Young people in their 8th and 9th school year, regardless of their social, economic and family background, are supported by students and young employees with the aim of creating a successful transition from school to training. The pupils benefit from the guidance of a young adult who has completed the move from school to vocational training and / or higher education. The latter in turn gains valuable counselling experience and strengthens their own transferable skills. In addition, the cooperation of RYL! with partner companies gives young people valuable insights into the world of work.

A successful study conducted by the Leibniz Institute for Economic Research (ifo) at the University of Munich proves: “Mentoring improves the labour market opportunities of severely disadvantaged young people”. Using RYL! as a case study, it was investigated whether the RYL mentoring programme “effectively improves the labour market prospects of the participating young people”. To answer this question, a field experiment was designed and carried out. A total of 308 youths from 19 schools participated in the field study. The study was evaluated in different phases and ran for a total of five years. The Ifo research team did in fact find that the “index of labour market prospects of eighth and ninth graders from severely disadvantaged backgrounds improved significantly one year after the start of the programme”. All three components of the overall index, which measure cognitive, non-cognitive and motivational aspects, are positively influenced by the programme.

Each individual mentoring relationship embodies our vision of self-reliant young people who are aware of themselves and their potential, who take their life’s journey step by step and full of courage, and who contribute to a society that takes both individual and collective responsibility.