Work is important for promoting social inclusion, especially for marginalized or economically vulnerable populations. There is also evidence that work is associated with stability and social integration for young people who have left care. There is, however, little detailed evidence on how young care-leavers access, and remain in, the world of work. This paper seeks to address this issue. It reports on preliminary findings from a cross-national qualitative study conducted in Ireland and Catalonia. The study set out to explore factors influencing care-leavers' entry into, and progress within, the word of work. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 22 young adults (10 from Ireland, 12 from Catalonia) aged between 23 and 33 years. The main criteria for inclusion were that study participants should have spent an extended period of time in care and have had substantial employment experience since leaving care. Preliminary analysis reveals different ‘pathways’ into the world of work for the young adults in the study, and a range of influences and circumstances related to these pathways. The implications of the findings for further research and for child welfare practice and policy and research are explore

The aim of this study is to analyze the relationship between emotional abilities and the influence of this relationship on self reported drivers' risky attitudes. The risky driving attitudes and emotional abilities of 177 future driving instructors were measured. The results demonstrate that risky attitudes correlate negatively with emotional abilities. Regression analysis showed that adaptability and interpersonal abilities explained the differences observed in the global risk attitude index. There were some differences in the specific risk factors. The variability observed in the speed and distraction and fatigue factors could also be explained by interpersonal and adaptability abilities. Nevertheless the tendency to take risks was explained by stress management and also interpersonal components. Emotional abilities have the weakest relation with alcohol and drugs factor, and in this case the variability observed was explained by the adaptability component. The results obtained highlight the importance take off including emotional abilities in prevention programs to reduce risky driving behaviors.

The aim of this component of a preliminary cross‐national study (Ireland and Catalonia) of care leavers' experience in the world of work is to explore how carers may influence the entry of young people in care into the world of work and how they may also influence the young people's progress in that world. A total of 22 care leavers, aged 23–33 years, were recruited on the basis of their having substantial employment experience since leaving care. Evidence from the interviews reveals the importance of the role of carers in the work‐related progression of the young care leavers, especially in relation to gaining work experience while they were still in care. The qualitative analysis shows that carers were influential in promoting (and sometimes hindering) progress in work and education. Carers were often reported to play an important role in opening up opportunities, giving support (modelling skill development, giving practical help, etc.), being role models and cultivating the young person's agency. On the basis of these findings, we propose an initial conceptualization of carer roles in positive work support.

El sistema de formación profesional dual (FPD) es actualmente uno de los más valorados a nivel internacional y se está extendiendo a muchos países como una medida para mejorar la formación de los jóvenes, reducir las tasas de desempleo juvenil y ajustar la formación al mundo laboral.Tras el comienzo de la implementación en España en 2013, los datos disponibles muestran un incremento progresivo de la participación de alumnado, centros y empresas. Sin embargo, es necesario analizar la percepción acerca de los agentes clave, como el profesorado, sobre los elementos que facilitan o que dificultan el desarrollo del sistema; éste es el objetivo de este estudio.Se administró un cuestionario diseñado ad hoc a una muestra representativa de centros formativos (equipos directivos, tutores y coordinadores) de cinco Comunidades Autónomas.Los resultados ponen de manifiesto algunos elementos positivos, como la decisión de realizar FPD por consenso y la motivación del alumnado. Sin embargo, otros resultados evidencian dificultades por parte de los centros a la hora de adaptarse a la implementación de la FPD: carencias formativas del profesorado acerca de la FDP, insuficiencia de recursos, falta de reconocimiento de la función que desempeña el profesorado y la falta de tiempo de los tutores de centro. Los análisis indican que los centros públicos expresan más dificultades; y que el profesorado en los centros donde ya se está implementando la FPD percibe unas condiciones más favorables, identificando menos barreras, respecto a los que todavía no han empezado la implementación. El estudio pone las bases para futuras investigaciones más específicas sobre estos factores clave de implementación y sobre su relación con los resultados de aprendizaje en el alumnado.

Objectives: This research aims to carry out a first validation of the QAR-Precon screening questionnaire applied in Catalonia during the drivers’ initial training, analyse the differences in risky road user behaviour according to two main variables: whether they had any experience of an accident and sex and examine the different risky road user patterns of pre-drivers. Methods: In order to group the questionnaire variables together, an exploratory factorial analysis (principal component analysis (PCA)) was used. Subsequently, the reliability coefficients of the questionnaire and the subscales were calculated. Lastly, ANOVA models were used to compare differences in the whole sample and a cluster analysis was performed to identify different risky pre-driver groups. Results: The factorial analysis (PCA) reveals the existence of five risk factors (speed and risk, external circumstances, distraction, alcohol and driving and other elements of driving) that explain 44.6% of the variance. More males than females reported that they had a higher tendency to take risks in all the risky factors exposed and injured pre-drivers reported less awareness of road safety than pre-drivers who had not been injured. A two-cluster solution indicated that it was possible to distinguish a group of pre-drivers who engaged in high risky behaviour (high group) from the group who engaged in moderate and low levels of risky road user behaviour (low group). Conclusions: The implications of these findings for programme designs and training initiatives to improve efficiency in reducing the accident rate are discussed.