WorkAble - Making Capabilities Work
Short description
Making Capabilities Work - WorkAble - is a project within the seventh framework program coordinated by the University of Bielefeld, Germany. The project studies strategies aimed at strengthening young people's ability to actively influence and manage their lives and to meet the economic, cultural, demographic and technological challenges facing Europe. Through a comparative and interdisciplinary approach, WorkAble will analyze how and to what extent young people are able to participate in working life in other important social arenas.
The project's common theoretical framework is drawn from the Amartya Sens Capability Approach. Thirteen partners with different disciplinary backgrounds (pedagogy, sociology, economics, philosophy, political science and social work) from ten countries are participating in the project. WorkAble will investigate how young people's human capital, skills and wishes match what is demanded in the labor market. An important aspect is to study whether and how education systems help give young people the skills they need to meet a constantly changing labor market. The project is designed around three building blocks: a comparative institutional survey of education and labor market policies in different countries, case studies of local applications of education and labor market programs, and statistical analyzes of young people's education and labor market situation in today's Europe.
Researchers
Björn Halleröd, project leader
Gunilla Bergström Casinowski
Mattias Bengtsson
Hans Ekbrand