On April 24th the city of Graz held a Local Open Seminar to present YOUMIG researchers’ local findings about the migration situation in the city and present a Pilot Action designed based on those findings for the municipality. The participants discussed several topics, such as potentials and challenges of migration for Graz and opportunites for young migrants, especially female migrants, in Graz.             

The event took place within the context of the annual Girls' Day, an event which is aimed at motivating girls to pursue career paths in Science, Techology, Engineering and Maths (STEM), which is also an important objective of the city's Pilot Project. Under the motto of the municipality “Graz Stellt Gleich!” or Graz Represents Equality, City councillor for Women & Equality Tina Wirnsberger held the opening speech.          

Graz is a fast expanding city in which migration plays a major role. Being a student city with four different universities and several colleges, Graz is home to a large international student community. According to the Department of Statistics of the City of Graz, about 93,923 young adults (ages 15 to 34) live in Graz, as against 156,029 residents aged 34 to 109.

The municipality of Graz is experiencing immigration on a very high level: some from other parts of Austria, but mainly from foreign countries. The inflow of people from other EU-countries and from countries of the Danube region is especially high. In the last years the number of refugees coming to Graz has also increased. In addition to this, most migrants are young, with 67% of all internal migrants and 63% of all international migrants being between 15 and 34 years old. Economic issues and problems caused by the political situation in the country of origin are the main reasons for migration movement within the Danube region, although other types (e.g. student migration) also exist.

Martina Schorn, a thematic expert for YOUMIG and a young migration researcher at the University of Vienna said in her lecture on the topic that “youth migration is significant for the further demographic development of the city of Graz. It also strengthens its workforce and economy.“

YOUMIG Pilot Project

The demand for skilled workers in Austria, especially in Graz, is increasing steadily. Many Styrian technology companies are located in Graz and are in urgent need of new employees. For migrants from the Danube region, labour opportunities define a central motive for coming to Graz. However, migrant families and communities often only have vague ideas of the Austrian education system, especially when it comes to apprenticeships. In Austria, apprenticeship trainings consist of company-based trainings and education in part-time vocational schools for apprentices (Berufsschule). Therefore, the Austrian apprenticeship system is often also referred to as a dual vocational training system. At the age of 15, pupils have to decide whether they want to continue their education in school or become skilled craftswomen and -men. If they choose the latter, they receive training for three to five years. Job opportunities for skilled craftswomen and -men are excellent, especially in technical professions. However, in those areas only few women are being trained.

Since companies are very interested in acquiring female skilled workers, various strategies and projects have been developed already, to motivate girls and young women to choose apprenticeships in the STEM sector. However, most projects do not reach the target group of young female migrants. Therefore, Graz aims at developing a network that communicates with the following stakeholders:

• parents (crucial for career choice),
• migrant communities*
• expert organisations for girls,
• counselling services,
• schools,
• companies,
• employment services and
• the adolescent girls themselves.              

*These communities generate and disseminate images of education and (vocational) training in Graz. They can be used as mediators, for example, the BIKOOS (literally “education coordinators”) These are women from migrant communities who facilitate the communication between those communities and various organisations.

Most of the discussions revolved around the questions on how young female migrants could be reached and how their interest in STEM apprenticeships could be stimulated. Muna Hamoud from the Public Employment Service Austria (AMS) and several other participants considered it a good idea to contact the girls indirectly by reaching out to their parents. It was also deemed important to clear up misunderstandings and reduce inhibitions by informing parents thoroughly about the course of apprenticeships and the underlying opportunites, especially in the STEM sector. However, it was also agreed that even this target group is difficult to get hold of.              

In the upcoming period of the YOUMIG project, Graz will focus on finding ways to get in touch with migrant communities, especially with parents of girls and develop the local Pilot Action according to their needs.

Text and photos by Lucia Schnabl