ABSTRACT

Concerned about the social and educational conditions of disadvantage inherent to early school leaving (ESL), this chapter brings to the fore some processes of inequality affecting young adults who left mainstream school without upper secondary education or its equivalent (ISCED 3). What is at stake here is how the lack or presence of certain conditions in life trajectories affects learning and working contexts. With this in mind, this chapter starts from the concept of Bourdieu’s habitus and its possibilities of encompassing the Diane Reay concept of genesis of new creative response, in the light of a new equality agenda by John Baker and Kathleen Lynch.

Early school leavers’ views of their own trajectories are analysed under this lens based on eight young adults who were interviewed twice over three years. The analysis identifies both the institutional, social and educational conditions associated with ESL and the choices, challenges and resources involved in youngsters’ decisions regarding school and the labour market, given the likelihood of exclusion and the lack of alternatives. Young adults’ difficulties in identifying and dealing with schools’ requests, families’ financial and employment needs, and the schools’ apparent failures in including diversity and dealing with the pressures of the labour market are highlighted.