Young people's educational and employment profile in vocational initial programmes

The transition to adulthood is a complex process especially for unskilled young people who do not have the personal resources to function effectively in the educational contexts or in the workplace. Vocational initial programmes become a second chance for them, who are looking for new opportunities to access education in order to obtain a decent job in the future. This paper shows a qualitative study focuses on describing the educational and employment profile of young people in Catalan Vocational Initial programmes from the perspective of 16 tutors, nine entrepreneurs and 228 youths enrolled in 17 vocational initial programmes in seven municipalities of Barcelona, in order to learn more about their profile and their educational and job expectations, and thus try to contribute to their understanding. The results of data analysis from interviews carried out with the participants describe a young people's initial under qualified educational and employment profile that influences their entry into these programmes and show how those also influence on these group of young people. Within the framework of these programmes, young people start it changing and find a support for returning to formal education and reconsidering their choice of education and employment as well as their prospects.