Education-to-Work Transition Among the Youth in Post-Conflict Settings

A Review of the Roles of Individual Agency, Mental Health, and Psychosocial Well-Being

Dados Bibliográficos

ID16901361
AutoresNathaniel Mayengo (Kyambogo University), Jane Namusoke (0000-0002-4823-3239, Kyambogo University), Henry Kibedi (Kyambogo University), Kennedy Amone-P’olak (0000-0003-4493-0659, Kyambogo University, autor correspondente)
Ano2025
Volume14
Fascículo7
Páginas400
Data de publicação2025-06-25
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoSocial Sciences (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 2076-0760 • E-ISSN: 2076-0760
EditoraMDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT)
DOI10.3390/socsci14070400
OpenAlexW4411650379
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas1
Referências citadas46

Education-to-work transition among war-affected youth in post-conflict settings is fraught with challenges, not least compounded by the little attention placed on individual agency and mental health. This review examines the debate on war-affected youth skilling programmes in post-conflict settings, which neglect the roles of individual agency and mental health in the education-to-work transition. Building on Albert Bandura’s Self-Efficacy Theory (SET) and the Cumulative Stress Hypothesis (CSH), the review presents an integrated approach to skills development for improving education-to-work transition among war-affected youth. According to SET, the development of self-efficacy is anchored on enactive mastery, vicarious experience, verbal persuasion, and physiological arousal. Moreover, individual agency factors such as motivation, aspiration, goal orientation, active efforts, and alignment of intentions with skills are protective factors for effective education-to-work transition, but they are also eroded by the adverse consequences of violent conflicts. Similarly, the CSH also suggests that the effects of exposure to protracted violent conflicts are cumulative and may lead, in turn, to a plethora of mental health problems in the aftermath of violent conflicts. Mental health problems like depression, anxiety, and PTSD are linked to, inter alia, behaviours such as aggression, substance abuse, and apathy, all related to poor employment outcomes. To increase the employability of young people affected by war, skills training institutions and work settings need to prioritise the mental health and individual agency of the youth, as well as skills acquisition for specific trades. Consequently, we propose an integrated model of reintegrating war-affected and vulnerable youth anchored on professional technical and vocational skills training; recognition of individual agency; provision of mental and psychosocial support; and life skills training, all nested within the local economic realities

Mental health · Pedagogy · Political science · Psychosocial · Psychotherapist · Public relations · School-to-work transition · Social science · Sociology · Vocational education · Youth work · Applied Psychology · Employment and Welfare Studies · Migration, Health and Trauma · Psychology · Social Psychology · Youth Education and Societal Dynamics