Logic Model Framework for Employability and Skills Development in Vulnerable Youth : Evidence from Pilot Intervention and Quasi-Experimental Research

Summary: The complexity of challenges that the vulnerable youth face includes structural barriers due to poor human capital endowments, lack of mentorship, gaps in existing education and training or even low self-esteem altering aspirations and restricting development. The channel of skills acquisition is highly informal making them susceptible to poor employment conditions, low productivity and lower wages. Two major challenges throughout vocational training programs in India are lack of effectively testing the outcomes and lack of focused demand driven framework that is tailored to the needs of vulnerable youth. In this context, this paper attempts to design an ‘Employability and Skills Development Logic Model Framework’ as a blueprint of a pilot to develop role-based technical skills in targeted youth from poorest households. Research is designed as a quasi-experiment and effectiveness of intervention is assessed by differences in outcomes for experiment and comparison groups. t-tests show statistical differences between groups. Skewness-Kurtosis test for Normality strengthens the validity of the t-test showing non-significant results of p > 0.05 for all samples. Results show that while the experiment group has largely benefited from the intervention, a greater indirect outcome has been in the form of increase in self-confidence and motivation. Results present a strong emphasis on assessing self-efficacy, motivation and sense of future identity as an important component of skill based vocational training. Aligned with SDG Target 4, this logic model framework is flexible, simple to understand and can serve as a blueprint for ‘demand-driven’ skills development interventions across sectors