Young Professionals With Special Educational Needs: Patterns Of Transition Into The Labour Market In Relation To Work Situation And Satisfaction

Author(s):

Claudia Hofmann(presenting / submitting)Simone Schaub Leandra Kurtz

Conference:

ECER 2016

Network:

04. Inclusive Education

Format:

Paper

Session Information

04 SES 08 A, Transition to Work and Independent Living

Paper Session

Time:

2016-08-25

09:00-10:30

Room:

OB-H2.20

Chair:

Selina McCoy

Contribution

Transition from school to employment is important for all young people, in particular for people with disabilities and special educational needs: It implies status and role change and is central to integration into society (European Agency for Development in Special Needs Education, 2006). People with disabilities are usually faced with more difficulties during transition (Doose, 2012; Euler & Severing, 2014; Fasching, 2013; Felkendorf & Lischer, 2005; Ginnold 20006; Häfeli & Schellenberg, 2009; Hupka, Sacchi, & Stalder, 2006). Education and training programs are not always suited to their interests and needs. This places them in a disadvantageous position on the labour market (European Agency for Development in Special Needs Education, 2006). Moreover, social changes and a high (youth) unemployment rate pose a threat to the lesser qualified young people (Deneke, 2012). Attaining a vocational qualification is therefore decisive for their access to the labour market.

Swiss educational policy aims to ensure that 95% of all youths have a post-obligatory education qualification at upper secondary level. For young people with disabilities, the Swiss disability insurance finances the additional costs of their vocational education and training, which usually takes place in a specialized educational institution in the second labour market. This makes it possible to adapt the learning conditions individually to the special needs of the apprentices. However, a close co-operation between educational institutions and the first labour market is considered important, in order for young people to experience real working conditions (European Agency for Development in Special Needs Education, 2006). Thus, apprentices with disabilities are more and more often placed in the first labour market with additional support from “job coaches”, in hopes of a smoother transition afterwards. In Switzerland (and other countries) this model of vocational education is called “supported education”. In the US, similar programs were evaluated (for an overview see Parrish, 2009; Rogers, Kash-MacDonald, Bruker, & Maru, 2010), but most of these studies were only conducted on people with mental illnesses and/or in the context of other vocational educational systems. In Germany (with a similar dual VET-system as in Switzerland), a study found positive effects for “supported education” on later employment in the first labour market (Seyd, Schulz, & Vollmers, 2007). Otherwise, the number of research studies in this field is limited.

In a study carried out by the University of Applied Sciences of Special Needs Education Zurich (Hofmann & Schaub, 2015), we interviewed 115 former apprentices with different disabilities and special educational needs who had gone through different types of vocational education programs (“supported education” and in specialized institutions). The following questions were the focus of our study:

How did the young professionals evaluate their apprenticeship time and the transition into the labour market afterwards in retrospect?
What is their current position in the labour market (first or second labour market, unemployed, employed in a permanent position or temporarily)?
How satisfied are the young employees with their present workplace and what do they expect from their professional future?
How do vocational trainers and employers assess the situation of the apprentices and the model of “supported education” in general?

In addition to the description of the apprentice’s situation, we are interested in knowing more about the interaction between the different factors (as e.g. disability, qualification level, course of the training) relating to the vocational outcomes after finishing the apprenticeship. Our results are meant to contribute to a better understanding of the situations of people with disabilities entering the labour market and to optimize support during this period.

Method

Participants in the study were 115 young adults with different disabilities, who had finished an apprenticeship between 2006 and 2014 in one of six different educational institutions which were specialized for vocational education and training for young people with disabilities and special educational needs. The institutions offer different models of training: Some are situated exclusively in the second labour market. Others work with “jobcoaches” and provide support to firms and apprentices in the first labour market (“supported education”) or offer “mixed” models depending on the abilities of the apprentices. The mean age of the participants was 23.6 years and 58.3% were female. The most frequent disabilities (according to the statements of the educational institution) were learning disabilities (47.3%), followed by attention deficit (hyperactivity) disorders (23.2%), psychological problems (17.9%), physical disabilities (17.0%), social behaviour disorders (16.1%), mental disability (13.4%), neurological disorders (10.7%) and sensory disabilities (6.3%). Additionally, 17.0% of the young adults have social, cultural or familial problems. Depending on their cognitive abilities, the apprentices completed their training in one of three vocational qualification levels and in different occupations: In the commercial field (33.0%), gastronomy (30.4%), gardening/ agriculture (12.2%), retail sales (10.4%) and other fields (e.g. manual and technical professions). Concerning the model of training, 43.5% completed their training in the first labour market (with a job-coach) and 56.5% in an institution of the second labour market. The participants were questioned by telephone with a semi-structured interview guide-line that contained questions about their apprenticeship-time, about their experiences when entering the labour market and about their present work situation. Some questions were open-ended (e.g. How did you experience your entry in the labour market?). Others were structured and adapted from existing survey instruments which offer possibilities to compare with other studies (e.g. “satisfaction with work”-scales were the same questions as used in the Swiss Household Panel, “work load” from a representative transition study in Switzerland). The methods of analysis are primarily quantitative (descriptive statistics, comparison of groups, regression-analysis). Moreover, we interviewed some responsible persons in the educational institutions (N=15) and some employers (N=18) with semi-structured interview guidelines containing questions about their point of view and experiences with the young people during transition (e.g. assessment of the young professionals’ performance, strategies when problems occur, advantages of different training models). This data was mainly analysed qualitatively and used to interpret und embed the results of the apprentices’ view.

Expected Outcomes

Our results so far show that most of the former apprentices are satisfied with their apprenticeship-time in retrospect, independent of personal characteristics (disability, sex) or model of training (first or second labour market) or qualification level. This can be interpreted as a sign of a good fit between the training program and the interests and needs of the apprentices. After finishing apprenticeship about 60% of the former apprentices were working in the first labour market, 11% were working in the second labour market, 12% were pursuing a further education and 17% were unemployed. The overall work satisfaction is quite high (comparable with young employees without disabilities) but depends more on social aspects of the work situation (relation to supervisors, colleagues). As expected, there is a better chance of being employed in the first labour market when the apprenticeship already took place in the first labour market. However, it must be noted that the different institutions - depending on their educational offers - attract different people with different disabilities and chances/opportunities for vocational integration. Thus we expect a generally smoother transition and easier fit into em¬ployment in the first labour market after “supported education” but think it’s worth analysing the different patterns of transition and the mutual influence between different factors in depth. For this purpose we consider comparing groups (e.g. people with successful/unsuccessful transitions that were expectable or not) and describing and analysing these groups concerning their composition (type of disability, sex, qualification level) and the differences regarding subjective indicators of present job experiences and satisfaction.

References

Deneke, S. (2012). Zukunftsvorstellungen und Berufsorientierungen von benachteiligten Jugendlichen. VHN, 81, 35-46. doi: 10.2378/vhn2012.art03d Doose, S. (2012). Unterstützte Beschäftigung: Berufliche Integration auf lange Sicht (3d ed.). Marburg: Lebenshilfe-Verlag. Euler, D., & Severing, E. (2014). Inklusion in der Berufsbildung. Zeitschrift für Berufs- und Wirtschaftspädagogik, 110(1), 114-132. European Agency for Development in Special Needs Education. (2006). Individual Transition Plans. Supporting the Move from School to Employment. Middelfart: European Agency for Development in Special Needs Education. Fasching, H. (2013). Interaktion von Behinderung und Geschlecht im Übergang von der Schule in Ausbildung und Beschäftigung: Erweiterte Analysen aus einem aktuellen Forschungsprojekt VHN, 82, 46-59. doi: 10.2378/vhn2012.art13d Felkendorf, K., & Lischer, E. (Eds.). (2005). Barrierefreie Übergänge? Jugendliche mit Behinderungen und Lernschwierigkeiten zwischen Schule und Berufsleben. Zürich: Verlag Pestalozzianum. Ginnold, A. (2006). Entwicklungsverläufe von Jugendlichen mit Lernschwierigkeiten an der ersten Schwelle des Übergangs Schule-Beruf. Ergebnisse einer empirischen Studie. Berufliche Rehabilitation, 20, 179-200. Häfeli, K., & Schellenberg, C. (2009). Erfolgsfaktoren in der Berufsbildung bei gefährdeten Jugendlichen. Bern: EDK Schweizerische Erziehungsdirektoren Konferenz. Hofmann, C., & Schaub, S. (2015). Berufliche Integration durch Ausbildung auf dem ersten Arbeitsmarkt und Gelingensbedingungen. Schlussbericht. Zürich: Hochschule für Heilpädagogik. Hupka, S., Sacchi, S., & Stalder, B. E. (2006). Does the Swiss VET System encourage inequity? Paper presented at the European Research Network on Transitions in Youth TIY, Marseilles. Parrish, C. (2009). MH supported education literature review. Department of Behavioral Health and Mental Retardation Services Research and Information Management. Rogers, E. S., Kash-MacDonald, M., Bruker, D., & Maru, M. (2010). Systematic Review of Supported Education Literature, 1989 –2009. Boston: Boston University, Sargent College, Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation. Seyd, W., Schulz, K., & Vollmers, B. (2007). VAmB - Verzahnte Ausbildung mit Berufsbildungswerken. Abschlussbericht der wissenschaftlichen Begleitung. Hamburg: Bundesministerium für Soziales und Gesundheit.

Author Information

Claudia Hofmann (presenting / submitting)

University of Applied Science in Special Needs Education

Zürich

Simone Schaub

University of Applied Science in Special Needs Education, Switzerland

Leandra Kurtz

HfH

Uster

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