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Valuing diversity: guidance for labour market integration of migrants

more accessible to all immigrants and better coordinated is the establishment of
OSSs.

8.2.2. Ensuring the skills needed for guidance in multicultural contexts
Consistent with the previous recommendation, it is crucial that guidance be
delivered by qualified personnel, with an ethical attitude, appropriate resources
and contextual adaptation. A fair, respectful attitude towards the clients and their
culture is a must. The service must ensure a safe, confidential environment that
is perceived as a positive service and not as culturally repressive practice.
Professionals also need adequate guidance and multicultural training that
allows them to understand, listen to and motivate their clients, using appropriate
methodologies and instruments on the right occasion, with confidence and
flexibility. Multicultural training should be generalised to the different career
development services that deal with immigrants.
Training needs to be adapted to the context of intervention, as well as the
technical content of their tasks: the status of women; the cultural identity and
attitudes of youth groups with the host country’s citizenship; the occupational
distribution of employment in the community; the identification of effective role
models in each culture; the specificity of discrimination phenomena in each
community.
Teachers and trainers need to acquire appropriate methods for working in
multicultural contexts, understand the value of work and formal learning across
cultures, as well as the ability to network in work-related environments, to
promote role model presentation, job-shadowing or job sampling activities for
their students. They also need to be aware of gender stereotypes across cultures
and how they affect learner performance, interests and aspirations. Women
activation services, which provide information on training, access to validation
and development of job search skills, also need to have strong insights about the
traditional gender roles and their relationship to work and learning.

8.2.3. Ensuring guidance practitioners have access to reliable and updated
information
Providing guidance practitioners with updated, reliable, accessible and easy-to-
use information about the legal framework, administrative procedures and labour
market conditions is fundamental to the quality of services provided. Information
has to be reliable and realistic, to allow for the successful planning of integration
stages and the setup of personal career planning. They also need to have
contact points and means to liaise with healthcare, housing, legal work,
education and social security. Within their field of competence they should be
available to network and advocate the interests of their clients vis-à-vis other

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