TY - JOUR
T1 - Opportunity Structures and Educational Marginality
T2 - The post-16 Transitions of Young People outside Education and Employment
AU - Thompson, Ronald
PY - 2017
Y1 - 2017
N2 - This paper reports on findings from a three-year ethnographic study of twenty-four young people in northern England who were classified as not in education, employment or training (NEET), or at risk of becoming so. Drawing on conceptions of opportunity structure and educational marginality, the paper discusses the processes leading to young people becoming NEET after leaving school. It presents findings concerning the family backgrounds, school experiences and educational attainment of participants, and traces their initial post-16 destinations and their pathways to NEET status. Although most participants did not become NEET immediately after leaving school, restricted labour market opportunities and a lack of high-quality education and training for middle- and low-attaining young people exacerbated social and educational disadvantage. Over time, participants became increasingly restricted to marginal forms of learning. The paper argues that a focus on opportunity structures provides a powerful way of understanding these processes, and that alongside sustained NEET status, educational marginality should be of equal concern to policy makers.
AB - This paper reports on findings from a three-year ethnographic study of twenty-four young people in northern England who were classified as not in education, employment or training (NEET), or at risk of becoming so. Drawing on conceptions of opportunity structure and educational marginality, the paper discusses the processes leading to young people becoming NEET after leaving school. It presents findings concerning the family backgrounds, school experiences and educational attainment of participants, and traces their initial post-16 destinations and their pathways to NEET status. Although most participants did not become NEET immediately after leaving school, restricted labour market opportunities and a lack of high-quality education and training for middle- and low-attaining young people exacerbated social and educational disadvantage. Over time, participants became increasingly restricted to marginal forms of learning. The paper argues that a focus on opportunity structures provides a powerful way of understanding these processes, and that alongside sustained NEET status, educational marginality should be of equal concern to policy makers.
KW - NEET
KW - Opportunity structures
KW - Marginality
KW - Low attainment
UR - http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/core20/current
U2 - 10.1080/03054985.2017.1352502
DO - 10.1080/03054985.2017.1352502
M3 - Article
VL - 43
SP - 749
EP - 766
JO - Oxford Review of Education
JF - Oxford Review of Education
SN - 0305-4985
IS - 6
ER -