An initiative inaugurating a collaboration between the Rodolfo Debenedetti Foundation and UniCredit Foundation to implement a three-year project aimed at testing innovative solutions to improve access to employment for young vocational school graduates has kicked off.
On Feb. 1, an initiative on the topic of school-to-work transition was held in Milan at Bocconi University. The focus of the project is on vocational school students and their difficult integration into the labor market.
This event inaugurates the collaboration between the Rodolfo Debenedetti Foundation and UniCredit Foundation to implement a three-year program aimed at testing innovative solutions to improve access to employment for young vocational school graduates. Specifically, the collaboration involves the implementation of a pilot intervention in the 2023/2024 school year, in which the effectiveness of job search guidance services provided by private labor market intermediaries will be tested.
Specifically, the project, which aims to measure the impact of the counseling program on students' employment rates in the months following graduation, will tentatively involve 80 schools, more than 1,000 students and about 200 teachers, with job counseling activities and faculty trainings.
To this end, a counterfactual evaluation of the program will also be implemented through a comparison between students who benefited from the counseling services and teacher trainings (treatment group) and a comparison group of students who did not participate in the intervention (control group).
Silvia Cappellini, General Manager of UniCredit Foundation said, "We at UniCredit Foundation believe that education is essential to protect our future and that investing in young people is crucial to ensure the development of the whole society. Therefore, we are extremely proud of this collaboration, which makes academic research the foundation for a proven intervention alongside 1,200 students and 200 vocational school teachers in the delicate school-to-work transition, giving them the tools they need to build a better future for themselves and their communities."
Tito Boeri, Scientific Advisor of the Rodolfo Debenedetti Foundation, commented, "Vocational school is one of the most fragile sectors of the Italian school system. Although in principle it prepares for early entry into the world of work, this transition often takes place with difficulty. Of particular concern is the high number of inactive people, even several years after graduation. With this project we hope to offer students some more tools to guide them in their search for employment and to better enter the labor market."