Vocational Education, Training and Employment for Young People in England and Wales: journeying through a gendered landscape

Abstract

This paper explores the gendered landscape of vocational education and training in England and Wales. At the start of the 21st century, young people in England and Wales can still choose between leaving school at the age of 16 or remaining in full-time education. Having made that key decision, however, they then face a further bewildering set of choices, for each route then sub-divides into a number of pathways. For some young explorers, the journey will be straightforward, whereas many will face obstacles and setbacks along the way due to the effects of their gender, ethnicity or social class. The paper examines the extent to which young people can exert agency when determining their futures given the continuing power of structural determinants. To this end, the paper maps the routes which young people can take after compulsory schooling and analyses the relationship between post-compulsory provision and the labour market. The paper concludes that we need to properly understand this landscape in order to help young people in their decision making.