Labour mobility in the European Union : career guidance implications

Abstract

This study has to do with the lifelong career implications of the Gozitan new entrants into the labour market within the dynamics of labour mobility in European Union. I will endeavor to present a comprehensive overview of this new scenario in the European Union and the way things are evolving. This goes together with an insight into the advantages and opportunities available in this regard, taking also into consideration the setbacks and the facilitating measures put into action in an attempt to overcome them. Against all this background, this study will attempt to provide a thorough grounding in lifelong career guidance. Essential in this regard will be the highlight of the problems encountered in this profession, the way career guidance practitioners are gearing up for this new scenario, and the way ahead. In chapter two a literature review is carried out to address a range of different developments. There are undoubtedly many more theories or practices that could have been incorporated in my work. I think what is crucial here is to recognize that in the wake of labour mobility across EU countries new developments are occurring in many different stages of careers development. These are both exciting and challenging times for career theorists and practitioners. Hopefully some of this excitement and change will find its way into the training and preparation of career guidance practitioners. The aim here is to highlight a number of issues from which some research questions are determined. Chapter three has to do with the research design. I opted for a qualitative research method since I think that this is the best way to capture how people think about career development and labour mobility which is the main domain of this research. These studies allowed me to deepen, discriminate, clarify participants' conceptions on the subject while they draw from their own constructivism. For this purpose, focus groups were organized with students and semi structured interviews with guidance practitioners. The central concern of chapter four is to gain an understanding and an analysis from the findings of how young people feel about the geography of labour market opportunities in Europe and the countries they are prepared to work in. This concern was addressed by examining the key features of mental maps of young Gozitans, by investigating the geographical extent of likely/actual job search. The findings from the interviews with guidance practitioners were analyzed in the light of current reforms the profession itself is undergoing. There was also an interest in identifying the subjective behavioural factors that influence young people's choices about which jobs should be sought where. The findings are compiled in a way to comply with or otherwise contrast theories highlighted in the literature review in an attempt to broaden the insight on the career guidance profession and the ways of its workings in Gozo. This study is intended to contribute to an understanding of how the career guidance profession should be undergoing restructuring in the light of the new realities in the EU member states. I very much hope that the information and analysis about the career guidance profession contained in this study will prove useful in the search for socially acceptable forms of anticipating and managing change in a time like ours - a complex one of rapid change without precedent. This, therefore, necessitates a major rethink of guidance and support services designed to meet the aspirations of young people. In Chapter five, The Canadian "Blueprint for Life/Work Design" is recommended as model framework for the Malta and Gozo. It provides a foundation for integration and infusion of career building and career management competencies into school counseling programmes to effectively prepare students for labour mobility.