Building lifelong careers for disengaged and socially excluded young people Tristram Hooley Disengaged or excluded? Careers from NEET Policy responses Effective interventions Disengaged or excluded? Careers from NEET Policy responses Effective interventions More education? If you are young you should be at school If you are not then there must be something wrong with you! You arent unemployed you are something else! The creation of NEET Young people typically make up a large percentage of unemployed people. But governments dont like unemployment. NEET avoids us having to see young people as unemployed people. NEET is not a pathology. It is a lack of opportunity and career resources. NEET is a political category (too young to be unemployed). Disengaged or excluded? Careers from NEET Policy responses Effective interventions Who are the NEETs? NEET young people are disproportionately drawn from low socio-economic backgrounds BUT this can disguise the wide diversity that exists amongst the NEET group. The diversity of NEETs also means that there are a diversity of support needs. In the UK NEETs are getting older Most NEETness is temporary (the precariat) What contributes to NEET? Opportunity structureContextIndividual differences Employment opportunities Learning opportunities Geography the local NEET rate Alignment of the education and employment systems Disadvantage (e.g. housing issues, poverty) Crime Family and caring responsibilities (competing expectations) Bad experiences of education and work Peer group Lack of support and advice Academic attainment Disability and mental health problems Substance abuse Pregnancy Confidence Aspriation Career indecision The experience of NEET Freedom and flexibility (get me out of the classroom and dont tie me down) Complex family relationships Snakes and ladders career progressions (the precariat again) Disenchantment and a lack of optimism Belonging and not belonging Aspiration and lack of aspiration Engagement in the informal economy Is aspiration the problem?people-education-attitudes-summary.pdf Participation in the informal economy The black economy Criminal economy Hidden (from the state) economy Communal economy Voluntary work Collective community improvement Household economy Caring Self-sufficiency Progression from NEET There is a scarring effect of NEET status in relation to long term socio-economic and health outcomes. e.g. Lower educational attainment Less likely to be economically active More likely to work in low-status occupations More likely to experience health problems More likely to experience mental health problems Disengaged or excluded? Careers from NEET Policy responses Effective interventions Challenges for policy NEET is about transition and often exists in between policy silos and government departments (e.g. education and employment). NEET is complex and requires inter-departmental co- ordination to address it. NEETs are heterogeneous and so one-size will not fit all. Policy responses NEET prevention Identification Support for attainment Career guidance and work-related learning Improving support structures for vulnerable young people NEET Management Maintaining engagement NEET programmes (skills) Career guidance and work-related learning Volunteering Intermediate labour markets Support Supply and demand Supply side responses Focusing on the young people e.g. increasing skills Demand side responses Focusing on the labour market e.g. subsidies to employers Disengaged or excluded? Careers from NEET Policy responses Effective interventions A framework for progression aspiration attainmentawareness progression Building effective interventions Listen to the voices of young people in the design and development of interventions Provide advice and guidance while still at school Strengths based assessments of young people potential Personalisation Access to professional advice and guidance Sustained relationships with mentors Moving people out of existing circles and making new friends Social pedagogy holistic approach which focuses on what people are learning. Tracking Radical solutions A personal (human capital) response may not be sufficient for all young people to move out of NEET. Sometimes there may be a need for wider changes e.g. the creation of work in a place where there is none. Should we encourage young people to understand the structures that have led them to be NEET as well as the personal response needed to transition from it? A framework for emancipatory career education Who am I? How does the world work? Where do I fit into the world? How can I live with others in the world? How do I go about changing the world? References Borbly-Pecze, T.B. and Hutchinson, J. (2013). The Youth Guarantee and Lifelong Guidance: ELGPN Concept Note No. 4. Jyvskyl: The European Lifelong Guidance Policy Network (ELGPN).The Youth Guarantee and Lifelong Guidance: ELGPN Concept Note No. 4 Carter-Wall, C., & Whitfield, G. (2012). The Role of Aspirations, Attitudes and Behaviour in Closing the Educational Attainment Gap. York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation. Feng et al., (2015). Consequences, Risk Factors and Geography of Young People Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET). Edinburgh: Scottish Government. Garton, L., Burch, P, and Dent, P. (2011). The Progression Matrix. Available at[Accessed 12 th January 2016].Hooley, T. (2015). Emancipate Yourselves from Mental Slavery: Self-Actualisation, Social Justice and the Politics of Career Guidance. Derby: International Centre for Guidance Studies, University of Derby.Emancipate Yourselves from Mental Slavery: Self-Actualisation, Social Justice and the Politics of Career Guidance Hughes, D., Davies, D., Bright, G. and Dyke, S. (2008). NEET Speaks: Influences Shaping Young People's Choices of Education, Training and Employment. Executive Summary. Derby: International Centre of Guidance Studies (iCeGS), University of Derby.NEET Speaks: Influences Shaping Young People's Choices of Education, Training and Employment. Executive Summary Hutchinson, J., Beck, V. and Hooley, T. (2015). Delivering NEET policy packages? A decade of NEET policy in England. Journal of Education and Work. Online first. Hutchinson, J., Korzeniewski, R. and Moore, N. (2011). Career Learning Journeys of Derby and Derbyshire NEETs: Summary. Derby: International Centre for Guidance Studies, University of Derby.Career Learning Journeys of Derby and Derbyshire NEETs: Summary References II Hutchinson, J., Rolfe, H., Moore, N., Bysshe, S. and Bentley, K. (2011). All Things Being Equal? Equality and Diversity in Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance. Manchester: Equality and Human Rights Commission.All Things Being Equal? Equality and Diversity in Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance Moore, N. and Hooley, T. (2011). Building a Progression Culture: Exploring Learning Organisations Use of The Progression Matrix. Derby: International Centre for Guidance Studies.Building a Progression Culture: Morgan, S.T. (2013). Social Pedagogy within Key Worker Practice: Community Situated Support for Marginalised Youth. International Journal of Social Pedagogy, 2(1): Social Pedagogy within Key Worker Practice: Community Situated Support for Marginalised Youth Standing, G. (2014). The Precariat: The Dangerous New Class. London: Bloomsbury Academic. Watts, A.G. (2015). Career education and the informal economies. In Hooley, T. and Barham, L. Career Development Policy and Practice: The Tony Watts Reader. Stafford: Highflyers. Watts, A.G. (2015). Career Guidance and Social Exclusion: A Cautionary Tale. In Hooley, T. and Barham, L. Career Development Policy and Practice: The Tony Watts Reader. Stafford: Highflyers. Watts, A.G. (2015). The implications of school-leaver unemployment for career education in schools. In Hooley, T. and Barham, L. Career Development Policy and Practice: The Tony Watts Reader. Stafford: Highflyers. Wolf, A. (2002). Does Education Matter? London: Penguin. In conclusion NEET is a social, political and economic construct rather than a personal choice or pathology. NEET is complex but tends to be impact on the disadvantaged more. NEET can have a lifelong scaring effect. Policy makers have responded both by trying to prevent and manage NEET. There are range of evidence based approaches that practitioners can use. Should we be talking about the context of NEET with young people? About me Tristram Hooley Professor of Career Education University of Derby https://adventuresincareerdevelopment.wordpress.com/
