Internship: Breaking the vicious unemployment cycle for vulnerable youth

Chi Kin Kwan; Michelle Hei Yan Shum; Ting Ting Chu; Nabi Kate San Ling Ng

doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2025.108122

Internship: Breaking the vicious unemployment cycle for vulnerable youth

Chi Kin Kwan^*
, Michelle Hei Yan Shum
, Ting Ting Chu
, Nabi Kate San Ling Ng

^*Corresponding author for this work

Department of Social and Behavioural Sciences

Research output: Journal Publications and Reviews › RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal › peer-review

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Abstract

Vulnerable youth are often trapped in the vicious circle of “no experience, no job; no job, no experience.” Internship programs may help them overcome this cycle through offering work experience. A BEAM model is proposed. It includes four essential attributes for enhancing employability, which most vulnerable youth often lack. This study examined a one-year internship program for vulnerable youth. The youth rated their work abilities, increasing from an average of 5.2 out of 10 before joining the program to 7.3 out of 10 after participating. Focus group sessions were also conducted in two rounds with the vulnerable youth (N:18), along with their mentors (N:14) who work with them, and case managers (N:10) who offered guidance. Results show that this approach is promising and it is worth offering targeted internship training opportunities for this group of young people in order to prepare them for entry into the labor market. © 2025 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Original language	English
Article number	108122
Journal	Children and Youth Services Review
Volume	169
Online published	6 Jan 2025
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2025.108122
Publication status	Published - Feb 2025

Funding

The authors would like to acknowledge Hong Kong Young Women’s Christian Association for supporting this research project.

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 4 Quality Education
SDG 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth

Research Keywords

Employability
Internship
NEET
School-to-work transition
Vulnerable youth

Publisher's Copyright Statement

This full text is made available under CC-BY-NC 4.0. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

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title = "Internship: Breaking the vicious unemployment cycle for vulnerable youth",

abstract = "Vulnerable youth are often trapped in the vicious circle of “no experience, no job; no job, no experience.” Internship programs may help them overcome this cycle through offering work experience. A BEAM model is proposed. It includes four essential attributes for enhancing employability, which most vulnerable youth often lack. This study examined a one-year internship program for vulnerable youth. The youth rated their work abilities, increasing from an average of 5.2 out of 10 before joining the program to 7.3 out of 10 after participating. Focus group sessions were also conducted in two rounds with the vulnerable youth (N:18), along with their mentors (N:14) who work with them, and case managers (N:10) who offered guidance. Results show that this approach is promising and it is worth offering targeted internship training opportunities for this group of young people in order to prepare them for entry into the labor market. {\textcopyright} 2025 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.",

keywords = "Employability, Internship, NEET, School-to-work transition, Vulnerable youth",

author = "Kwan, \{Chi Kin\} and Shum, \{Michelle Hei Yan\} and Chu, \{Ting Ting\} and Ng, \{Nabi Kate San Ling\}",

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AU - Kwan, Chi Kin

AU - Shum, Michelle Hei Yan

AU - Chu, Ting Ting

AU - Ng, Nabi Kate San Ling

PY - 2025/2

Y1 - 2025/2

N2 - Vulnerable youth are often trapped in the vicious circle of “no experience, no job; no job, no experience.” Internship programs may help them overcome this cycle through offering work experience. A BEAM model is proposed. It includes four essential attributes for enhancing employability, which most vulnerable youth often lack. This study examined a one-year internship program for vulnerable youth. The youth rated their work abilities, increasing from an average of 5.2 out of 10 before joining the program to 7.3 out of 10 after participating. Focus group sessions were also conducted in two rounds with the vulnerable youth (N:18), along with their mentors (N:14) who work with them, and case managers (N:10) who offered guidance. Results show that this approach is promising and it is worth offering targeted internship training opportunities for this group of young people in order to prepare them for entry into the labor market. © 2025 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

AB - Vulnerable youth are often trapped in the vicious circle of “no experience, no job; no job, no experience.” Internship programs may help them overcome this cycle through offering work experience. A BEAM model is proposed. It includes four essential attributes for enhancing employability, which most vulnerable youth often lack. This study examined a one-year internship program for vulnerable youth. The youth rated their work abilities, increasing from an average of 5.2 out of 10 before joining the program to 7.3 out of 10 after participating. Focus group sessions were also conducted in two rounds with the vulnerable youth (N:18), along with their mentors (N:14) who work with them, and case managers (N:10) who offered guidance. Results show that this approach is promising and it is worth offering targeted internship training opportunities for this group of young people in order to prepare them for entry into the labor market. © 2025 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

KW - Employability

KW - Internship

KW - NEET

KW - School-to-work transition

KW - Vulnerable youth

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DO - 10.1016/j.childyouth.2025.108122

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JO - Children and Youth Services Review

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ER -

Internship: Breaking the vicious unemployment cycle for vulnerable youth

Abstract

Funding

UN SDGs

Research Keywords

Publisher's Copyright Statement

Access Output

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