Inclusive Career Guidance (ICG)

Career transitions are defining life moments that steer one’s professional direction (Elffers, 2016). However, the shift from study to work is disproportionately challenging for people with disabilities, who remain a disadvantaged group across the EU (Eurofound, 2018). This demographic frequently faces unequal opportunities, overqualification, and systemic discrimination (Van der Zwan et al., 2020).

While vocational education and training (VET) systems prioritize career guidance, existing support often fails to be sufficiently inclusive. Research shows that students with disabilities require specialized guidance to not only develop workplace skills but also to navigate the labor market and secure suitable employment.

This project addresses this gap by creating inclusive career guidance frameworks. Our goal is to facilitate smoother transitions, ensuring students with disabilities have the tools to both find and retain meaningful work, ultimately fostering equal accessibility in the labor market.

Objectives: 
With this project we aim to support the employability of students with disabilities. We do this by ensuring they receive appropriate career guidance during their vocational training & education (VET), in such a way that supports their transition into the workplace. To do so, we aim to provide VET schools with necessary knowledge and tools to help facilitate career guidance that is inclusive and links in-education career guidance to the post graduation transition into the labour market.

Main activities:
We’ll first research inclusive career guidance in VET organisations across Europe to understand its current practices. This will help identify conditions for effective guidance in different cultural contexts. Next, we’ll map the student life cycle and identify best practices, gaps, and links to the labor market. Based on this, we’ll co-create a toolkit with students and VET professionals to guide inclusive career support and smooth transitions into the labor market for students with disabilities.

Expected results: 
– Research paper & translated summary on inclusive career guidance in VETs
– Roadmaps outlining career guidance for students with disabilities
– Summary of existing tools & best practices
– Toolkit for career guidance professionals
– Dissemination plan & evaluation reports

Partners: 
CINOP B.V  (NL)
Stichting voor Beroepsonderwijs, Volwasseneneducat ie en Algemeen voortgezet onderwijs in Friesland en Flevoland (NL)
Tartu Vocational College (EE)
Suomen Diakoniaopisto SDO OY (FI)
Göteborgs Stad Vägledningscentrum (SE)

Duration: 
01.09.2025 – 31.08.2028

Project manager:
Kaire Mets (kaire.mets@voco.ee)