Abstract

Despite the overwhelming focus on young people who are at either end of the educational or social spectrum in policy and research, vast numbers of young people do not reside at these extremes. Consequently, there have been calls to focus more closely on young people who reside in the ‘middle.’ This paper considers the utility of the concept of a ‘middling’ category through examining four selected case studies of young people as they anticipate their transition onto a range of post-18 education, training or employment pathways. It highlights the ways in which intra-class fractional positioning, academic attainment, personal biographies and serendipitous moments intersect and interact to frame young people’s decisions about their post-18 pathways. Attention to these multidimensional elements, over a reliance on categories which position young people within sharp social or academic groups, is crucial for fully understanding young people’s decisions.

摘要

尽管在政策和研究中处于教育或社会领域末端的年轻人受到压倒性的关注，但仍有大量的年轻人没有生活在这些极端之中。因此，有人呼吁更加密切地关注居住在“中部”的年轻人。本文通过考察年轻人的四个选定案例研究来考虑“中等”类别概念的效用，因为他们预计他们将过渡到18岁后的教育，培训或就业途径。它强调了班内分数定位，学术成就，个人履历和偶然时刻之间的相互作用和相互作用，从而构成了年轻人对18岁后途径的决定。注意这些多维要素，