Scientific Validation of the Y-WE Programme

In 2019, the Department of Social Work and Social Administration at the University of Hong Kong conducted a scientific study to validate the effectiveness and impact of the Y-WE programme on youth. The study involved interviewing two groups of young people: 195 who had participated in the Y-WE programme and 166 who had not. Comparing the data from the two groups confirmed that the programme significantly improves the following areas for youth:

Life and career direction
Confidence in future employment
Motivation to establish their own career
Understanding of workplace realities
Ways of entry and promotion prospects in professions of interest
Self-efficacy in career planning and development

The young people who participated in the Y-WE programme completed questionnaires before and after the programme. The results indicated statistically significant improvements in their scores for items one through six, moving from an average level to a high level (see above chart). In contrast, the results for the group of young people who did not participate in Y-WE showed no significant difference in the before and after scores. In fact, lower scores were recorded for five of the items the second time they were asked to fill in the questionnaire.

Professor Cecilia Chan, Emeritus Professor of the Department of Social Work and Social Administration at the University of Hong Kong led the research. She concluded that the results demonstrate the Y-WE programme’s effectiveness in enhancing the vocational development capabilities of youth. She suggested that if widely implemented, the programme could play a crucial role in breaking the cycle of intergenerational poverty in the city.

Professor Chan: “I hope that the government would take these empirical research results into consideration and invest more in career-oriented initiatives for grassroots youths. I recommend further implementation of CDIA’s 'Y-WE Programme’, which provides training and work experience opportunities for these youths. They would help cultivate positive values, establish life direction, boost confidence, and improve career planning capabilities for our young people to face the challenges of future education and employment.”