Individual Educational Experiences of African Youth in Norway
There is a lot of research written about unaccompanied minors in Norway, but this thesis is concerned with the individual education experiences of African unaccompanied minors. The purpose of this thesis is to explore the experiences of African unaccompanied minors regarding access to education opportunities in Norway. Based on a review of literature on unaccompanied minors, by using four theories:…
2022
Music facilitator experiences of working in asylum seeker centres: Complexities, dilemmas and opportunities
Accommodation centres for those seeking asylum present particular contexts in which to facilitate music making. Contextual and systemic difficulties abound. An exploration of a music project within six asylum seeker centres in Ireland is presented with a focus on the experiences of the four facilitators involved. Data are presented from facilitator reflective logs, researcher observations and recorded professional development sessions…
2022
Thrown in at the deep end? Perceptions of burdens, gains, and contributions to the integration of refugee students among teachers with(out) target group-specific professional knowledge
In Germany, young migrants and refugees whose German language skills are not sufficient for attending regular classes at school are assigned to so-called “preparation classes”. As the name implies, the main objective of these classes is to teach German language skills and thereby prepare students for regular classes or vocational education and training. Teachers in these classes face special challenges:…
2022
Critical Thinking and Motivation in Vocational Training and Baccalaureate: A Comparison Study of Students of Spanish Nationality, Unaccompanied Foreign Minors and Young Care Leavers
The present study analyzed academic motivation and its relationship with dispositions towards critical thinking in a sample of 131 students of Spanish nationality and 131 students of foreign nationality (unaccompanied foreign minors and foreign adolescents who had previously experienced the Andalusian care system). For this, an ex-post-facto study was conducted which was descriptive, comparative, and cross-sectional in nature. The main…
2022
PARTICIPATION OF REFUGEE YOUTH IN GERMANY’S VET SYSTEM: REAL-WORLD LABS AS OPPORTUNITIES FOR CO-CONSTRUCTIVE KNOWLEDGE PRODUCTION AND INNOVATIVE PRACTICE TRANSFORMATION
Germany has become the most important destination country for young refugees in Europe (Destatis, 2021). Vocational education and training can make an important contribution to overcome educational barriers and gain participation in society (Will & Hohmut, 2020). Since 2015, rural regions have faced new challenges in establishing effective support systems for young apprentices with forced migration experience (Ohliger et al.,…
2022
How vocational education and training (VET) systems can support Ukraine: Lessons from past crises
Russia’s large-scale aggression against Ukraine has led to the most important humanitarian crisis in the OECD area since World War II, affecting millions of people and a severe economic, social and educational shock of uncertain duration and magnitude. This policy brief discusses how VET systems in host countries can become more inclusive and supportive of Ukrainians displaced by Russia’s large-scale…
2022
Working toward aspirations: how higher education learning-working trajectories for refugees in the Netherlands support work-related capabilities
Purpose: Refugees face multiple barriers to employment, such as previous work experience and qualifications not recognized. The Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences offers a higher vocational education and training (VET) dual program for highly-skilled refugees, in which education and work is combined. After completion of the two-year program, participants have gained new skills, learned (vocational) language, have work experience in…
2022
Migrants, Refugees and Asylum Seekers’ Integration in European Labour Markets: A Comparative Approach on Legal Barriers and Enablers
The Sirius first open access book entitled 'Migrants, Refugees, and Asylum Seekers' Integration in European Labour Markets. A Comparative Approach on Legal Barriers and Enablers' discusses how, and to what extent, the legal and institutional regimes and the socio-cultural environments of a range of European countries (the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Italy, Switzerland and the United Kingdom), in the…
2021
Making a familial care worker: the gendered exclusion of asylum-seeking women in Denmark
The Nordic universalist welfare states place great value on promoting gender equality among immigrant minorities. Yet, as this article demonstrates, there is a tension in the Danish asylum regime between the gender mainstreaming objective that is prominent in the integration discourse and policy and the actual practices of migrant camp employees tasked with activation and preparing asylum seekers for integration…
2021
Ensuring Quality Early Childhood Education for Refugee Children: A New Approach to Teacher Professional Development
The provision of early childhood education (ECE) for refugees is extremely limited in many settings. Where it does exist, programmes are often poorly resourced. While all refugee education is underfunded, ECE is particularly underfunded and under-supported. High-quality ECE can be a powerful avenue for helping young refugee children manage their trauma and for supporting their well-being in the short and…
2021
Educational structure of refugees
Since 2015, the Federal Republic of Germany has accepted more than one million refugees. In many cases, the refugee crisis in Germany is seen as an opportunity to compensate for the need for skilled labour. By 2030 there will be a shortage of around 3 million skilled workers. Therefore, this article focuses on the educational structure of refugees in the…
2021
Previous experience, trickle-down training and systemic ad hoc-ery: educators’ knowledge acquisition when teaching refugee pupils in one local authority in England
Schools play a key role in the lives of young refugees and asylum seekers, yet it is unclear to what extent educators are prepared to effectively teach this population. In this study, we examined how educators acquire knowledge relevant to teaching refugee pupils through a survey (n = 295) and nestled case studies of 17 teachers at two schools in England. Educators…
2021
The Role of Vocational Education and Training in the Integration of Refugees in Austria, Denmark and Germany
Context: Vocational education and training (VET) plays a crucial role in the social inclusion of refugees. The aim of this paper is to examine how the VET systems of Austria, Denmark and Germany responded to the arrival of young refugees since 2015. VET in these countries is categorised as system of collective skill formation, which offers apprenticeships in addition to…
2021
Pre-school Teachers’ Stereotypes and Self-Efficacy are Linked to Perceptions of Behavior Problems in Newly Arrived Refugee Children
Introduction: Since 2015, increased numbers of refugee families with pre-school-aged children have arrived in Germany. In pre-schools, teachers' professional competence for teaching those children and adapting to their socio-emotional needs has become increasingly important. Previous research linked teachers' stereotypes and cultural beliefs to their self-efficacy and enthusiasm when teaching immigrant children. This study investigated the links between domains of pre-school…
2021
Gender
English
Germany
Experimental & quasi-experimental study
Surveys & questionnaire
Early childhood education
Cross-sectional study
Randomised control trial
Socio-emotional learning & development
Regression analysis
Vocational & technical education
Adult education & training
Caregivers
Teachers & educational staff
To work or to study? Postmigration educational investments of adult refugees in Germany – Evidence from a choice experiment
In this article, we analyze individual factors and situational conditions under which immigrants are more or less likely to invest in host country-specific human capital. Theoretically, we root our expectations in a strand of the immigrant human capital investment model combined with a basic model of educational decisions. Using a choice experiment, we simulate a decision process among refugees in…
2021
Integration of Recently Arrived Underage Refugees: Research Potential of the Study ReGES – Refugees in the German Educational System
With the strong immigration of refugees at the end of the last decade, many minors came to Germany. Their integration into the German educational system will be one of the central tasks of German society and is important for the medium- and long-term integration of incoming young refugees in various areas of society. Data from the ReGES panel study enable…
2021
Displaced Migration and Labour Market Governance in Scotland: Challenges and Opportunities
Labour market conditions in the UK create significant barriers for refugees seeking employment. These include: ethnic and racialised penalties, barriers related to immigration controls, barriers related to employers’ perceptions of these controls and the effects of the ‘hostile environment’. As a result, refugees are more likely to be unemployed or under-employed than a British citizen. GLIMER Stakeholders reported the same…
2020
Profiling of IDP situation in Luhansk Region, Ukraine
The report “Profiling of IDP situation in Luhansk Region, Ukraine - data-driven approach to durable solutions” was launched by the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) in December 2020. It was developed as a result of the Profiling exercises piloted in Luhansk region by NRC in collaboration with Luhansk Regional State Administration. The Joint IDP Profiling Service (JIPS) provided technical support in…
2020
Recognising refugees’ non-formally and informally acquired vocational skills for use in Germany’s labour market
The influx of asylum seekers into the European Union (EU) in 2015-2016 has turned the recognition of non-formal and informal learning (NFIL) into an integration priority and challenge. In EU terminology this process is called ‘validation’. Already in 2012, the Council of the EU had urged member states to create mechanisms for the validation of NFIL by no later than…
2020
Identifying the best practices for the integration of refugee students into the German national school system
Integration is a complex and widely discussed concept, central to the refugee crisis that Europe is currently experiencing. With the large number of minors and young adults entering European countries, the inclusion of refugees (and of other migrants) into national education systems is an important topic to be understood and discussed. Germany is the European country which has taken in…
2020
Social Innovation in Fashion Design: Can Design Provide Opportunities of Inclusion to Refugees in Greece?
Nearly 60.000 war refugees remain stranded in Greece [1], without any plan of amelioration for their living conditions. Design thinking strategy combined with social innovation could generate new scenarios of inclusion in the Greek society through the exchange of culture, knowledge and practical skills. In order to examine this hypothesis, members of Politecnico di Milano collaborated with Ankaa, a social…
2020
Professional development of Syrian refugee women: proceeding with a career within education
This research investigates professional development with Syrian refugee women teachers settled in Lebanon and Sweden. Both countries offer professional training programmes for migrant teachers, enabling them to proceed with their careers. The purpose is to investigate how moving to a new country calls for an opportunity to engage in practice development and the role digital literacy plays in the refugees’…
2020
Integration of learning for refugee and migrant students: VET teachers’ practices through practice theory lens
The study reported here used a practice theory lens to understand vocational education and training (VET) teachers’ current practices in supporting integration of learning in educational institutions and workplaces–specifically for refugee and migrant students. A case study was conducted with 10 teachers delivering aged care programmes in South East Queensland, Australia and in a municipality in West Sweden. During in-depth…
2019
New immigrants. An incentive for intercultural education?
This study was inspired by an inclusive intercultural perspective on education, and developed empirical knowledge concerning the intercultural professional development of in-service teachers. The study was conducted during the first year of a newly-designed master’s programme that focused on “education for refugees”. In the Netherlands master’s programmes in education qualify in-service teachers to contribute to school development, together with giving…
2019
Education: Hope for newcomers in Europe
The aim of this volume is to bring together experiences from four European countries, Germany, Italy, Spain and Sweden, on how they have organised the reception of newly-arrived children in their schools, which challenges they face, what are the opportunities, where the support comes from and it has failed to emerge. The four contributions also illuminate the role of education…
2018
Adult education in Europe 2017: a civil society view
The following report is based on a survey sent to EAEA’s members, asking them about the state of adult education in their country. The views expressed come from a variety of contexts. EAEA members are often umbrella organisations representing their country’s adult education providers, and can have the status of a non-governmental organisation representing providers to the national or regional…
2017
English
Spain
Adult education & training
Policy & law
Denmark
Access & participation
Iceland
Türkiye
Romania
Equity & equality
Belarus
Non-formal education
Bosnia
Lifelong learning
Croatia
Germany
Estonia
Case study
Finland
Sweden
Liechtenstein
Austria
Macedonia
Serbia
Poland
Surveys & questionnaire
Portugal
Netherlands
Russia
United Kingdom
Ireland
Slovakia
Teachers & educational staff
Greece
Vocational & technical education
Vocational education and training: bridging refugee and employer needs
Vocational education and training (VET) programmes can help connect migrants with the labour market and find jobs matching their skills and qualifications. However, considering the growing numbers of both asylum seekers and refugees, there is a need to upscale, adapt and reinvent VET programmes. Efforts to step up education and training provision and broaden access can be observed across the…
2017
Labor Market Integration of Young Adult Refugees in Germany: Triangulating Perspectives Toward Program Development
This article reports on the 18-month formative evaluation of a model project aimed at preparing young adult refugees (YARs) for entry into vocational education training (VET) as an essential step toward the labor market. Qualitative methods were used to gain insight into the perspectives of YARs, program staff, and vocational instructors as well as explore program dynamics. Within a longitudinal…
2020
Identity processes and sense: Constructing a training project during asylum procedure [Dynamiques identitaires et sens d’un projet de formation au cours de la procédure d’asile]
The beginning of life in exile is a period of transition with a profound change of life trajectory. It requires adaptation to a new context and initiates profound identity processes. In this situation, investing in a vocational training project means a particular commitment to construct a new life course. This paper looks into asylum seekers' various motivations to get engaged…
2020
Integration of provisionally admitted asylum seekers in Switzerland: The role of vocational training [Intégration des demandeur·euse·s d’asile admis·es provisoirement en Suisse: Rôle de la formation professionnelle]
Migration is now an integral part of global issues and the integration of migrants is of increasing concern to public authorities and these populations. In Switzerland, provisionally admitted asylum seekers are one category that encounters more integration difficulties related mainly to their status. Among difficulties, those relating to access to the labor market and vocational training are still crucial despite…
2020
Refugee children from the point of school administrators and teachers’ experiences
In the present study, perceptions of Turkish school administrators and teachers towards Syrian refugee children were examined through metaphors. 71 school administrators and 242 teachers from 27 different provinces of Turkey participated in the study. As a result of the study, the metaphors produced by school administrators were grouped into four categories: "child with cultural adaptation and belonging problems", "fragile…
2020
What shapes the integration trajectory of refugee students? A comparative policy analysis in two German states
Enabling the successful integration of refugee students into the German schooling system poses a crucial challenge for the coming years. Drawing from the human rights framework of the Inter-agency Network for Education in Emergencies standards, we applied a rights-based approach to policy analysis on educational provisions for refugee students from 2012 to 2018. According to international and European law, Germany…
2020