Improving the Flow of Information Between Universities, Youth, and the Labor Market to Enhance Learning and Workforce Development

Improving the Flow of Information Between Universities, Youth, and the Labor Market to Enhance Learning and Workforce Development

Finished Projects

2010

Partners

Birzeit University CDS implemented this project in partnership with Souktel and Harvard University. The work was funded through a grant administered by the Quality Improvement Fund (QIF) – Ministry of Education and Higher Education and funded by the World Bank and EC.

Project goals

The CDS YouthFutures project strengthens Palestinian universities, students, and the labor market by improving universities’ ability to offer high-quality study and work information to students across the West Bank and Gaza.  Through pioneering research and the development of pilot database tools to gather, analyze, and disseminate work/study data, CDS worked with Souktel to transform the school-to-work transition process for Palestinian youth—and enable universities to provide greater job-relevant training.

General description.

The Youth Futures project involved two major activities: The Employability Development Information Study (EDIS), first-ever research initiative to trace the entire arc of tertiary school-to-work transitions—from entry into college, to college-level study decision-making, to exit from college into the workforce. Through focus groups, interviews, and quantitative data collection, this study assesses key information challenges faced by students making study and job decisions, and track 400 new graduates throughout their first year in the labor force. The Work/Study Information Database (WID) activity leverage sthese findings to create a web/mobile phone-accessible Study Search Engine and Job Match Engine—which enabled universities, students, and employers to exchange program-of-study information and organize internships/job interviews during the 12-month pilot phase.