INTERNSHIP DIVERSITY & MOBILITY: FIRST EXPERIENCES ON SPANISH UNIVERSITIES

Abstract

After 13 years of Jaume I University (UJI) experience on international mobility programmes (Leonardo da Vinci, Erasmus Placements, Socially-oriented internships in impoverished countries), more than 500 university students have benefited from them. The project coordination corresponds to the Careers Services (OIPEP), in consultation with a system of coordinators and tutors. As a result of this coordinated work, the quality of this project has been recognised several times by the Autonomous Organization of European Educational Programmes (AOEEP), bounded up with the Ministry of Education. Furthermore, Jaume I University (UJI) relies on a set of services implied on diversity such as the Support Educational Unity and the Careers Services, both of them linked to Vice-Rector for Students, Employment and Educational Innovation. Especially, the Diversity Attention Programme (DAP, 2015), implemented from the UJI's origination, is a model for the rest of the Spanish universities. As a matter of fact, UJI is nowadays in charge of coordinating the network of Service of Assistance to Disabled People (SADP). The Assistance Diversity Programme (DAP) pretends to give academic support to this university community which requires a specific educational need (SEN) and its teachers.Inside this context of international and diversity internships, we set the present paper, submitting a pioneering experience in Spain. Concretely, between the years 2013 and 2014 through Leonardo's programme (People in the Labour Market) we implemented an international internship with a graduated disabled students, sponsored by the AOEEP. The complexity of this international internship implied the creation of an ad-hoc group with professors and professional workers in the required areas for the good development of this task. The results were important, not only for our university, but for future and similar experiences in other universities.

Inclusive internships for students at Jaume I University: learning from the process and future challenges (ONCE Foundation–CRUE Spanish universities) (Prácticas inclusivas para el estudiantado de la Universitat Jaume I: aprendizaje de proceso y retos de futuro -Fundación ONCE–CRUE, universidades españolas-)

“…A second project involved organizing an international internship for a person with reduced mobility as part of the Leonardo da Vinci ‘International Work Placements for Recent Graduates in Europe’ project (Beas, Martínez, & Segarra, 2016). The main obstacles found in this project were the lack of definition of the figure of the ‘companion’, the rigidity of the financial rules on the part of the National Agency and the European Commission, and the lack of national referents in this kind of project.…”

“…Likewise, there was co-financing from the OIPEP budget to fund one additional scholarship and from the Once Foundation to fund four scholarships. Other facilitators were the social commitment of all the host companies which were contacted to ask them to participate in the project; the strength and experience of the working group, which had consolidated in previous projects (Beas, Martínez, & Segarra, 2016; Beas et al, 2015); the high motivation of the students participating in the project; and the experience from previous projects.…”

“…Los facilitadores fueron el entorno institucional favourable: hay que tener en cuenta la existencia de una normativa de prácticas externas en la UJI que apoya la atención de estudiantado con discapacidad, derecho que también está recogido en el Estatuto del Estudiante y la normativa estatal de referencia en relación a las prácticas. Igualmente se pudo contar con cofinanciación del presupuesto OIPEP para dotar una beca adicional y la financiación de cuatro becas por parte de la Fundación Once; por otro lado, otros facilitadores fueron el compromiso social de todas las empresas de acogida con quién se contactó para proponerles su participación en el proyecto; la fortaleza y experiencia del grupo de trabajo, ya consolidado en proyectos anteriores (Beas, Martínez, & Segarra, 2016; Beas et al, 2015); la alta motivación del estudiantado participante en el proyecto y el bagaje en proyectos previos.…”

“…As part of the project, a technical forum was held with experts, union representatives, businesspeople and associations associated with disabilities revolving around four topics: external internships, training, job promotion and self-employment, and orientation/motivation (Beas, Carbó, & García, 2015). A second project involved organizing an international internship for a person with reduced mobility as part of the Leonardo da Vinci 'International Work Placements for Recent Graduates in Europe' project (Beas, Martínez, & Segarra, 2016). The main obstacles found in this project were the lack of definition of the figure of the 'companion', the rigidity of the financial rules on the part of the National Agency and the European Commission, and the lack of national referents in this kind of project.…”

“…(Beas, Carbó, & García, 2015). Un segundo proyecto fue la organización de una práctica internacional de una persona con movilidad reducida en el marco del proyecto Leonardo da Vinci 'International Workplacements for Recent Graduates in Europe' (Beas, Martínez, & Segarra, 2016), que encontró entre los principales obstáculos, la escasa definición de la figura del 'acompañante', la rigidez de las normas financieras por parte de la Agencia Nacional y la Comisión Europea, y la falta de referentes nacionales en este tipo de proyectos. Los principales facilitadores fueron el alto compromiso de la empresa de acogida, la creación de un grupo de trabajo interdisciplinar para coordinar la práctica y el apoyo institucional recibido.…”