Transitions into work for young people with complex needs: a systematic review of UK and Ireland studies to improve employability

Sport-for-employability as an innovative practice in addressing youth underemployment in sub-Saharan Africa

Youth unemployment reflects the lack of economic growth and prosperity for many nations in sub-Saharan Africa where the average age of the population is estimated to be 24 years in 2050. The study generates insights informed by preliminary findings of an ambitious 6-month government-funded "youth employment program" in South Africa. The paper reports on qualitative data emanating from two field visits per organization providing the baseline of this national project as the researcher had been tasked to develop the monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) system. About 4,000 of this population are from Special Olympics and comprise of youth with complex needs, while the baseline focus on 45 youth as part of the unified leadership initiative (partnering with a mainstream individual). The MEL system allows for a mixed-method approach, but the paper draws on narrative data obtained during field visits where 10 managers were interviewed and 47 youth interns (42.5% men and 57.5% women) took part in focus group discussions. The interview and focus group questions explored their work-related histories and profiles, current involvement with a structured program, experiences, perceptions, expectations, and pragmatic recommendations. Emerging themes and analysis report five main themes that refer to (i) personal employment histories, (ii) local embeddedness, (iii) a typology of work, (iv) program benefits, and (v) enablers and goal setting. Contextual realities shaped the agency of all research participants, but promising results show positive outcomes of soft skills associated with the level of employability and job-seeking strategies.

Exploration of Strategies for Organic Integration of Labor Education and Occupational Therapy for College Students

This paper analyzes the actual functions of the labor education and occupational therapy phase through an in-depth study of labor education and occupational therapy for college students and explores the strategies of organic integration of labor education and occupational therapy for college students. This paper carries out a holistic theoretical construction of labor education in schools and systematically analyzes the components of labor education objectives in colleges and universities, labor education contents in schools, labor education implementation in schools, and labor education evaluation in schools. The main goal of labor education in colleges and universities is to guide students in establishing a scientific concept of labor and constructing a labor education resource system. It focuses on strengthening the construction and improvement of the labor education theoretical system, promoting the construction of labor education disciplines and professional courses, and attaching importance to the training of labor education teachers in the new era to contribute to the perfection of labor education. The system of labor education practice should be innovated. Of course, the labor practice activities based on institutionalization should be implemented. The cycle of labor activities based on the principle of continuity should be strengthened, and the effectiveness of labor education should be improved totally from explicit and implicit instructions. The core of occupational therapy is to help college students adapt to social work, give full play to their self-worth, obtain economic resources, and improve self-confidence. The organic integration of labor education and occupational therapy shows that it can help students ease their social adaptability and adapt to social functions, improve the reemployment rate, and improve students' overall health. Therefore, the practical research on labor education and occupational therapy should be strengthened.