Over the past four years Optentia received funding from VLIR-UOS to run the Experiences in Unemployment project. During Mr Goossens’ visit, the PhD students reported on the progress of the project and their experiences while investigating unemployment in the communities of Orange Farm and Boipatong.
A joint venture between the NWU and KU Leuven, the project will produce three PhDs (Melinda du Toit, Leoni van der Vaart and Rachele Paver), and is supervised Prof Ian Rothmann (NWU), Prof Anja van den Broeck (Leuven) and Prof Hans De Witte (Leuven).
The project aims to provide a deep understanding of the context and conventions that keep people unemployed and to develop an intervention to help unemployed South Africans move to the ranks of the employed.
From the start, the Experiences of Unemployment project has actively sought community involvement in understanding the various dimensions of unemployment by establishing an advisory board consisting of community members and government officials.
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“The qualitative research project afforded me the opportunity to conduct in-depth interviews with individuals who have been affected directly and/or indirectly by unemployment. Their narratives sketched how they live with an ever increasing unemployment rate. This brought to the fore the way they perceive this phenomenon – its causes, reasons for its continued growth, and possible solutions – as well as their coping strategies. It was an enormous privilege to be offered a glance into their reality through their words and stories.” - PhD student Melinda du Toit.
“It has been a challenging endeavour, but it afforded me the opportunity to optimise my potential as an applied researcher investigating a psychologically and economically relevant topic.” - PhD student Leoni van der Vaart.
“I am in the exciting position to develop and implement an intervention based on the project's findings. During the project we’ve been looking at interventions that might help us reach the project goals. We’ve finally identified a suitable programme, called the JOBS programme. Before implementing such a programme, exploring what programmes already exists to help the unemployed is crucial. Furthermore, determining how the content of the JOBS programme should be adapted to suit South African’s unique context may be vital to the success of the programme. So far this journey has been incredible. It is a privilege to have such a competent team to work with. I look forward to the rest of this great learning experience.” - PhD student Rachele Paver.
The project will conclude in 2018.
Mr Khulu Radebe, Ms Lynn Booysen, Ms Anjonet Jordaan, Mr Christophe Goossens, Prof Ian Rothmann, Ms Rachele Paver and Ms Melinda du Toit.
