Asylum-seekers and refugees often arrive to Europe with dreams of a better life, but limited information about how to realise their ambitions. In particular, our research with young asylum-seekers suggests that they often lack a basic understanding of vocational education and training systems in their new countries, as well as personally meaningful representations of promising vocational pathways.
Together with international partners, SINUS envisions a progressive web application to guide young asylum-seekers through the initial stages in the career discovery journey. Conceived as a multilingual, user-friendly “foot in the door,” the Vocational Education and Training Voices app will combine an interest self-evaluation, motivational video testimonials, and a networking tool to assist with outreach to VET professionals.
The VET Voices project was selected for funding under the Erasmus+ Strategic Partnerships program (2020-1-DE02-KA202-007545), and is currently underway. Between 2021 and 2023, SINUS will cooperate with Infalia (Greece), Metodo Estudios Consultores (Spain), 21.YY Egitimciler Dernegi (Turkey), and Volkshochschule im Landkreis Cham (Germany) to design and test the VET Voices app.
Being member of the Vet Voices Erasmus+ project will give us the opportunity to explore the gap between career offers and young people’s competences and skills and develop an engaging and attractive web application collaborating with experts in the area. This experience will be a valuable asset for INFALIA that can later be infused into different products and projects.
