Local Variations in School‐Leaver Unemployment within a Large City

Abstract

The social problems associated with youth unemployment are compounded by its concentration in particular areas. This paper examines how and why school‐leaver unemployment rates vary across different areas of Glasgow. The level of participation in full‐time education significantly influences the local level of youth unemployment: in areas where fewer young people continue in full‐time education, more of them enter the labour market and thus put themselves ‘at risk’ of unemployment. Among labour‐market entrants, unemployment rates vary across areas, but only in relation to young people's educational and family characteristics. Area inequalities within a city are derivative of individual line qualities; the chances of(un) employment of other wise com‐parable young people are much the same whichever part of the city they live in. The paper concludes by reviewing the policy implications of these findings, and the possible role of education and training measures.     

Education for enterprise: the state and alternative employment for young people

The state, industry and the voluntary sector are all investing resources in encouraging the development of the ‘enterprise culture’ among the young unemployed. Such measures can be interpreted as an attempt to sustain the work ethic while changing attitudes, aspirations and expectations towards employment. They constitute a major effort to change work cultures. The alternatives being advocated, such as self‐employment, small businesses, co‐operatives and community businesses have starkly opposing ideologies behind them.

So far there has been no systematic research on the development of alternative forms of work by young people, not even at the level of charting the extent and form in which they are emerging. This paper seeks to make a start by exploring the rhetoric behind the ‘education for enterprise’ movement and the patterns of support and advice on offer. It then discusses the implications of the fostering of the ‘enterprise culture’ for our analyses of state intervention in youth unemployment and the early labour market experiences of young people.     

Extended Routes and Delayed Transitions Amongst 16‐19 Year Olds: National Trends and Local Contexts∗

Abstract

A decade or so ago, the choices facing British 16 year olds seemed relatively straightforward; either they stayed on in education or they left to enter the youth labour market. The subsequent rise in youth unemployment and the consequent series of government‐led responses have complicated the picture. But how complex has the post‐16 transition from school actually become? Does it still make sense to talk of the dominant ‘routes’ young people follow and, if so, how differentiated are they?

The paper uses the detailed survey data from the four areas in the ESRC's 16‐19 Initiative and further data on large nationally‐representative samples of young people drawn from the Youth Cohort Study to explore the opportunity structures that have been emerging in Britain during the eighties.

     

The Transition from School to Work and the Recession: evidence from the Scottish School Leavers Surveys, 1977‐1983

This paper uses data from the Scottish School Leavers Surveys to investigate trends in the transition from school at a time of deepening recession. The main change observed is the collapse of employment between 1979 and 1983. The paper also describes trends in the distribution of school‐leaver employment, in its industrial and occupational composition, in patterns of movement in the youth labour market and in the role of special programmes. Some of its general conclusions challenge ideas current among some British sociologists. First, youth unemployment (at least among recent school leavers) is no longer significantly connected with patterns of subemployment or frequent job‐changing. Secondly, unemployment has not fundamentally changed the ‘selective function’ of education; credentials have retained their labour‐market value in relative if not in absolute terms. Thirdly, the recent rise in school‐leaver unemployment is very largely a result of the recession—the decline in the aggregate demand for labour—rather than of underlying structural changes that disadvantage young people; most recent changes in the transition from school to work are in principle reversible if the recession ends. The paper assesses the implications of these findings for the sociology of education, and concludes with a discussion of the possible impact of the Youth Training Scheme.     

Youth and the Enterprise Culture

Abstract

A major emphasis in the policies of U.K. governments in the 1980s was promoting an ‘enterprise culture’ as a key way in which the economy and labour force could be engineered into becoming more committed to a market economy. However, the extent to which the inculcation of an ‘enterprise culture’ has been successful remains largely unknown. Among adults there have been indications of resistance to the attitudinal and behaviourial changes which might represent acceptance.

Young people still in education and especially those in their late teens, were relatively young when the first of the Conservative administrations came to power and may have been much more receptive to an’ enterprise culture’. This paper analyses data on the attitudes of 828 sixth formers in schools in both the state and private sectors throughout England to a wide variety of values and beliefs as well as their occupational aspirations. The results provide detailed in sights on the extent to which young people at school have adopted an ‘enterprise culture’ and, hence, its likely affects on the occupational orientations of these new entrants to the economy in the 1990s.     

Education and school‐to‐work transitions in post‐communist Poland∗

Abstract

Unemployment in Poland rose throughout 1990, 1991, 1992 and 1993 but the proportion of school‐leavers among the unemployed peaked in 1990. Unlike in most western market economies, the best‐ educated young people in Poland did not prove the least vulnerable to unemployment. This paper uses evidence from studies of young people in Gdansk, Katowice and Suwalki to argue that one reason why young people from professional and vocational secondary schools have not borne a heavier share of Poland's unemployment since 1990 has been the flexibility and responsiveness of these schools to Poland's new labour market conditions. Since the reforms many of these schools have contracted drastically. Some have closed. But others have thrived The latter have often benefited from favourable local labour market conditions, but their success has usually been at least equally due to their own resourcefulness in introducing new courses which teach skills that are in demand, and securing various kinds of sponsorship from employers. Three reasons are offered to explain the responsiveness of education in Poland to the changing labour market conditions: general support for ‘the reforms’, the schools’ experience of making informal deals with employers under communism, and the post‐communist authorities’ willingness to force unsuccessful schools to close and to see teachers made redundant.

     

University and vocational education,and youth labour market outcomes in Australia

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of university and vocational education, and other influences on a variety of labour market outcomes for Australian youths aged between 16 and 25. The six labour market outcomes investigated are: occupational status, hourly and weekly earnings, employment, unemployment and full-time work. The study finds that a bachelor’s degree has clear positive effects on each of these youth labour market outcomes, in contrast to vocational qualifications. Among men, vocational qualifications show no sizable positive effects on these outcomes. Among women, the higher-level vocational diploma is beneficial for employment and unemployment. In no instance are the positive effects of vocational education stronger than that for a bachelor’s degree. Many of these labour market outcomes are strongly associated with prior experiences of employment and unemployment. The findings suggest that policies, rather than focusing on expanding and reforming vocational education, should aim to ensure that young people quickly secure employment, preferably full-time, and avoid unemployment.     

Problematising vocational education and training in schools: using student narratives to interrupt neoliberal ideology

ABSTRACT

In Australia, like many western countries, there has been a convergence of education policy around a set of utilitarian and economistic approaches to vocational education and training in schools. Such approaches are based on the assumption that there is a direct relationship between national economic growth, productivity and human capital development resulting in the persuasive political argument that schools should be more closely aligned to the needs of the economy to better prepare ‘job ready’ workers. These common sense views resonate strongly in school communities where the problem of youth unemployment is most acute and students are deemed to be ‘at risk’, ‘disadvantaged’ or ‘disengaged’. This article starts from a different place by rejecting the fatalism and determinism of neoliberal ideology based on the assumption that students must simply ‘adapt’ to a precarious labour market. Whilst schools have a responsibility to prepare students for the world of work there is also a moral and political obligation to educate them extraordinarily well as democratic citizens. In conclusion, we draw on the experiences of young people themselves to identify a range of pedagogical conditions that need to be created and more widely sustained to support their career aspirations and life chances.     

Inequalities in school leavers’ labour market outcomes: do school subject choices matter?

Abstract

Despite a wide international literature on the effect of vocational and general education on school-to-work transition, relatively little is known about the role of having studied specific subjects in explaining inequalities in young people’s labour market outcomes. This paper aims to fill this gap by examining differences in employment chances of young people who left education early, either at the end of compulsory schooling or at the end of secondary school. Using data from the Scottish Longitudinal Study, a large-scale linkage study created using data from administrative and statistical sources, we found little gender differences but strong parental background differences in school leavers’ employment status and type of occupation entered. Social inequalities in labour market outcomes were only partly explained by curriculum choices. Moreover, after controlling for social origin and grades, only history and business for lower-secondary leavers and maths for upper-secondary leavers were associated with a reduction in the chances of being unemployed/inactive.     

Pawns against the devil

Abstract

This article outlines the innovative methodology I have developed for a study of young women, classed‐hybrid‐subjectivities and Australian government policies of ‘mutual obligation’. This methodology further develops and disturbs existing notions of research methods involving young people. I argue that in order for research involving young people to be inclusive it needs to attend to issues of ‘sameness, difference and diversity’. Central to this study are the notions of feminst praxis (Lather ¹; Weiner ²) where the feminist‐researcher as feminist‐teacher grapples with issues of classism, racism, sexism, reflexivity and self‐reflexivity whilst attempting to take on and fulfill the roles of teacher‐researcher, researcher‐teacher in an ‘inclusive’ classroom.     

Secondary school leavers and the labour market in SwazilandLes jeunes gens en fin de scolarite et le marche de l'emploi au Swazilandes y el mercado de trabajo en Swaziland

Secondary education in Swaziland has rapidly expanded in the decade or so since independence. Alongside this achievement has been a growing apprehension that the modern sector's capacity to generate employment is not commensurate with the rising number of educated young people leaving secondary school. The emergence of a ‘school leaver problem’ as disenchanted educated youngsters remained unemployed was therefore seen as a real possibility towards the end of the 1970s. Such considerations formed the backcloth to tracer surveys conducted in 1979 which investigated the post-school experience of secondary school leavers who left school in the period 1973–1977.Some aspects of these surveys are discussed in this article which covers the experience of school leavers in finding out about jobs and training, waiting time for jobs, and estimates of unemployment. The occupations entered by school leavers are then assessed in relation to demand projections for educated manpower.These observations reveal that institutional arrangements for transferring school leavers from school to work are embryonic and for a large minority of leavers family and other influentiaal contacts are more important than qualifications in securing a job. For Form 3 Junior Secondary School leavers some credence may be given to the popular impression that unemployment is worsening but Form 5 High School leavers are experiencing little difficulty as yet in finding work. More tentatively it would appear that the marginal additions to the skilled labour force stemming from school leavers are not modifying the occupational structure in line with recent manpower projections.     

Youth Wages: A Note 1

Abstract

The record levels of youth unemployment experienced in recent years has led to a number of theories being advanced to explain this phenomena. Onesuch theory claims that youth labour is too expensive to employ; young people have priced the mselves out of a job. Young people are seen as unwilling to work for the wages employers can afford to pay. This note using data from two longitudinal surveys of the labour market experiences of young people seeks to challenge this view, and shows that the wages young people expect to earn and are prepared to work for in their first job are appreciably below actual earnings of young workers.

     

NEET,unemployed, inactive or unknown – why does it matter?

Background: The UK, like most countries across Europe and other advanced economies, has experienced an alarming rise in the levels of young people (aged between 16 and 24 years) who are detached from both the labour market and the education and training system. In the UK, there are nearly a million 16–24-year-olds who are recorded as being not in education, employment or training (NEET). For governments throughout Europe, the need to address high levels of youth unemployment and social disengagement has become an urgent priority. As a result, policy-makers are faced with the challenge of developing effective interventions to prevent these levels being sustained over the longer term, with potential scarring effects on successive generations, and concomitant economic and social impacts.

Purpose: This paper will inform the development of policy and practice targeted at NEET prevention and reintegration of those young people who have become NEET, with suggestions for areas to be addressed and methods and mechanisms which might be incorporated into programme implementation. The paper highlights gaps in our knowledge and understanding of the size, characteristics and geographical distribution of young people in the NEET group in England, and questions the continued relevance of the term ‘NEET’ to capture youth disengagement.

Sources of evidence: After drawing on Europe-wide data to present a picture of the scale of youth unemployment throughout the continent, official UK data are used to drill down to specific issues which are the focus of the piece, in particular, the regional disparities in the size of the group whose destination is ‘unknown’. This is discussed in the context of a range of literature relating to the emergence of the term ‘NEET’ and the characteristics of the NEET group. A review of current policy intervention in England to tackle the NEET ‘problem’ is also presented.

Main argument: This paper will suggest that the implementation of effective policy interventions to address the ‘NEET’ issue is highly problematic, due to three overriding concerns. These are: (a) a lack of clarity in the definition of this group in England; (b) inadequacies in determining with any precision how many under-18s there are in this group, or where they are located, leading to large numbers whose post-education destination is ‘unknown’; and (c) misguided stereotyping of NEET young people’s behaviour, attitudes and aspirations. These problems have partly been exacerbated by budget cuts and changes to guidance and support services, as well as inadequacies in mapping and tracking systems.

Conclusions: The paper concludes with recommendations that policy development must, in the first instance, be underpinned by robust and reliable data about the size and composition of the group, derived from impartial, independent mapping and tracking services. Furthermore, policies designed to reduce the NEET population should include measures which tackle NEET prevention, re-engagement strategies for the hardest to reach groups and active labour market policies for the young unemployed.     

Purpose,Value and Competence: Contextualising competence based assessment in the civil aviation sector

Abstract

This paper outlines some of the issues emerging from research in to competence based training and assessment, and National Vocational Qualifications. A model for analysing the key purposes of formal assessment systems is suggested and a conceptual framework is presented which uses the notions of use and exchange value for gauging the worth of qualifications. The author presents material collected during a study of the training and assessment of student air traffic controllers to illustrate how contextual features, particularly at the occupational level, can affect the purpose and design of a qualification as well as the value attached to it by recipients and employers. It is suggested that elements such as: ‘purpose’, ‘perceived value’ ‘qualification design’ and ‘context’ provide a conceptual framework within which further understanding of the role of qualifications can be achieved. The longer term aspiration of the analysis begun in this paper is the development of a context‐sensitive theory of occupational qualifications.     

Rural young people’s work/study priorities and aspirations: The influence of family social capital

The transition from school to secure work has become more difficult as young people bear the brunt of the restructuring of the Australian labour market. Young people raised in a rural community are over-represented in the most disadvantaged labour market group- those who have not participated in post-school training and who have experienced long periods of unemployment. Rural labour markets feature lower paid, less secure jobs than their urban counterparts. Education is a proven way of accessing the ‘better’ jobs offered by national labour markets. Why then do young people from disadvantaged rural areas not take up education and training opportunities to the same extent as their urban counterparts? The research discussed in this paper investigated ways in which family and school/community social capital influence young people’s work/study values and priorities with regard to post-school pathways. Family networks and information that are limited and concentrated in rural areas tend to be associated with a desire to find a job before completing school, preferably located near to home. Incomplete understanding and lack of trust of educational institutions and labour markets in urban centres based on local experience may be transmitted through advice of family and friends and influence young people toward current work rather than the longer term goal of post-compulsory education. The implications for regional and national programs of educational and community development are discussed.     

Preparing at-risk youth for a changing world: revisiting a person-in-context model for transition to employment

Background: The current global cohort of youth has been called ‘a generation at-risk’, marked by a dramatic rise in youth who are not in employment, education or training programmes. In 2010, youth were three times as likely as adults to be unemployed, with youth unemployment worsening in 2012 and 2013. Accordingly, there is an urgent need to examine educational structures that can promote greater labour market attachment and successful transition into employment for youth worldwide. Vocational and work-based education (WBE) has been identified as one of the most recommended and promising educational structures for curtailing youth under- and unemployment. However, WBE takes many forms, making it difficult to discern which WBE programme is most likely to meet the diverse needs of any individual at-risk youth. Moreover, there has been a dearth of theoretical conceptualisations to explain WBE as a context that promotes resilience for at-risk youth as they transition into the world of work.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present a revised model for WBE as an enabling context for at-risk youth in transition from school to employment. Specifically, a person-in-context approach is used, situating youth-related facets (e.g. agency) in relation to systemic facets (e.g. political, cultural) to provide a comprehensive theoretical basis for WBE. The revised model maintains three overlapping domains – the individual, the social-cultural and the economic-political – to address a theoretical gap in the literature on transition systems while providing a foundation for practical efforts to prepare at-risk youth for engaging in a changing labour market.

Design and Methods: The model was constructed through a systematic and interdisciplinary integrative literature review that examined empirical, conceptual, policy-based and practice-based literature on at-risk youth transition from school to work. Articles and documents were analysed for both individual and contextual factors that influence transition, in order to contribute towards the development of a robust person-in-context model. Existing models of transition and other systems were also examined that addressed the needs of at-risk youth. A ‘person-in-context’ approach was selected for our model as it enabled representation of both macro- and microcosmic factors that shape effective WBE programming.

Conclusions: The model is organised around three critical domains that were identified as being influential for school-to-work transition: the individual domain, the social-cultural domain and the economic-political domain. Within each of these domains, multiple facets are described that shape youth transition. WBE is positioned at the centre of the model as an educational structure that can attend to the multiple facets that shape engagement in school and work. The paper concludes with an explicit research agenda linked to the model and practical implications for WBE programming.     

The Careers Service: Threatened by Youth Unemployment ‐‐ Saved by Youth Training

Abstract

The modern careers service has its origins in the post‐war world of full employment. Unlike its inter‐war counterpart, which concentrated on finding jobs for young people, the post‐war service has been preoccupied with giving them vocational guidance. With a professional rationale resting on an assumption of genuine occupational choice for young people, high unemployment could have generated serious professional challenges to those occupationally socialised during a period of full employment Yet most of the careers officers interviewed in a Midlands conurbation maintained that though their day‐to‐day work had changed and become more difficult, their professional role, far from being diminished, had been unchanged or even extended by high unemployment. It would seem that they, like their clients, had been ‘rescued’ from unemployment by YTS. ¹ 1. The Youth Training Scheme (YTS) was introduced in 1983 as a replacement for the Youth Opportunities Programme. One key element in the new scheme was that on‐the‐job training had to be complemented by the equivalent of 13 weeks off‐the‐job training. Initially, schemes lasted for one year. However, in 1985 it was announced that in future they were to be two years in duration. In 1990, YTS gave way to Youth Training (YT). Under YT, only those training providers who offered courses leading to at least National Vocational Qualification Level II or its equivalent would be able to run schemes. The newly created TECs were to be responsible for ensuring the quality of the training.

     

Special education students in the labour market: four case studies

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the employment status of 10 young men 10 years after leaving classes for the socially maladjusted. On the basis of their work careers, they were placed in one of 4 labour market sectors using the criteria (1) employed/unemployed at the time of the interview, and (2) history of long‐term/short‐term employment. Half of the young men were unemployed, 4 were working and 1 in prison. The large percentage of unemployed respondents was due to the exceptionally difficult economic situation prevailing in Finland at the time the interviews were carried out, as a result of which the national unemployment rate approached almost 20 per cent. Despite a lack of vocational education, all the young men but one had a positive attitude towards work, and those unemployed were actively seeking a job. There was almost no relation between the young men's school career and their work career, since those who had the longest‐lasting jobs were those young men who had had the most difficulties in school. When measured in terms of length of employment, the attachment of these young men to working life differed greatly: one had been for the entire postschool period (almost 10 years) in the service of the same employer, while another had had several jobs of a few months’ duration interspersed with periods of unemployment.     

Mathematics in Education and Industry

ABSTRACT

The view that education has a role to play in resolving the conflict in Northern Ireland is examined, first by looking at the notions of reconstructionism and cultural pluralism. The religiously segregated school systems are then examined, and the various attempts at intervention are described under the headings, ‘Curriculum change’, ‘Integration’, and ‘Inter‐school co‐operation’. Finally a new research and development project called Inter‐school links is described.