BU Research Blog

According to the World Economic Forum, the top in-demand skills by 2025 will include creativity, problem-solving, active learning, initiative, and flexibility. However, the OECD’s 2021 Survey of Socio-Emotional Skills shows that adolescents, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds, report lower skills like creativity and curiosity, emphasising the importance of early interventions for young people to prevent them from being marginalised or excluded from the labour market in the future.

The compulsory closure of schools following the pandemic altered the conventional teaching and learning landscape. Despite the instant and shared shock of the pandemic, the swiftness of young people’s adjustment to remote learning differed across family, regional, and socio-economic contexts. The absence of a structured in-school learning environment necessitated the question of young people’s ability to self-direct their learning and cope with sudden changes, indicating the relevance of socio-emotional competencies.

Also, the loss of direct supervision meant that teachers alone could not guarantee students learning during the pandemic, emphasising the value of a collaborative approach to learning.

Young people’s well-being and employment outcomes should be central to the educational recovery agenda following the pandemic. Evidence from the SPEED-You-UP project shows that alternative education programmes are effective in realising better well-being and employment outcomes for NEET young people and those at risk of being NEET in schools and socio-economically challenged communities. The project implemented a co-creation model in which young people worked with peers, youth sector coaches, and business owners to develop business ideas and create business pop-ups.

According to a member of staff in one of the schools that participated in the project:

“SPEED-You-UP has benefitted our students by improving their knowledge of self. They can now identify what skills they possess for future endeavours. It also showed them that anything is possible. They are more positive in their outlook, confident, and work better in groups.”

The programme’s collaborative and entrepreneurship education approach facilitated young people’s teamwork, creativity, and entrepreneurial thinking skills and improved their self-confidence to reengage with education and work. SPEED-You-UP also implemented the coaching method as a way to foster young people’s agency, autonomy, and active participation in their learning.

Strategies for improving young people’s well-being and transition into work are particularly relevant for at-risk young people who face barriers to their prospects. Barriers such as low socio-economic background, limited access to role models, and caring responsibilities could result in irregular school attendance, disengagement, self-doubt, and pessimism about their future life chances.

A critical post-pandemic question is how are schools, universities, and local training services responding to young people’s well-being needs and equipping them for the transformations in the labour market?

If you have any questions about the SPEED-You-UP project or are interested in potential collaboration, please get in touch.

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Written by Dr Esther Anwuzia on behalf of the BU SPEED-You-UP team.