Opportunity Structures and Educational Marginality: The post-16 Transitions of Young People outside Education and Employment

Ronald Thompson

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

17 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

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.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)749-766
Number of pages18
JournalOxford Review of Education
Volume43
Issue number6
Early online date26 Sep 2017
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2017

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Opportunity Structures and Educational Marginality: The post-16 Transitions of Young People outside Education and Employment'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this