Page 36 - Guiding-at-risk-youth-through-learning-to-work-Lessons-from-across-Europe

Guiding at-risk youth through learning to work
Lessons from across Europe

on career development. Transition is a significant step, and it is essential that
young people are equipped with the knowledge and support they need.
Defining the transition process helps to understand the nature and scope of
the difficulties it can encompass. Müller and Gangl (2003) describe the process
as ‘the period between the end of individuals’ primary involvement in education or
training and their stable settlement in a work position’. Brauns et al. (2001),
distinguish between two stages in the transition period: first, the search for initial
employment after leaving education and training and, second, the early career
stage after initial employment experience. They define two types of risk for young
people within the transition from education to work: access to first employment
and instability of initial employment.

3.2.1. The length of transition
Table 1 offers an illustration of the length of school-to-work transitions in selected
OECD countries, for 1995, 2000 and 2005 (Quintini, 2007). It shows that more
than half of European young people are without work one year after leaving
school. It often takes one to two years or even more for young people to find their
first job after finishing education, and there are large differences in the average
length of the transition across countries. The average time taken to find a
permanent job ranges from just over a year in countries such as Belgium, Ireland,
Luxembourg and Austria to over four years in Iceland. The length of school-to-
work transition in Iceland, Italy and Norway is over three years.
While the EU average (unweighted) remains relatively stable, the situation
varies across individual countries. Between 2000 and 2005, more than half of the
countries saw an increase in transition period length. The increases varied from
two months (Belgium) to 32 months (Iceland). Countries such as the Czech
Republic, Germany and Norway also saw an increase in the length of transition
(10, 10 and 11 months respectively). In contrast, countries such as Italy, Slovakia
and Finland all saw a significant reduction in transition (19, 23 and 23 months
respectively).
The factors affecting transition from education to employment are diverse
and policy developments require flexibility to tackle them. Challenges range from
the increasing choice of study and career pathways, and the destandardisation of
youth transitions, the types of entry level employment available (temporary and
part-time work and also low-paid work) and external influences such as the
processes of internationalisation and globalisation underpinned by ICT
frameworks. Responding to the rapidly changing conditions of the wider economy
is necessary for both educational and employment structures, and the risks of a
mismatch in the interface between education and employment, which can be

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