Article 2025

Internship: Breaking the vicious unemployment cycle for vulnerable youth

KC
Kwan, Chi Kin
 SM
Shum, Michelle H.Y.
 CT
Chu, Tingting
 SL
San Ling Ng, Nabi Kate
Children and Youth Services Review
Journal · Vol. 169 · Art. 108122
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. © 2025 Elsevier Ltd

Keywords

Author Keywords

Internship employability NEET School-to-work transition Vulnerable youth

Index Keywords

adult human Article juvenile young adult employability Job market mentor unemployment Work experience adverse drug reaction case manager side effect work capacity
Author Affiliations
City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Funding & Acknowledgements
No funding information
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