Ryan, L.M. and Lőrinc, M. (2018) Perceptions, prejudices and possibilities : young people narrating apprenticeship experiences. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 39 (6). pp. 762-777. ISSN 0142-5692
Abstract
There is growing international interest in young people’s post-compulsory education pathways. In contexts of ‘widening participation’ as university is increasingly ‘normalised’, how do young people choose alternative routes into training and employment? While in Britain apprenticeships are a key aspect of government strategy, there are many challenges still associated with these schemes including low pay and inconsistent training. Drawing on longitudinal data from our qualitative research with young people on apprenticeship schemes in London, we use narrative analysis, informed by Goffman’s theory of stigma, to explore how young people narrate and navigate the tensions between apprenticeships as opportunities to ‘learn while they earn’, and university degrees as the prevailing ‘gold standard’ of achievement and future success. Our findings show that while these young people were aware of the challenges associated with apprenticeships, they used specific rhetorical devices to reclaim the normalcy of their training pathways as ‘sensible’ and ‘mature’ choices.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2018 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way. |
Keywords: | apprenticeships; stigma; narratives; young people; presentation of self |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > Department of Sociological Studies (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 22 Dec 2017 09:52 |
Last Modified: | 06 Dec 2019 09:42 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Taylor & Francis |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1080/01425692.2017.1417821 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:125421 |