The young outsiders: the later life courses of ‘drop‐out youths’

Abstract

The aim of the article is to examine the consequences of exclusion from school and work on the later life of young people. The article is based on a longitudinal study concerning Finnish youths who were unemployed and had not continued their schooling after compulsory school in 1985 (n = 6983). The life-courses of these youths were followed up to and including the year 2000. According to the results, dropping out of education and working life after compulsory schooling quite strongly predicted a weak educational and labour market position. However, there were also many persons in the target group who had continued their education at a later age and succeeded in finding their place in working life. Altogether, the results suggest that it should not be taken for granted that dropping out of education and work in youth necessarily lead to exclusion in later life. Both exclusionary and successful life careers were represented in the data, although the former were more common.

Young people on the margins: In need of more choices and more chances in twenty‐first century Scotland

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Social Background and Labour Market Careers of Young People: A Comparison of Two Cohorts of Finnish Young People not in Employment, Education or Training (NEET)

“…The impact of one's social background on educational aspirations and attainment has proved to be one of the most consistent findings in the sociology of education (Reay, 2010;Weis, 2010). Research has regularly shown how advantages and disadvantages associated with social background are associated with the educational and labour market outcomes of the individuals including dropout (Vanttaja & Järvinen, 2006) and completion of upper secondary education (Kallio, Kauppinen & Erola, 2016).…”

L’évolution des approches du décrochage scolaire

“…Par ailleurs, face à des problématiques de plus en plus pressantes de restauration de la cohésion sociale et de contention de la violence (Douat, 2011 ;Thin, 2002), le décrochage est apparu comme la part visible de préoccupations débordant le cadre strictement scolaire (Millet, Thin, 2005). Ce phénomène est devenu depuis cette époque d'autant plus perceptible dans les pays industrialisés en Europe occidentale, en Amérique du Nord et en Australie, que la tension continuait de s'accentuer entre l'élévation du niveau d'instruction et les difficultés d'insertion dans le marché du travail (Colombo, 2010 ;Hayden, Blaya, 2008 ;Marks, Fleming, 1999 ;Rumberger, Lamb, 2003 ;Vanttaja, Jarvinen, 2006). Selon nous, cet élément contextuel permet de comprendre la multiplication des financements de travaux de recherche et donc des publications dans ces zones géographiques.…”