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Giving Young Migrant Women the Tools to Thrive

What the Teens2Queens Competence Gap Detector Reveals

Anna Matassoni

What does it take for young migrant women to build confident, independent, and active lives in Europe? The latest Teens2Queens European Competence Gap Detection Report offers valuable insights into this question by exploring the experiences of 209 young migrant women through an online survey and 42 in-depth interviews conducted across Austria, France, Italy, and Sweden. The research focuses on three key lifelong learning competences: personal and social skills, citizenship, and entrepreneurship.

The findings paint an encouraging picture. Despite facing significant challenges, participants demonstrate remarkable resilience, empathy, adaptability, and intercultural awareness. Many speak two or more languages, take on important family responsibilities, and show a genuine willingness to contribute to their communities. These strengths are not usually acquired through formal education, but through everyday experiences, migration journeys, and personal determination. However, the report also highlights important gaps that continue to affect young migrant women across Europe. Language barriers remain one of the greatest obstacles, influencing academic success, employment opportunities, access to public services, and social participation. Many participants also report experiences of discrimination, limited institutional support, and educational systems that prioritise academic content over essential life skills such as emotional wellbeing, financial literacy, civic participation, and critical thinking. The survey confirms that participants are generally aware of their personal strengths and highly motivated to learn. They express strong openness towards different cultures, work well in teams, and demonstrate impressive adaptability when facing unexpected situations. At the same time, managing stress, speaking confidently in public, and developing structured study methods remain common challenges. Citizenship competences present a mixed picture. While many young women are eager to engage in society and are confident using public services, their understanding of democratic processes, political institutions, and civic rights is often limited. Many rely on social media for information, highlighting the growing importance of media literacy and critical thinking in today's digital environment.

Entrepreneurship emerges as another area full of potential. Participants show creativity, problem-solving abilities, teamwork, and a strong desire to improve their communities. Nevertheless, they often lack opportunities to develop leadership, project management, and financial planning skills through formal education. More than half reported receiving little or no structured entrepreneurial training at school or in integration programmes. The report sends a clear message: young migrant women already possess many of the qualities needed to succeed. What they need is an education system and support network that recognise these strengths and provide practical opportunities to develop them further.

These findings will directly inform the next phase of the Teens2Queens project: the development of the Competence Gap-Bridging Programme, an innovative training pathway designed to strengthen personal, civic, and entrepreneurial competences while empowering young migrant women to participate fully in Europe's social, cultural, and economic life.