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Education to Work Transitions: How the Old Middle Went Missing and Why the New Middle Remains Elusive

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  • Kenneth Roberts

Abstract

Middling youth were centre stage in research on school-to-work transitions from the early-20th century up to and throughout the 1980s. Since then they have been overshadowed by sociological attention to the young unemployed/NEETs on the one side, and university students and graduates on the other. Simultaneously, economists have been crowding out sociologists in the study of education-to-work transitions, especially in the middle ground. However, this paper argues that this is not just a case of the sociological gaze missing the middle. It is argued that old middling labour market destinations have diminished in number, and the new middle remains elusive because the employment tends to be precarious. Thus today's middling groups of school-leavers must either try to move-up or face career-long threats of descent to the bottom.

Suggested Citation

  • Kenneth Roberts, 2013. "Education to Work Transitions: How the Old Middle Went Missing and Why the New Middle Remains Elusive," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 18(1), pages 160-170, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:socres:v:18:y:2013:i:1:p:160-170
    DOI: 10.5153/sro.2650
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Steven Mcintosh, 2006. "Further Analysis of the Returns to Academic and Vocational Qualifications," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 68(2), pages 225-251, April.
    2. Maarten Goos & Alan Manning, 2007. "Lousy and Lovely Jobs: The Rising Polarization of Work in Britain," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 89(1), pages 118-133, February.
    3. Hussain, Iftikhar & McNally, Sandra & Telhaj, Shqiponja, 2009. "University Quality and Graduate Wages in the UK," IZA Discussion Papers 4043, IZA Network @ LISER.
    4. Maarten Goos & Alan Manning, 2007. "Lousy and Lovely Jobs: The Rising Polarization of Work in Britain," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 89(1), pages 118-133, February.
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    1. Santos Miguel Ruesga-Benito & Fernando González-Laxe & Xose Picatoste, 2018. "Sustainable Development, Poverty, and Risk of Exclusion for Young People in the European Union: The Case of NEETs," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-15, December.

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