University traineeship play a significant role in integrating young people into the workforce and acquiring professional skills. These periods of training in a work environment offer unique opportunities for students to gain practical skills and develop a direct understanding of professional activities and dynamics in their field of interest.
According to an April 2023 Eurobarometer survey titled “Integration of young people into the labour market with particular focus on traineeships“, 78% of young people surveyed across the EU have done at least one traineeship, and about 1 in 5 young people surveyed (19%) categorise their first work experience as a traineeship. 68% of respondents found a job following a traineeship, with 39% continued working for the same employer.
Practical experience is therefore helpful in the transition process from university to work; however, for traineeships to be truly effective, it is essential to focus on the quality of experiences and their accessibility to all. This implies not only ensuring an instructional working environment but also providing adequate support and mentoring to students.
Three-quarters of respondents agree that, during their most recent traineeship, they could turn to a mentor for help and for explanations on how to do the work, highlighting the importance of such support in training of young people.
The project MILEAGE aims to intervene to ensure the educational quality of traineeships and ensure that every young person has the opportunity to realize their potential in the job market. To this end, it will develop a specific support program to accompany students in the Student/Place of training/Traineeship project matching phase and to improve the mentoring, training, and evaluation processes during the traineeship. The testing of the MILEAGE model will involve internships to be carried out in third-sector organizations and will involve the training of academic tutors and tutors in host organizations.
Furthermore, it is crucial to promote the inclusion and accessibility of internships for all young people, regardless of their socio-economic, ethnic, or disability background. Unfortunately, such barriers often limit access to these opportunities. Therefore, it is essential to adopt practices to overcome these disparities and ensure that every young person receives support in building their career path. MILEAGE will contribute to a more personalized and effective educational experience: out of the 60 experimental traineeships that will be activated, 45 will involve students with fewer opportunities.
Project partners met on March 27 and 28 in Ljubljana to discuss the activating mechanisms for those traineeships that form a compulsory part of academic qualifications in the involved countries, plan the start of activities, and the involvement of the staff of partner universities: Univerza v Ljubljani (Slovenia), University of Palermo (Italy), and Oulun Yliopisto (Finland). In the coming months, training courses on the MILEAGE guidance, support, and mentoring system will be conducted for career counsellors and traineeship coordinators of universities and for mentors of the NGO interested in hosting interns in their facilities.
If you are interested in MILIAGE results to increase the quality of your university career counselling services or to improve the training and mentoring practices your organisation adopts when managing trainees, reach to our project manager Alessia Valenti: alessia.valenti@cesie.org for insights.
About the project
MILEAGE – Mentorship development for quality practices in higher education is a project funded by Erasmus+ – KA220-HED – Cooperation partnerships in higher education.
Partners
- UNIVERZA V LJUBLJANI (Slovenia, coordinator)
- KULTURNO IZOBRAZEVALNO DRUSTVO PINA (Slovenia)
- CESIE (Italy)
- UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI DI PALERMO (Italy)
- RAUHANKASVATUSINSTITUUTTI RY INSTITUTET FOR FREDSFOSTRAN RF (Finland)
- OULUN YLIOPISTO (Finland)
For further information
Read more about the project.
Contact Alessia Valenti: alessia.valenti@cesie.org.
