Research project This project combines a realist evaluation with a concept mapping study to generate detailed and action-oriented insights into functioning of initiatives directed towards NEET situated young people.
The aim of this project is to explain how community-based initiatives for young people in NEET situation work, and why. The project also aims to identify structural and organizational issues that prevent the initiatives from supporting the group while contributing directions for improvements in close dialogue with stakeholders. Hence, this research will generate detailed evidence for policy and practice while providing an important knowledge base for forthcoming impact evaluations.
Young people who are not in employment, education, or training (NEET) constitute a heterogeneous group that share the experience of facing challenges in their school-to-work transition. While there are community-based initiatives in Sweden and beyond that work to support the group’s (re)engagement in the labor market and education system while promoting their well-being, there is a lack of evidence about how these efforts work, and why. In addition, there is currently a dearth of knowledge about structural and organizational conditions that influence the functioning of these initiatives.
To explain how community-based initiatives for young people in NEET situations work, and why a national case study will first be conducted. Specifically, using a realist evaluation approach, data collected through observations, interviews, documents, and statistics from initiatives in eight Swedish municipalities will be analyzed. A realist synthesis will then be conducted to situate the Swedish findings in a broader international context.
To identify structural and organizational issues that prevent community-based initiatives from properly supporting young people in NEET situations and contribute directions for improvements, a concept mapping study will be conducted. Using this participatory approach, stakeholders will be engaged in a co-creation process moving from joint problem formulation to joint problem solving.
