ATTRACTING YOUTH TO THE OCCUPATIONS IN THE FOOD INDUSTRY, AGRICULTURE AND ENGINEERING: ISSUES FOR POLICY AND PRACTICE

Skills needs and skills mismatches are the key current issues for education and human capital development in many European countries. Policy makers, education providers and social partners claim, that there are needed significant efforts in evoking the interest of young people in choosing vocational pathways of career in the different sectors of economy.

This paper presents some results of the Erasmus+ project IMATEII aimed to support career guidance specialists and teachers in attracting the youth from Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia to choose occupational pathways in the sectors of wood working, food industry and agriculture and engineering industry. The methodological approach of this project is based on the idea, that design of the products, applied production technologies and economic factors of production present by themselves powerful factors that can be used for career guidance, and, especially for increasing interest and awareness of young people in the occupations of the different sectors of economy, thus helping them to make rational choices of the future career. During implementation of the project there have been developed descriptors of the chosen occupations in the above mentioned sectors, that outline different interesting features of the product design, technological process of production and its’ economic characteristics. These profiles will be used as training materials for career guidance specialists and teachers in the project partner countries. The paper will explain the methodological approach applied in the development of profiles, the process of their development and will provide the results of testing of these instruments in Lithuania by focusing on the sector of the food industry, engineering and agriculture.