Researcher Heads Project in the Startchancen Program

Photo: Universität Hamburg / Esfandiari Kira Weber heads a project flanking the
Photo: Universität Hamburg / Esfandiari Kira Weber heads a project flanking the Startchancen program at the University of Hamburg.

Career counseling in schools University of Hamburg Researcher Heads Project in the Startchancen Program

The Federal Ministry of Education and Research has granted a total of ¤100 million to provide scientific evaluations of and support for the Startchancen program. Kira Weber from the Faculty of Education will receive ¤600,000 of that grant money in the first funding period for her project to take stock of and improve career counseling at the participating schools.

The Federal and State Governments are providing ¤20 billion over the next 10 years for the Startchancen Program. The money will benefit schools with a large number of disadvantaged students. The measure also includes comprehensive scientific guidance and evaluation.

The University of Hamburg is one of 19 institutions that will be analyzing, evaluating, and shaping the program based on research findings. Kira Weber’s project, which is being funded with ¤600,000 over the next 5 years, will begin in October.

The scientific work, which is being coordinated by the Leibniz Institute for Research and Information in Education , will be conducted in 5 centers, among other places. These centers will lend support to the states, individual schools, and teaching staff throughout implementation. Topics include data-driven quality development; transferable skills training; career counseling; multiprofessional school development in social contexts, language education, and mathematics.

Weber is doing her research in a center focusing on transferable skills and career orientation headed Dirk Richter from the University of Potsdam. The center’s various projects focus on the transition from school to vocational training, especially for students who are at a disadvantage for socioeconomic reasons or migration-related issues. "Deciding what they want to do later professionally is very difficult for many young people today, also because changes in society are so dynamic and involve a great deal of uncertainty," Weber says.

To strengthen career guidance in schools, the Hamburg project will first take stock of existent offers. "Using a combination of different procedures, we will take stock of the current situation to see which programs and offers for career guidance are already in place, both in schools and externally," says Weber. They will also document examples of best practices. "In addition to workshops and advanced training for teaching staff, we want to use our findings to develop an app that will facilitate networking and communication, make scientific findings easier to access, and support the successful transition from school to vocational training as best as possible," says the junior professor.

The center will also further develop programs that foster learners’ personality and general skills. These include, among other things, self-regulatory abilities, critical thinking, and communication and cooperation skills. In a subproject headed by the German Youth Institute (DJI) in Munich, where Weber’s team is also working, researchers will look at how democracy education can be improved in schools in the long term, in both comprehensive and vocational schools.

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