P-50 CVidere: Veien til utdanning og jobb.

The main message from this project is that providing young people at risk with opportunities to work and reflect on own success factors may lead to a feeling of mastery and motivation for future work.

Issue: In Norway as in other countries, many young people struggle with being unemployed or not receiving education or vocational training. In the southern region of Norway, these numbers are particularly high. The regional plan Agder 2030 emphasises that young people’s motivation and competence are to be strengthened. In addition, the plan for equality, inclusion, and diversity in Agder state that everyone is to have equal possibilities to participate in society. Families with immigrant backgrounds are mentioned as particularly exposed to end in poverty. Experience from voluntary work in Blue Cross Kristiansand confirms this, and many young people with immigrant backgrounds struggle with completing school and getting work experience.
Project: The project CVidere aims at dealing with the challenge of not in employment, education, or training (NEETS) by providing young people at risk, with working experience and group conversations to reflect on important issues in life. The project includes three modules: (a) I and my story; (b) I and the others; (c) I and the society. The first module includes reflection on own life and resources, the second module includes reflection on own role in social settings and participation in different activities, and the third includes reflection on own possibilities in the future and getting working experience. There is a collaboration with a local business and the youths receive a salary for their work. In the group conversations, a researchbased five-step method is applied (https://samm.uia.no), in which the youths identify what is important for them, their own success factors and possible obstacles, and then decide what they need to focus on and how to do this to achieve personal goals.
Results: The young people participating in this project express positive experiences. Preliminary results from evaluations in August 2021 show that of 39 respondents, all of them agreed that they were satisfied with the project, and that they managed to follow up their working practice. Thirty-five also agreed that the project had given them motivation to work more. 28 agreed that the project had given them the opportunity to be part of a social group. A young girl aged 17 years reflected ‘Jumping into something new is something I feel is good for me, considering that I can get a feeling of mastery [. . .] This is a feeling that was taken from me some time ago, and a feeling that I am longing for’. This is at the core of the project, giving young people a sense of mastery.
Lessons: This project shows that providing young people with opportunity to get working experience and reflect on their own success factors may lead to a feeling of mastery and motivation, which may prevent them from dropping out of school or ending in unemployment.