Internship: Breaking the vicious unemployment cycle for vulnerable youth

Abstract

Vulnerable youth are often trapped in the vicious circle of “no experience, no job; no job, no experience.” Internship programs may help them overcome this cycle through offering work experience. A BEAM model is proposed. It includes four essential attributes for enhancing employability, which most vulnerable youth often lack. This study examined a one-year internship program for vulnerable youth. The youth rated their work abilities, increasing from an average of 5.2 out of 10 before joining the program to 7.3 out of 10 after participating. Focus group sessions were also conducted in two rounds with the vulnerable youth (N:18), along with their mentors (N:14) who work with them, and case managers (N:10) who offered guidance. Results show that this approach is promising and it is worth offering targeted internship training opportunities for this group of young people in order to prepare them for entry into the labor market.