Recognition of prior learning helps migrant women unlock their potential

As Europe struggles with fragmented systems for recognising prior learning (RPL), the EmpowerHer project offers an innovative approach that helps migrant women validate their work and life competences, build confidence and realise their potential.

While women once moved to Europe mainly for family reunification, today international trends show that many arrive independently, seeking work, education and better prospects. Yet despite these ambitions, female migrants remain among the most disadvantaged groups. According to European Parliament data from 2023, they face discrimination, precarious jobs and low pay, despite often being overqualified for the roles they take.

This is where recognition of prior learning comes in. “Now, more than ever, we need to acknowledge the skills adults acquire throughout life – formally, non-formally and informally – and this need will only grow in the future,” says Mona Pielorz, researcher at the German Institute for Adult Education (DIE).

She explains that RPL means valuing knowledge, skills and competences gained through work, volunteering, family life and personal challenges, not just formal education. “People learn everywhere and all the time,” Pielorz says. Recognising these competences validates diverse learning experiences, helping individuals appreciate their strengths and achievements beyond traditional qualifications.

RPL can help individuals, employers and societies

Therefore, we should consider RPL more broadly as a form of social and professional validation by employers, peers and society, she argues. “All these aspects are becoming increasingly important in our rapidly changing labour market. The requirements are growing more complex, and uncertainty is at an all-time high. But RPL can boost self-confidence, foster a sense of belonging, encourage participation in society and also helps to make existing competences visible and to identify learning needs for the next steps,” Pielorz says. This is because adult learners are often unaware of the competences they already possess. Support from trained professionals helps them recognise their potential and open up new opportunities.

Counsellors’ support is crucial in helping to recognise potential and unlock new opportunities.

“When we look at the benefits of RPL for adult learners, it’s clear they go beyond the individual,” says Pielorz. For example, inclusive recognition systems make labour markets more adaptable. Without them, valuable skills remain hidden, limiting opportunities and deepening social divides.

“People with relevant knowledge, competences and skills but no formal proof often struggle to secure fair jobs or pay, creating a vicious cycle that reinforces social and economic inequality,” she warns.

To tackle this, the DIE developed ProfilPASS 20 years ago – a structured portfolio tool that helps people identify and document skills gained in formal, non-formal and informal contexts. Guided by trained counsellors, users reflect on their experiences and uncover hidden strengths. “Many don’t realise that life skills from volunteering, hobbies or family life are highly transferable,” the researcher explains.

“The process is structured through a series of progressively deepening questions that encourage self-reflection, ideally supported by trained ProfilPASS counsellors who assist the users in the stages of reflection, competence identification and documentation,” explains Pielorz, who has been involved in the project at different levels since 2007.

Helping migrant women face discrimination

This is all the more important for the most vulnerable groups, such as migrant women. “They face a double disadvantage: on the one hand, they must overcome barriers linked to migration, which are particularly challenging when entering or re-entering the labour market; on the other, they also encounter gender-specific obstacles,” says Pielorz.

In 2023, Eurostat reported that a higher proportion of women born abroad had never looked for work in their European host country (16.1% compared with just 7.4% of men). At the same time, only 59.2% of migrant women said they had never faced obstacles in finding a suitable job, compared with 70.4% of men. A 2022 report by the Network “Integration through Qualification (IQ)” also found that migrant and refugee women in employment were more likely than men to have part-time or marginal jobs.

Migrant women face migration and gender-related barriers.

However, migrant women often bring extensive experience and skills gained through work, family responsibilities, voluntary roles, migration experiences and other aspects of life. “Yet these often remain invisible because they are not officially recognised and are frequently underestimated, even by the women themselves,” says Pielorz.

This is why the EmpowerHer project was launched in late 2024. The project offers a three-part package: an adapted version of the ProfilPASS, specifically tailored for migrant women, alongside a training programme and a web app. These tools support structured reflection, make prior competences visible and help participants build and strengthen key competences for their next steps. “We focus on five future-oriented competences to link past experiences with emerging labour market needs,” Pielorz explains.

At the same time, the project also aims to link migrant women with potential employers, who are the other target group of EmpowerHer. “We’re working on an onboarding tool for female migrants that helps companies recruit and integrate female migrants into their workforce,” she says. To this end, focus groups were conducted with employers and supporting advisory organisations.

“Initial findings suggest that onboarding tools should not be designed as separate or stigmatising instruments for specific groups, but rather as inclusive approaches that provide structure and orientation while remaining flexible enough to accommodate different starting points and migration-related transitions, without categorising or labelling people according to gender, origin or religion”.

The future of RPL in Germany and Europe

After two decades, the DIE has decided to gradually withdraw from coordinating ProfilPASS. “This is because the project has reached maturity and broad establishment within the counselling landscape and it is now well-anchored in practice. We are confident it will continue to be used and further developed by bodies and individuals,” says Pielorz.

This is a perfect opportunity to reflect on the project’s results and the future challenges of RPL in Germany and beyond. “One of the key lessons we’ve learned is that identifying competences and practising self-reflection take time, guidance and trust. It’s not simply about filling in a form, but about engaging in a structured process that helps people recognise their strengths and potential. We’ve also found that self-reflection doesn’t come naturally,” she explains.

Self-reflection and identifying competences require time, guidance and trust.

This highlights the crucial role of counsellors. Pielorz explains that self-reflection often needs to be learned and supported – and that without guidance from trained professionals, the outcomes are far from optimal. Tools like ProfilPASS can make a real difference.

“The results go far beyond simply documenting skills. Many users gain self-confidence and value being able to describe their abilities in their own words. They often start to see even difficult life experiences more positively, because they recognise the skills they’ve developed and can reframe their story in that light. The process also helps them plan realistic next steps for their personal or professional development, which many describe as particularly valuable”.

Although projects like ProfilPASS and EmpowerHer have had a significant impact at the individual and societal levels, they have also faced challenges. “There is still a lot of stigma surrounding RPL,” explains the researcher.

This is not just about recognising non-traditional knowledge, competences and skills, but also about the potential impact of expanding recognition on formal education and training. “Some fear that RPL could replace or devalue formal education, although this concern is largely unfounded.”

Pielorz argues that the two complement each other, noting that it often takes many years of work experience and continuous learning to reach the same level of skill as someone who has gained it through formal education and training.

RPL and formal education complement each other.

This issue is a challenge faced by many European countries when it comes to recognising prior learning. While some obstacles are common across nations, individual systems, social and educational contexts, and especially political landscapes vary greatly within the 27-country EU.

Experts often call for a coherent and connected approach to RPL, but the reality is far more complex.

“There are positive examples, such as France, where the Validation of Acquired Experience (VAE) system allows full recognition leading to a qualification listed in the national catalogue, or Ireland and the Netherlands, where modular and flexible learning structures make validation much easier. But overall, access to knowledge, competences and skills recognition still depends heavily on national systems, and information about existing pathways is often scarce or difficult to navigate,” says Pielorz.

Uniform umbrella organisation for RPL?

So, would a uniform umbrella organisation across Europe work for RPL? Pielorz doesn’t think so, but she does believe coordination and harmonisation are essential.

“I would not advocate for a uniform criterion across all countries because recognition systems are deeply rooted in national education and training structures, as well as in labour market arrangements, which vary considerably across Europe. Attempting to impose a single model would probably not work in practice,” she says.

However, greater harmonisation and mutual understanding are needed to create a common language for skills and more transparency between systems.

“European frameworks such as the European Qualifications Framework (EQF), European Skills, Competences, Qualifications and Occupations (ESCO) and Europass already provide a solid basis for this, but they need to be more widely disseminated and used more consistently. The goal should be comparability, not uniformity. If we can ensure that competences validated in one country are understood and trusted in another, we can facilitate mobility, cooperation and lifelong learning, without undermining national responsibility or flexibility,” she says.

As is often the case for adult education projects and initiatives, RPL is also facing financing challenges. “RPL should not remain dependent on short-term projects, but it should become part of long-term national and European lifelong learning strategies supported by sustainable funding and clear institutional responsibilities,” asserts Pielorz.

“We need institutional commitment”

However, the need to recognise knowledge, competences and skills will not wait for perfect systems. In practice, recognition already takes place in various ways: sometimes through formal procedures, but often through workplace-based assessments and recruitment decisions.

Developments are currently very uneven. Large companies are already setting up their own internal assessment and validation systems, while small and medium-sized enterprises often lack the resources to do so. In Pielorz’s view, “without clear coordination, this could lead to fragmented and unequal practices for recognising skills”.

Learners need long-term support, through sustained instruments such as ProfilPASS and through projects like EmpowerHer, rather than short-term initiatives. This, Pielorz believes, is where the real test for RPL’s success will take place in Europe.

“The future of RPL in Germany and across Europe will largely depend on politics. We need institutional commitment, not just symbolically, but through concrete frameworks, funding and cooperation between education, employment and industry. Only then can recognition of knowledge, competences and skills become a stable, trusted part of lifelong learning and workforce development,” she concludes.

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This article is part of the theme ‘Validation and Recognition of Prior Learning 2026’.

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