[Thesis] Analysis of the general competences for employability and socio-cultural adaptation: Spanish university graduates in Education working in Europe

Hernáiz-Agreda, N.

The internationalisation of economic relations and the global financial crisis process have contributed to the promotion of labour mobility of qualified professionals, and even forcing it at times. Therefore, during the recent period of recession (2008-2016), a growing number of Spanish university graduates have sought job opportunities in other European countries, and on other continents, in keeping with their qualifications. Further, Spain used to have, and still maintains, one of the highest unemployment rates of the European Union (EU) (OECD, 2018), and working conditions do not favour the labour insertion of university graduates. In this context, and as the Bologna Process promotes...

The internationalisation of economic relations and the global financial crisis process have contributed to the promotion of labour mobility of qualified professionals, and even forcing it at times. Therefore, during the recent period of recession (2008-2016), a growing number of Spanish university graduates have sought job opportunities in other European countries, and on other continents, in keeping with their qualifications. Further, Spain used to have, and still maintains, one of the highest unemployment rates of the European Union (EU) (OECD, 2018), and working conditions do not favour the labour insertion of university graduates. In this context, and as the Bologna Process promotes convergence among institutions of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), this doctoral thesis considered the general competences included in the curricula of Education degrees, as a possible linchpin to develop employability in Spanish university students. General competences can be transferred to different labour contexts where they can also be used in different jobs, which may or may not be in keeping with the graduate's qualifications. University education based on this type of competences may be expected to facilitate labour mobility beyond the Spanish borders. The employability of these qualified professionals will be tested in the recipient country, through general competences as well as in terms of their socio-cultural adaptation. In this sense, the objectives of this research were to: a) examine if the use of general competences positively contributes to self-perceived employability in Spain and abroad, and consequently, study if the perception of one’s own employability has an impact on socio-cultural adaptability outside Spain; b) analyse if the contextual variables (previous experience working or studying in another country, labour context, time of stay, and type of job) intervened in the perceptions of employability and socio-cultural adaptation difficulties. Information was compiled from 336 Spanish university graduates from the Education area to conduct this study. All graduates held jobs in keeping with their education or other jobs in the United Kingdom, Germany, Poland or Spain. Thus, a current and international view of the labour situation of these graduates was obtained, comparing the Spanish context with another three European countries. The research was designed using quantitative and cross-sectional methodology, adapting different scales. This permitted drawing up the Questionnaire of General Competences, Employability and Socio-cultural Adaptation (Spanish acronym, CGEAS), which was used to compile the research data. Generally speaking, it was concluded that Spanish graduates are perceived as more employable when they work in a different labour context to the Spanish context, as they put their general competences into practice more than workers in Spain. On the other hand, no noteworthy differences were found between the countries in terms of the importance of general competences, with the exception of the results of the communication competence in a foreign language. Therefore, the results indicate that general competences can be transferred and used equally in any of the four countries studied. Regarding employability and socio-cultural adaptation difficulties, it was found that a high perception of employability helps to reduce this type of difficulty. Moreover, the Spaniards who presented few social and cultural adaptation difficulties, were also perceived as more employable. Finally, it is concluded that granting importance to education in general competences at university will increase employability and reduce the socio-cultural adaptation difficulties of Spanish graduates working outside Spain, as these competences form the cornerstone that upholds the employability of any professional.

[Thesis] Social production of itineraries of insertion: Analysis of basic Vocational Education and Training from a perspective of social justice

Abiétar-López, M.

The main purpose of this dissertation is to analyse the educational practices in the educational contexts of basic Vocational Education and Training from a perspective of social justice in order to describe the itineraries they produce and their impact on the young students who experience them. Together with our main interest we aim to understand the transition phenomenon from a pedagogical perspective that emphasizes the social relations produced within the educational institution. The study of social inequalities produced and reproduced in the educational system is addressed in this research from a theoretical ground of social justice based on a dimensional conception of the term...

The main purpose of this dissertation is to analyse the educational practices in the educational contexts of basic Vocational Education and Training from a perspective of social justice in order to describe the itineraries they produce and their impact on the young students who experience them. Together with our main interest we aim to understand the transition phenomenon from a pedagogical perspective that emphasizes the social relations produced within the educational institution. The study of social inequalities produced and reproduced in the educational system is addressed in this research from a theoretical ground of social justice based on a dimensional conception of the term following mainly the contributions of Nancy Fraser. In this regard, we propose a conceptualization of the term from a perspective that includes three solutions to social injustice: redistribution, recognition, and representation, the latter being closely linked to social participation. The combination of this perspective with the contributions of Iris Marion Young, both of which highlight the institutionalized obstacles, that is, the structural conditions that generate injustices, comprise the social justice perspective defended in this dissertation. From this position, the specific educational contexts that we have analysed are the educational programs that correspond with basic Vocational Education and Training in Spain (FPB: Basic Vocational Education and PFCB: Training Programs of Basic Qualification). We propose this analysis from the perspective of conservative modernization as a trend in the development of the educational policies following the work of Michael W. Apple and Stephen J. Ball. This perspective has allowed us to describe and analyse the position of these programs in the educational system, establishing them as a track of segregation of those students at risk of school failure or early school leaving. With the theoretical perspective and the research context, the process that we consider for the assessment of social justice in education is the transition after the programs, which we relate to the possibilities of social participation. The methodological strategy is based on the model of reproduction and cultural transformation of Basil Bernstein, which gives structure to the specific model of analysis elaborated for this dissertation in which the theoretical elements are sorted in order to describe the process of social production of itineraries in the specific educational contexts of FPB and PFCB. On the basis of Bernstein’s theory, the concept of selection is presented as a conceptual tool for the description of the production of itineraries in specific educational contexts This concept is the one that underlies the script of the interviews conducted to obtain the data, interviews of 65 professionals (teachers, counsellors and managers) who worked in these programs in the first year of implementation (2014-15) have been conducted. From their own explanations of the selection in different moments of the educational process, we have obtained information on the elements prioritized in the pedagogical practices that allows us to describe the social production of itineraries of insertion. Furthermore, 240 students have answered questionnaires whose main purpose is to know their expectations for the programme. The results are presented contextualized in the possibilities of transition of young people in a labour market that is segmented and defined by the extension of precariousness, which is accentuated in a socioeconomic situation of crisis. The description and analysis of the data has enabled us to differentiate functional educational practices and practices orientated toward critique, although both produce itineraries of insertion marked by the status of insertion policies that defines basic Vocational Education and Training in the Spanish educational system. Furthermore, the influence attributed by the professionals to the context of primary socialization as well as to the socioeconomic situation when describing their expectations for the future itineraries of students underscores the aid-providing rather than educational purpose acquired by these programmes. Given the insufficiency of the programs in both training and in the certificate provided, this primary context is presented as a protection factor, particularly necessary in periods of economic recession. Together, the results obtained lead us to conclude that, despite certain differences in the educational practices, basic Vocational Education and Training is an insertion policy socially unjust because of the limited social participation it enables and the itineraries of insertion it produces.

[Thesis] Adult status, identity consolidation, religioousness and transcendence as predictors of psychologic well-being in the emergent adulthood

Torres Jiménez, Francisca. Dirigida por: Sancerni Beitia, Dolores.

This thesis foundation is a connatural inclination for the topics related to the personal maturity and the tasks of maturity in the adult stage, from the perspective of the Lifespan Theory of human development. It is deepened in the study on the transition of the adolescence to the adult age and in the concept of emerging adulthood proposed by Jeffrey Jensen Arnett. Emerging adulthood is considered a new developmental stage in which the individual can find a privileged space where to advance in his developmental tasks, so that his own identity remains definitively shaped.

[Thesis] Proposal for a system of indicators for the socio-educative intervention and management in day care centres for underage for the protection of underage system in the Valencian Community

Jiménez Sánchez, Adoración. Dirigida por: Marhuenda Fluixà, Fernando.

This research is conducted within the framework of vulnerability and social exclusion, in a complex and risky society (as defined by Beck, 1998) that generates processes of exclusion (Castel, 1997). Social exclusion is also the framework for developing social policies and within which the Children's Day Care Centers of the Valencian Community carry out their socio-educational activities This educational and social response from the centers takes into account the multifactorial and multidimensional nature of exclusion, seeking to impact those factors and dimensions that can favor the inclusion processes of children and their families.

[Thesis] School Failure form the Educative Exclusion Perspective. Curriculum vitae Prescribed of the PDC and the PCPI in la Valencian Community

García Rubio, Juan. Dirigida por: Marhuenda Fluixá, Fernando.

The data on school failure coming out year after year in Spain, and particularly in Valencia, prove to be so alarming that they have moved me deeply into the theme of my thesis: young people most likely to end up in what can be named social exclusion.

[Research Work] An analysis in the emergence adulthood: criteria and auto-perception in the identity as adults in young valencians

Torres Jiménez, F.

[Thesis] Divergence between parents and children in the perception of the familiar functioning and the development of the adolescence autonomy

Alonso Stuyck, P.

This study is a conceptual approach to the change that adolescence, family and autonomy have suffered lately, from the Contextual Dialectic paradigm. From an evaluative point of view, autonomy in adolescence is understood in this study as a stage in the process of definition of the earliest identity (Erikson's Epigenetic Theory). It looks like the parents-children conflict, that has its base in the emotional proximity that takes place in these relationships, is identified as a requirement for the development of the autonomy. The purpose of this research is to analyse the relations between several dimensions of the familiar way of functioning and two aspects of adolescents autonomy: the...

This study is a conceptual approach to the change that adolescence, family and autonomy have suffered lately, from the Contextual Dialectic paradigm. From an evaluative point of view, autonomy in adolescence is understood in this study as a stage in the process of definition of the earliest identity (Erikson's Epigenetic Theory). It looks like the parents-children conflict, that has its base in the emotional proximity that takes place in these relationships, is identified as a requirement for the development of the autonomy. The purpose of this research is to analyse the relations between several dimensions of the familiar way of functioning and two aspects of adolescents autonomy: the emotional and the conduction. Emotional autonomy requires to have owns affective centre of gravity set in oneself, while conduction autonomy implies that the adolescent is able to take decisions by himself. To analyse these relations, the opinion of 567 adolescents are contrasted with the opinion of their parents, taking in account variables of familiar way of functioning and of conduction autonomy, using the methodology of the survey. The scores of the adolescents in the survey has been related to the variables of identity, self-esteem and emotional autonomy. Conclusions can be summarized in these points: The increment of autonomy appears as one of the evolving tasks of the adolescent. Emotional and conductive aspects of autonomy do not overlap, since they affect differently personal development. It is useful in this sense to study the increment of autonomy combining in typological profiles the emotional and conductive dimensions, since it makes clear the significance of autonomy along different stages of adolescence. The negative character of having excessive autonomy at the beginning of the adolescence is proved. It is also verified the connection between autonomy and other areas of development in adolescence, as it happens with identity. It is observed a relation between autonomy and variables of familiar way of functioning, namely dissent among parents and children, cohesion, adaptability or quality in communication. The results support the existence of a tight connection between intrapersonal aspects, like autonomy and identity, that have a high importance in the evolution of the adolescent, and interpersonal aspects that are linked with familiar interaction.

[Research Work] Process of identity and thinking styles in adolescence.

Ruiz Alfonso, J. M.

[Research Work] The programme PIECAP: emotional intelligence in adolescents

Alonso Stuyck, P