Experiencing the world of work. Project to improve the living situation of young refugees

Experiencing the world of work. Project to improve the living situation of young refugees

The project funded by “Aktion Mensch” pursues the primary goal of supporting the integration of refugees into the world of work. At the heart of the project are encounters between refugees, executives from several well-known companies in the Bonn area, students of Alanus University of Arts and Social Sciences in Alfter, volunteer staff members of the association “Training instead of Deportation,” and researchers from the German Institute for Adult Education. By bringing together business, academia, a training institution, young students, and refugees, this project has a strong multiplier effect.
Within this framework, the participating refugees not only gain their first experience with the application process, but also receive a draft of their own application documents in digital form after the project is completed. The students who carry out the project with the refugees not only gain insights into the situation of refugees, but also into the labor market and the application process. In addition, the students engage intensively with hermeneutic and phenomenological methods. These help them to perceive communication processes more clearly and optimize them. Through these direct encounters, executives learn to understand both the potential and the integration barriers that refugees face. These insights are passed on to the business world and will certainly bring about changes in how some executives interact with refugees. Since this project is also partially examined by the association “Training instead of Deportation” (AsA) with the participation of the German Institute for Adult Education, the project group hopes to gain new ideas regarding the effectiveness of these educational measures.
In summer 2018, the students who were involved in the project “Experiencing the world of work” will take part in a study that empirically tests the effectiveness of hermeneutic and phenomenological methods. This study is being conducted together with the University of Germersheim.
The project is funded by Aktion Mensch. Dr. John Stanley is the project supervisor, and responsibility on the part of the degree program management lies with Prof. Dr. Thomas Schmaus.
Project period: September 2017 – February 2018