- Academic Life
INRS is hosting a round table entitled “Employment barriers for youth: grey areas in understanding and emerging issues”, organized by the Expert Panel on Youth Employment and Observatoire Jeunes et Société on January 27, 2017, in Quebec City. Nine round tables are being organized as part of an extensive national consultation on job barriers for young Canadians, and this is the only one to exclusively feature Canadian academic researchers.
“The goal of this day-long event is to develop a diverse and thoughtful approach to challenges facing young people and examine the innovative practices used by governments, NGOs, and employers,” said INRS professor María Eugenia Longo, current director of Observatoire Jeunes et Société and the only university professor on this panel of experts.
Youth employment and its many facets
Researchers renowned for their expertise will share the results of their latest research as well as their thoughts on employment barriers for youth. They will also be invited to devise solutions for improving job prospects for young people. A wide range of topics will be discussed throughout the day, from using digital technology to find jobs, to being overqualified or not having a degree, as well as mental health issues, employers’ perceptions, the work-study-family balance, atypical work, and vulnerable, migrant, rural, and Aboriginal youth.
Special newsletter from Observatoire Jeunes et Société in the works
The upcoming Observatoire Jeunes et Société newsletter will feature short articles from round table participants. Some of these articles will discuss and expand on certain employment barriers and their impact on the lives of young people. Others will propose practices for employment inclusion and integration.
“These texts will directly contribute to the work of the Expert Panel on Youth Employment, which is coordinating the national consultation. This newsletter could also be the first step toward creating a national network of researchers and experts in youth employment in Canada.”
professor María Eugenia Longo
About the Expert Panel on Youth Employment
The Expert Panel on Youth Employment was created in October 2016 to evaluate the challenges youth must overcome to find and keep a job and explore different options for helping them join the labour force. To do this, its members will invite young people from across the country, as well as representatives from provincial and territorial government, rural and remote communities, Aboriginal groups, companies and employers, unions, not-for-profit organizations, think tanks, and universities, to share their opinions. The panel has produced a preliminary report (available online) on the realities facing youth.
About Observatoire Jeunes et Société
Observatoire Jeunes et Société is made up of over 60 primarily francophone researchers from Quebec, across Canada, and abroad with an interest in youth issues. They help develop knowledge to better understand and analyze young people from cross-disciplinary, longitudinal, and comparative perspectives, with the goal of getting a better grasp of modern society, particularly in Quebec, and how it is evolving. Their research falls into four main categories: work and professional integration; mobility; diversity and identity; personal relations and networks; values and social and cultural practices.
