Mentoring programs between refugees and local residents In recent years, many people have worked to help refugees find their place in German society.
Numerous integration projects were launched in a short period of time. Numerous integration projects were launched in a short period of time. Some of these were mentoring programs, which bring locals together with refugees to help them in dealing with bureaucratic formalities, hunting for apartments, and finding apprenticeships and jobs. To find out how successful these programs have been, sociologist Magdalena Krieger took a closer look at their outcomes using data from the survey “Living in Germany.”
She found that mentoring programs have helped refugees make substantial progress in improving their language skills. Refugees who have participated in these programs are also more likely to participate in social life—they go out to eat, to the movies, and to the gym more often. Magdalena Krieger expects these activities to have other positive effects, given that language skills and social activities may act as stepping stones to education and work.
The mentors surveyed also reported benefiting from their interaction with the refugees. A large percentage considered the refugees their friends and planned to continue helping refugees in the future.
Deutschlandfunkt: Kaum Effekte auf Bildung und Erwerbstätigkeit
DIW: Mentorenprogramme fördern die Integration von GeflüchtetenLinkedIn Sales Solutions on Unsplash