The YES Forum contributed to the SAAM Seminar "Capacity Building for Leadership in VET Mobility between Africa and Europe", promoted by EfVET+SAAM Team and held between 14th and 18th of February, with the workshop "The challenge in mobility: Stereotypes and prejudices". Facilitated by Mirco Trielli, the workshop aimed at covering a relevant, yet not very much discussed aspect of mobility: stereotypes and how to face them.
Participants, coming from more than 15 different African countries, were invited to share the first words that come to their minds when they think of certain nationalities. We analyzed if these words represented positive, negative, or neutral stereotypes.
Mirco reminded the participants that stereotypes are only a cognitive component. Sometimes they are funny, but they could be at the basis of the bias (evaluative component), and also lead to discrimination (behavioral component).
We thank all the participants for their involvement in the workshop and for their openness to discuss this sensitive topic!
"The single story creates stereotypes, and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make onestory become the only story." (Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie)
SAAM (Supporting Alliance for African Mobility) is a pilot that aims to support the mobility of VET teachers and students across a range of disciplines from Africa to Europe. The YES Forum is contributing to this project sharing our expertise on international and intercultural mobility programmes.
Read more about SAAM project: https://saam.global/
