{"title":"Supporting Young Immigrants in Their Transition From School to Work? A Staff Perspective on Challenges of Vocational Integration Classes","authors":"Hannes Reinke, Michael Goller","doi":"10.13152/ijrvet.9.1.5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.13152/ijrvet.9.1.5","url":null,"abstract":"Context: The implementation of successful measures to support immigrants' integration in cultural, social, and economic life can be considered as one of today's greatest challenges for many societies. This is especially true for adolescent immigrants who have not yet been able to finish education or gain qualifications relevant to joining the labour market. That is why many receiving countries have developed and implemented special programmes that aim at supporting immigrants' integration by facilitating their employability. Unfortunately, not much is known about the process of implementing these programmes or about how education systems, schools, and teachers are dealing with the new situation and target group. In this contribution, the implementation, development, and challenges of German Vocational Integration Classes (VIC), as an example of comparable programmes in the EU, are investigated to address this research gap. The paper considers the following exploratory research questions: (a) What challenges have been experienced by teachers and social workers in the implementation of VIC as well as in the integration of immigrants into the labour market in recent years? (b) How can these challenges be met in the long run and how should VIC be developed to better achieve its aims? Methods: To answer these questions, a sequential qualitative study containing questionnaire and interview elements was conducted. First, teachers and social workers involved in VIC filled in a questionnaire about their experiences and experienced challenges in implementing VIC (N = 46). Then, supplementing interviews were conducted with participants from the first sample in order to generate further insights and to contextualise the findings from the first study part (N = 14). Findings: From the respondents' answers, it appears that the VIC programme is well implemented. The results show, however, that central challenges continue to exist. This concerns, for example, legal regulations or the development of adequate curricula, but also the scope and quality of language education. In addition, problems have also been identified with regard to students' culture-specific education and their individual attitudes. These prevailing problems seem to affect schooling and educational processes. In addition, respondents report feeling left alone to deal with problems and that their experiences from their daily work in VIC and with immigrants are not sufficiently taken into account in policy and school-related decisions. Conclusions: Although VIC seems well implemented, key challenges remain in the view of the participants. It was found that teachers cannot solve many of the identified problems themselves, as they require action at the level of policy or school organisation. For staff, this can be accompanied by increased stress and demotivation. For the young immigrants, the existing challenges can have a long-term impact on school success and transition to vocational education and","PeriodicalId":37080,"journal":{"name":"International Journal for Research in Vocational Education and Training","volume":"5 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2022-04-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"87608279","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
M. Moso-Diez, Antonio Mondaca-Soto, J. P. Gamboa, Mikel Albizu-Echevarría
{"title":"A Quantitative Cross-Regional Analysis of the Spanish VET Systems From a Systemic Approach: From a Regional Comparative VET Research Perspective","authors":"M. Moso-Diez, Antonio Mondaca-Soto, J. P. Gamboa, Mikel Albizu-Echevarría","doi":"10.13152/ijrvet.9.1.6","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.13152/ijrvet.9.1.6","url":null,"abstract":"Purpose: The aim of this paper is to analyse comparatively, at regional level, the current state of a wide range of indicators of Vocational Education and Training (VET) at regional level in Spain. This will make it possible to characterise and better understand the existence of a variety of regional VET systems, including the Initial VET and Continuous VET subsystems within Spain, doing so under a multidimensional approach examining VET supply and demand. \u0000Methods: Systemic analysis of Spanish VET indicators leads to a selection of 54 indicators, which are then compared at regional level using k-means clustering. This approach identifies similarities and differences (clusters) across all of Spain's 17 autonomous communities (Spanish regions). The correlation between the variables is then analysed to examine the interaction between the VET system's supply and demand dimensions. \u0000Findings: The results show that 19 indicators explain the main differences between autonomous communities, which form two distinct clusters. Both VET supply and VET environment and demand influence cluster formation and inter-cluster differences. In the set of indicators that differentiate the two clusters of autonomous communities, close interaction is detected between certain indicators of VET supply and demand, especially those referring to the STEM occupational group, which confirms the correlation between these dimensions, albeit to a limited extent. \u0000 Conclusions: While it is necessary to analyse the differences between clusters in greater depth, the results suggest that Spain’s regions are split into two distinct groups (clusters) in which the respective VET systems are developing and advancing differently. Moreover, there is evidence of a small number of significant interrelations between indicators of VET supply and demand, which point to both the VET system's specialisation and its inclusive nature.","PeriodicalId":37080,"journal":{"name":"International Journal for Research in Vocational Education and Training","volume":"25 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2022-04-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"89725205","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A Grounded Theory Study on Motivational Development After Detours in Young Adulthood – How Extra-Vocational Training Affects Aspirations","authors":"Monique Landberg, P. Noack","doi":"10.13152/ijrvet.9.1.4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.13152/ijrvet.9.1.4","url":null,"abstract":"Context: In the present study, we explore what motivates young adults to re-engage with education or employment after a period of non-engagement. Insights into this process facilitate the implementation of tailored support measures for at-risk groups. It is well-known that young people who are not involved in any kind of education, employment, or training face further risks to their professional and psychological development. Methods: Using a grounded theory approach, interviews with young adults from various educational tracks were analyzed, compared, and contrasted. The sample was focused mainly on apprentices in extra-vocational training and professionals working with young people to describe the process of re-engaging in detail (n = 30). Findings: Our analyses suggested that frustrating prior experiences and offers to participate in government-funded vocational training prompted motivation to learn an occupational skillset. Undergoing an apprenticeship enabled young adults to develop the motivation to finish vocational training and to plan on further education.Conclusion: The implications of these results as they pertain to Germany's labor market policies, which foster a sense of individual responsibility to facilitate the achievement of professional success, are discussed. Furthermore, the implications for supporting further educational aspirations when working with young adults are discussed. ","PeriodicalId":37080,"journal":{"name":"International Journal for Research in Vocational Education and Training","volume":"14 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2022-03-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"87863215","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Political Economy of Skill Formation in a Rentier State: The Case of Oman","authors":"M. Langthaler, S. Wolf, T. Schnitzler","doi":"10.13152/ijrvet.9.1.2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.13152/ijrvet.9.1.2","url":null,"abstract":"Context: Against a backdrop of dwindling oil resources and increasing unemployment rates, the government of Oman has set out to diversify its industry and establish a knowledge-based economy. In this context, forming a highly-skilled Omani workforce is considered to be of crucial importance. Yet, the national TVET system suffers from low social status, poor quality, and limited labour market connectivity. This paper offers an analysis of Oman's TVET system in the socio-economic and cultural context of a rentier state. Approach: We draw on the political economy of skills and socio-cultural approaches that understand TVET systems and the broader skills regimes in which they are embedded as part and expression of particular patterns of the social organisation of work. This helps to locate TVET systems' strengths and weaknesses in the context of their underlying social relations instead of considering them as mere dysfunctionalities at the systemic level. This paper draws on an unpublished study on TVET for industrialisation commissioned by an Omani line ministry in cooperation with an international organisation. For this study, the authors carried out a literature review, undertook two field trips to Oman in 2018 and 2019 and conducted forty semi-structured interviews with stakeholders from government, private companies, business associations, and TVET and higher education institutions. Findings: Our analysis highlights how skill formation in Oman is shaped by the socio-economic and cultural context of the Omani rentier state. First, the availability of cheap expatriate labour and Omanis' traditional preference for public sector jobs culminate in poor incentives for employing Omani nationals in the private sector. Second, reluctant employer attitudes towards national skill formation deepen quality issues in the TVET system, especially with regard to work-based training. This reinforces negative perceptions of the local workforce, which in turn contribute to biased employment patterns. Both social processes mutually reinforce each other, eventually preventing the emergence of strong national skill formation dynamics. \u0000Conclusions: While immediate structural change appears challenging, it is evident that reforms of the TVET system alone will not lead to its sustainable improvement. More research into how skill formation relates to Oman's specific socio-economic structures, how employment dynamics relate to educational credentials and how cultural traditions shape educational and work practices is needed. ","PeriodicalId":37080,"journal":{"name":"International Journal for Research in Vocational Education and Training","volume":"13 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2022-02-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"82342979","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Theory of Human Relatedness as a Potential Underlying Causative Mechanism in Nursing Student Placement Experiences: A UK-Based Critical Realist Study","authors":"P. Coleman","doi":"10.13152/ijrvet.9.1.3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.13152/ijrvet.9.1.3","url":null,"abstract":"Context: This study, underpinned by Critical Realism, re-analysed interview data acquired to examine the views and experiences of four stakeholder groups involved in the delivery of employer-sponsored pre-registration nursing programmes offered by a UK university in which all students already held an appointment as a non-registrant carer and who completed their placements within a block or integrated practicum framework. The re-analysis focused on the extent to which this interview data aligned with the key propositions of the Theory of Human Relatedness and therefore whether this theory, congruent with assertions based on the results of an earlier realist synthesis, might provide a causative explanation of factors affecting nursing student placement experiences. Methods: Semi-structured, digitally recorded and professionally transcribed interviews, each lasting approximately 30 minutes, were held with a purposive sample of 37, predominantly female, respondents in 4 stakeholder groups involved in employer-sponsored pre-registration nursing programmes. These stakeholder groups were students, employers, mentors, and practice tutors and were associated with programme provision within twelve healthcare organisations in northern England. Results: Although more modest in some areas, data provides support for every key proposition identified within the Theory of Human Relatedness; suggesting this theory may closely reflect the criteria that stakeholders implicitly employ to evaluate placement models. More respondents in all groups described the block practicum model in ways that suggest it is best able to promote a sense of connectedness, belonging and synchrony for learners. In contrast, an integrated placement design was portrayed in terms that implied it may increase the risk of disconnectedness but might also be more likely to promote reciprocity. Insufficient data was available to identify the perceived effect of either practicum design in respect of enmeshment, parallelism, and mutuality. Conclusion: The results of this research suggest that a block placement may foster more positive relatedness experiences for students and other stakeholders within nursing programmes. Moreover, the extent to which a practicum framework is perceived to promote connectedness, belonging, reciprocity and mutuality, to minimise disconnectedness and enmeshment and to reduce the need for parallelism may underpin stakeholder appraisal of the two practicum frameworks. Little research regarding the effect of placement duration and intensity on student learning within pre-registration healthcare programmes or the application of the Theory of Human Relatedness to practicum experiences, however, has been undertaken to date and such investigation is complicated by inconsistent terminology to describe practicum designs. It is argued that further academic enquiry within both fields should be a priority for healthcare educators; not least because it may provide further insights i","PeriodicalId":37080,"journal":{"name":"International Journal for Research in Vocational Education and Training","volume":"17 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2022-02-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"86632697","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Swedish Vocational Adult Education in the Wake of Marketisation","authors":"Per Andersson, K. Muhrman","doi":"10.13152/ijrvet.9.1.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.13152/ijrvet.9.1.1","url":null,"abstract":"Context: This study is about vocational education and training for adults within municipal adult education (MAE). Sweden has a long tradition of adult education, and has one of the world's highest proportions of participants in adult education. The Swedish education system is characterised by extensive marketisation with many private actors, particularly in adult education. The focus of this article is on the enactment of the market orientation in vocational adult education, with the purpose of showing how vocational adult education is organised in different ways in Swedish municipalities and how national adult education policy is enacted in local VET practices. Methods: The data consist of documents presenting relevant national policies for adult education, in particular on vocational education, and semi-structured interviews with adult education leaders in 20 municipalities. Findings: The findings show that MAE in Sweden has a clear labour market focus on offering education that corresponds to working life's labour requirements. Most municipalities have a shortage of staff in elderly care and childcare, which is why they offer a large number of training places in these professions. Many immigrants choose these training programmes to get a job. It is also common for municipalities to offer these training programmes in combination with SFI (Swedish for immigrants). This means that MAE fulfils an important function for integration. VET in MAE is offered as school-based training, apprenticeships or distance education. Offering VET at a distance makes it possible to provide a wider range of training programmes, and enables people who have difficulties participating in on-site training (due to commitments such as work or young children) to take part. Apprenticeship training provides work experience and often leads to employment. However, a weak interest in apprenticeship training among students and difficulties finding apprenticeship placements are examples of reasons why the number of apprenticeships is often very limited. Conclusion: Swedish MAE is characterised by flexibility and a broad supply of courses. However, there is a clear focus on certain vocational areas – mainly within the municipal organisation. This gives reason to question whether publicly funded VET for adults should mainly prepare participants for publicly funded labour-market sectors, or whether other sectors could also benefit from newly trained adults. Since vocational training within MAE is of great importance for immigrants' establishment in the labour market, there is a risk that unilateral investments in certain vocations will limit immigrants' career opportunities. ","PeriodicalId":37080,"journal":{"name":"International Journal for Research in Vocational Education and Training","volume":"283 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2022-02-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"78693640","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Scoping Review on Research at the Boundary Between Learning and Working: A Bibliometric Mapping Analysis of the Last Decade","authors":"M. Gessler, C. Nägele, B. Stalder","doi":"10.13152/ijrvet.8.4.8","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.13152/ijrvet.8.4.8","url":null,"abstract":"Context: The research field at the boundary between learning and working is multidimensional, fuzzy, dynamic, and characterized by high growth. A study that comprehensively maps and aggregates this research field is missing. Approach: Using tools of bibliometric analysis (bibliographic coupling, co-citation analysis and co-occurrence analysis), we map the research at the boundary between learning and working in a scoping review study. Our study considers peer-reviewed articles published between 2011 and 2020 and recorded in Scopus. In total, 5,474 articles are included in our analysis. Findings: Focusing on the intellectual structure of the research field, we identified the most publishing and most cited countries, journals, and authors, as well as latent collaborative networks among countries, journals, and authors. Furthermore, we used references and keywords to identify the conceptual structure of the research field and distinguished four types of conceptual clusters: motor clusters, highly developed and isolated clusters, emerging or declining clusters, and basic and transversal clusters.Conclusions: Research at the boundary between learning and working is highly parcelled out internationally. This scientific parcelling represents a disadvantage for exchanging ideas and accumulating knowledge. In addition to forming a parcelled field, a dividing line runs between centre, periphery and excluded countries and scientists. Especially scientists from developing countries and nations, economies in transition and those from post-conflict situations are excluded from the international discourse. This situation is more than just a disadvantage for the exchange of ideas and the accumulation of knowledge. Instead, there is a systematic bias in the research landscape here. ","PeriodicalId":37080,"journal":{"name":"International Journal for Research in Vocational Education and Training","volume":"48 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2021-12-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"84443980","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Gendered Vocational Identities – Female Students' Strategies for Identity Formation During Workplace-Based Learning in Male-Dominated Work","authors":"Lisa Ferm, M. Gustavsson","doi":"10.13152/ijrvet.8.3.4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.13152/ijrvet.8.3.4","url":null,"abstract":"Purpose: This article investigates female vocational students' strategies for becoming part of a workplace community, what these strategies are and how they are tied to the formation of vocational identities within male-dominated industrial work. Of particular interest is how female students enrolled on Swedish upper secondary industrial programmes experience workplace-based learning at industrial workplaces as part of their vocational education. The theoretical framework derives from Wenger's concept of community of practice, but his theoretical concept does not explicitly include gender dimensions. Therefore, the concept of community of practice is also combined with Paechter's assumption of gender, whereby femininity and masculinity can be considered as different communities of practice. Methods: The article draws on evidence from a Swedish study based on interviews with 20 female students enrolled on the industrial programme at six upper secondary schools. In this vocational programme, there is a distinct gender distribution and only a small minority of the students on the programme are girls. In the analysis, the focus is on the female students' strategies used during workplace-based learning to become part of the work community which consists almost exclusively of male workers.Findings: The female students deliberately negotiated vocational identities as female industrial workers to become accepted in the male-dominated work community. The findings highlight three specific strategies that the female students used: Acting like gender does not matter, acting like boys (not like drama queens), and acting tough and joking around. The female students' strategies were part of – and tied to – a complex vocational identity formation process that featured contradictory requirements. By taking individual responsibility, they identified relevant information for becoming industrial workers and chose to act like boys. The female students saw no problem with being a girl, yet they struggled with implicit, diffuse and hidden gender structures and prejudices in the male-dominated industrial companies. Nevertheless, they strived for what they perceived to be an attractive vocational identity as industrial workers; it was an alternative, atypically feminine way of being that attracted the female students. Conclusions: The study concludes that female students mostly rely on their individual agency when interacting with others in the male-dominated workplace community. A \"gendered vocational identity\" is formed which shows that the identity formation of female students is a complex double process, in which vocational and gender identities are formed simultaneously and in parallel within the male-dominated workplace. ","PeriodicalId":37080,"journal":{"name":"International Journal for Research in Vocational Education and Training","volume":"6 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2021-12-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"89382447","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Miriam Toepper, O. Zlatkin‐Troitschanskaia, C. Kühling-Thees
{"title":"Research in International Transfer of Vocational Education and Training – A Systematic Literature Review","authors":"Miriam Toepper, O. Zlatkin‐Troitschanskaia, C. Kühling-Thees","doi":"10.13152/ijrvet.8.4.7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.13152/ijrvet.8.4.7","url":null,"abstract":"Context: The transfer of vocational education and training (VET) has a long tradition and can be based on various conceptual and methodical approaches. Transfer process and success can be influenced by numerous factors at different levels (systemic, institutional and individual). However, the existing research on the challenges and success factors of VET transfer is very heterogenous and fragmented. Method: To provide a comprehensive and structured overview of the current state of the international research on transfer in the context of VET, we conducted a literature review, which is presented here. Using the method of systematic literature review, a total of 231 studies were found and 41 studies were selected based on the defined criteria for full text analysis. Findings: Various specific research foci and analytical approaches used on the included studies were identified and documented. The transfer of a dual VET system or its elements is based on different approaches and perspectives of the recipient country and the transferee. Major challenges for the transfer of dual VET systems include the social reputation of VET in the recipient countries and (language- and culture-related) communication difficulties between the involved parties. For a successful transfer of VET, a deeper knowledge of the contextual conditions in the recipient country are of particular importance, as well as a close, longstanding cooperation between the involved parties. Conclusion: The generated knowledge about key contextual conditions at the individual, company and systemic level in the context of VET transfer can provide a valuable basis for future VET cooperation. ","PeriodicalId":37080,"journal":{"name":"International Journal for Research in Vocational Education and Training","volume":"27 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2021-12-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"76886808","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Programs' Efficacy to Develop Employable Skills for People With Functional Diversity: A Meta-Analysis","authors":"C. Gonzálvez, Fernando Marhuenda-Fluixá","doi":"10.13152/ijrvet.8.3.3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.13152/ijrvet.8.3.3","url":null,"abstract":"Purpose: Promoting the labour integration of people with functional diversity is a key element to achieve their social inclusion. This meta-analysis aims to examine the effectiveness of experimental programs in developing employable skills for people with disabilities. Methods: Literature searches up to June 2019 were conducted in four databases (Web of Science, Scopus, PsycINFO and ERIC). Studies that met the following criteria were selected: (1) The program should develop employable skills; (2) the participants should be people with functional diversity; (3) the study should have a design with an experimental group and a control group as well as pretest and posttest measurements; (4) the study had to provide enough data to calculate the effect sizes; and (5) the study had to be written in English or Spanish. 67 independent studies met the selection criteria, among 14 articles published between 1998 and 2019. Results: The results revealed mean effect sizes in favour of the experimental group for the set of all studies according to data reported by people with functional diversity, as well as according their relatives and teachers. The two dimensions of the programs with a significant effect size in favour of the experimental group were interview skills and career planning. Furthermore, it was found that the programs showed a higher degree of effectiveness in groups formed only by people with intellectual disabilities, with a lower educational level, whose duration ranged from six to twelve months. This was particularly the case with participants from Spain and Australia. Conclusion: Promoting the labour insertion of people with disability is a key element to achieve their social inclusion. Programs that support and develop employability and that are conducted upon experimental conditions do have a positive impact upon young people with functional diversity. Upon the results, we discuss practical implications for integrating disabled persons into the labour market. ","PeriodicalId":37080,"journal":{"name":"International Journal for Research in Vocational Education and Training","volume":"16 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2021-12-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79137903","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}