Negotiating uncertain economic times: youth employment strategies in England
Negotiating uncertain economic times: youth employment strategies in England
Higher education is commonly understood as the gateway to better, higher-paying jobs. This article draws on longitudinal survey and interview data to explore how different groups of young people, those who left school at 18 and those graduating from higher education, negotiated pathways into employment or otherwise during the recent economic recessionary climate in England. While a mix of employment and unemployment featured in both groups, with temporary and unstable contracts more common than skilled and secure jobs, our evidence reveals that those with degrees were less likely to be in work at the ages of 22 to 23 than those who left school to enter employment at 18. In some contradistinction to popular discourses on the employability benefits of higher education therefore, entering paid work at 18 was a more effective strategy for being in employment five years later than proceeding into higher education.
employment, youth transitions, Mixed methods, Higher Education
61-79
Hoskins, Bryony
03195dae-9405-4c0b-99f4-a67f9095a412
Leonard, Pauline
a2839090-eccc-4d84-ab63-c6a484c6d7c1
Wilde, Rachel
3c845b9f-629b-439f-a899-fad780dbbc5f
1 February 2018
Hoskins, Bryony
03195dae-9405-4c0b-99f4-a67f9095a412
Leonard, Pauline
a2839090-eccc-4d84-ab63-c6a484c6d7c1
Wilde, Rachel
3c845b9f-629b-439f-a899-fad780dbbc5f
Hoskins, Bryony, Leonard, Pauline and Wilde, Rachel
(2018)
Negotiating uncertain economic times: youth employment strategies in England.
British Educational Research Journal, 44 (1), .
(doi:10.1002/berj.3318).
Abstract
Higher education is commonly understood as the gateway to better, higher-paying jobs. This article draws on longitudinal survey and interview data to explore how different groups of young people, those who left school at 18 and those graduating from higher education, negotiated pathways into employment or otherwise during the recent economic recessionary climate in England. While a mix of employment and unemployment featured in both groups, with temporary and unstable contracts more common than skilled and secure jobs, our evidence reveals that those with degrees were less likely to be in work at the ages of 22 to 23 than those who left school to enter employment at 18. In some contradistinction to popular discourses on the employability benefits of higher education therefore, entering paid work at 18 was a more effective strategy for being in employment five years later than proceeding into higher education.
Text
PDF of manuscript on negotiating in uncertain times_ youth employment strategies in england
- Accepted Manuscript
Text
Hoskins_et_al-2018-British_Educational_Research_Journal
- Version of Record
More information
In preparation date: 18 October 2017
Accepted/In Press date: 18 October 2017
e-pub ahead of print date: 25 December 2017
Published date: 1 February 2018
Keywords:
employment, youth transitions, Mixed methods, Higher Education
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 415066
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/415066
ISSN: 0141-1926
PURE UUID: 887f15bf-0106-4a77-8ebc-3906f57d2ead
Catalogue record
Date deposited: 25 Oct 2017 16:30
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 05:52
Export record
Altmetrics
Contributors
Author:
Bryony Hoskins
Author:
Rachel Wilde
Download statistics
Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.
View more statistics
