Making progress in school-to-work transition

Abstract

As a result of the focus group type meetings held both with academics and employers, on the one hand, and with students, on the other hand, we have developed a training program based on cooperative learning, which aims at increasing young people’s integration into the labor market and at meeting this market’s needs. The program is a complex one and is extended for the whole period of university training. The objectives of the program are: confirm the students’ career plans, applying theoretical knowledge in real situations through professional practice and strengthen the work-related skills. The proposed program has two components: one focusing on theoretical training (in the academic field, but also in the institutions where the practical activity is taking place) and one focusing on the practical training, both running in parallel. The program offers students the opportunity to acquire new knowledge and skills related to career objectives, to develop relational and communication abilities, problem solving abilities, to learn how work is organized and how people behave at work and to understand the different roles and interests of managers and employees. We intend with this program to foster the cooperation between the academic field and employers in order to establish more clearly the educational content according to the demands of the labor market.