NEETs civic and political participation in outermost islands: The mediating roles of sense of community and agency

Abstract

Our aim is to test the associations between collectivism, social support, sense of community, as well as agency with civic and political participation levels of NEETs living in The Azores, a group of islands forming a small and outermost archipelago. We surveyed 332 participants (M = 26.78; 69.30% women). We found that all factors, except for social support, were associated with higher participation levels among NEETs. We also found that stronger sense of community and agency mediated the connection between stronger collectivism and higher levels of participation.Therefore, we conclude that setting emotional bonds with the community and being involved in local traditions and causes are necessary conditions to translate dominant local values into NEETs civic and political participation in outermost islands. We further discuss how these results can be translated into more effective, person-centred policies to support NEETs inclusion.

Building Bridges: Community-Based Projects for Participation and Social Inclusion of Rural NEETs

“…Youth living in rural areas face several challenges related to limited access to education, limited decent and meaningful work opportunities, and increasing gender gaps (Simões et al, 2022b). Scholars have proposed possible strategies to address these challenges by focusing on facilitating environmentally friendly farming practices that help to develop a positive sense of professional identity, particularly among young women, and highlighting innovation capacity in agriculture-relate jobs (Unay-Gailhard Unay-Gailhard & Brennan, 2022).…”

“…While there has been an increased interest in the conditions, factors, and experiences of NEETs, existing research is still limited to the perspective of NEETs in urban areas (Simões et al, 2022a) and lacks a clear focus on NEETs facing unique challenges including limited access to resources, lack of employment opportunities, and geographic isolation in rural areas (Simões et al, 2022b). Furthermore, as youth participation is a key dimension to understanding social inclusion in rural areas (Simões et al, 2022c), more research is needed to examine how and in which conditions community-based projects involve young people not only as "participants" but as active elements in the development of responses that are relevant to them.…”

The increasing relevance of European rural young people in policy agendas: Contributions from community psychology

“…The needs and behaviours of Estonian rural young people are certainly different from those of French rural youths. These differences are, however, even more nuanced as experiences of rurality vary across different territories, such as coastal and mountainous areas or inland, border and outermost regions, imposing different degrees of access to resources (Simões, Fernandes‐Jesus, & Marta, 2022). Rural young people nevertheless share common challenges and opportunities requiring the expertise of community psychologists.…”

“…Rural youth participation is often limited to existing platforms dominated by older generations, reproducing local values/traditions (Ludden, 2011). However, recent findings show that vulnerable young people's participation in predominantly rural areas, such as outermost regions, is fueled by a sense of loyalty to local communities, mediated by emotional ties with communities and personal agency (Simões, Fernandes-Jesus, & Marta, 2022). These findings pinpoint that rural younger generations are inclined to solve concrete problems that affect them and their communities, just like young people elsewhere (Barrett & Zani, 2015).…”

NEETs and Youth Guarantee Registration: Examining the Link to Past Undeclared Work

“…In this article, we hypothesise that having previous work experience without a contract followed by unemployment may induce young people to ask for help from institutions (Simões et al, 2022). Accordingly, we expect young people in such a condition to be more motivated to engage with and register for the YG offered by public employment services (PES).…”