Early leaving studies demonstrate it is possible to improve young people's opportunities through education and training. The current research evidence has yet to agree a definitive answer as to where the primary policy focus to improve their life chances should be. That is, which risk factors are the most impactful for minimising early school…

This paper applies a conceptual framework of five key categories (personal challenges, social relationships, family circumstances, institutional features of school/work, and structural factors) to consider the comparative contexts of risks to Early Leaving (EL) in key regions within Spain with a high national level of EL and England, a nation with…

While measures to combat 'Early Leaving' (EL) have been widely adopted internationally, as a means of curbing rates of economic and social exclusion among young people, the term itself is not widely utilised across the UK. That is not to say that measuring and reducing the number of young people who drop out of education (or training) before…

In this paper, we draw on a conceptual framework of five key categories of risk to Early Leaving (EL) to analyse and compare 'Structural Factors' (SF) and 'Institutional Factors' (IF) of risk in a region in England and in Portugal. We draw on data from an EU-funded project, which explored risks and support strategies to EL across five European…

A unique series of surveys of school leavers in Scotland (1952-98) is used to investigate long-term developments in the transition of young people from school. Transitions changed greatly in the half century, and varied by sex and socio-economic status. School attainment became increasingly important in giving school leavers access to post-school…

Early work experience is found to be an influential factor in young people's transitions from school to work. Still, we know little about whether early work experience can protect vulnerable young people from subsequent exclusion from labour and education in early adulthood. Our objective is therefore to examine how early work experience in…

The number of young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) is a key indicator on the state of youth labour markets and opportunities for young people more generally. However, it is a diverse group as people can be NEET for many reasons, and so understanding the importance of these reasons is crucial for targeting policy…

In this study, we examine how student employment impacts higher educational trajectories in France. Focussing on undergraduates' educational outcomes, we show the consequences of different intensities and levels of recurrence of student employment on perseverance in higher education. We use data from a nationally representative four-year…

Claims that low-skilled young people, and especially the men among them, are being excluded from the labour market have been influential over recent decades, contributing to an increasing concern over the issue of early school leaving. In this study, we use high-quality administrative data and sequence analysis to investigate the school-to-work…

Some countries have certifying institutions for competence acquired at the workplace. These institutions provide incentives for workplace training that may have favourable effects on productivity, earnings and labour market participation. We present evidence on the earnings effects of attaining vocational qualifications in adulthood through two…

Grounded in Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT), this study contributes to empirical efforts to understand factors affecting the career-development process of American youth by focusing on change in occupational expectations between age 16 and 26. The study is based on the secondary analysis of longitudinal data from the Education Longitudinal…

This article aims to deepen understanding of the trajectories through school and into adulthood of people who did not attain valued qualifications from upper secondary school ("non-completers"), and explore the fruitfulness of careership theory for such analysis. It is based on interviews with 100 young Swedes: 81 non-completers and 19…

A study on employment and academic progress of undergraduate teacher trainees at Makerere University Uganda was necessitated by the rising number of trainees taking-up employment in secondary schools within Kampala City, which may cause untimely completion and high dropout rates. However, no study has been done to establish the motives for…

Researchers focused upon the work-dropping out connection tend to show a U-shaped relationship between the likelihood of dropping out and the number of hours worked outside school, with a higher exit rate for both non-working students and for students whose working hours pass a critical threshold. Yet the data typically used by these researchers…

David Raffe was a highly influential figure in the field of transitions research. His work carefully delineated how national institutional policies shape transition processes and outcomes. Curriculum structure and organisation were seen as key features of these transition systems, his work tracing the relative impact of vocational and academic…