Personal Empowerment Workshops and Targeted Vocational Training Model
RCTReview
Vulnerable individuals at risk of poverty experience low self-esteem and unproactive job search behaviors, which hinders their ability to participate effectively in vocational training or enter competitive labor markets.
Picture this
Attempting to teach new technical skills to someone who lacks belief in their own abilities is like building a house on soft sand. Running short empowerment workshops acts like compacting the ground beneath the foundation, giving participants the psychological strength and proactivity needed to engage in intensive job training and internships.
What the evidence says
Vocational training improved participant resilience, job search proactivity, organization, and overall job search behaviors, while empowerment workshops boosted job search motivation and proactivity; however, neither intervention increased short-term employment probability.
- Who was studied
- 365 working-age individuals in 327 families at risk of poverty in Santander, Spain (73 Treatment 1, 47 Treatment 2, 68 Treatment 3, 177 comparison).
- How
- Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT) evaluating 15 hours of empowerment workshops (Treatment 1), 50–80 hours of intensive vocational training with a 20-hour internship (Treatment 2), or a combined intervention (Treatment 3) over 2 months.
What to do
Deliver 15-hour personal empowerment workshops prior to or alongside 50-80 hours of targeted vocational training to improve job search proactivity and psychological resilience among individuals at risk of poverty.
From the source
"The vocational training improved resilience, an overall indicator of job search behaviours and attitudes, as well as proactivity, organisation, and behaviour in job searching. The workshops enhanced overall job search behaviours and attitudes, motivation, and proactivity in the job search."
promoting-labor-market-inclusion-policy-publication.pdf