Employability engagement and support provision and the labour market transitions of young people

The Scottish Government has introduced a variety of employability initiatives intended to facilitate young people's transition from school to employment. These exist alongside employability supports from third sector organisations. Despite recent progress in lowering youth unemployment prior to the coronavirus pandemic, challenges remain in sustaining transitions with youth unemployment remaining high in some areas, and some of this progress may have been undone by the economic impacts of the pandemic. It is not clear whether Scotland's multi-layered, multi-sectoral employability offer provides complementary support or manifests as unnecessary and/or ineffective duplication. Nor is it clear how young people navigate options and services, or how these feature in the decisions they make around preparing for work. Better understanding is needed of the variety and interactions of informal/formal (employability) provision, of the conceptualisations of employability that underpin services and how the mosaic of provision is experienced by young people themselves. Through a longitudinal qualitative case study of young people's engagement with employability services in Clackmannanshire this project will cast light on these issues. Furthermore, this research will provide understanding of the variety of informal/formal employability provision in the area and how these different initiatives interact. The research is in collaboration with the Clackmannanshire Third Sector Interface.

The questions this research seeks to answer are threefold. Firstly, what types of employability support are available to young people? Secondly, how are young people's decisions around labour market transitions affected by their views and experiences of employability support? Thirdly, do young people's views and assumptions about employability supports align with policy presumptions about what works in securing labour market transitions?

This research will produce a longitudinal qualitative study of up to 30 young people in Clackmannanshire who are not in employment, education or training. It is anticipated the sample of young people will comprise individuals who have left school the previous year and who have engaged with one or more employability services. Two waves of semi-structured interviews will be conducted at an interval of one year. Additional interviews with providers of employability services and other key stakeholders from the local authority, business, education, Scottish Government and DWP will also be conducted.

In-depth qualitative material will add to understanding of how Scotland's emergent multi-layered and multi-sectoral employability provision is experienced by young people at the edges of the labour market. Furthermore, the mapping of employability supports in one specific area will provide concrete evidence for providers and policy actors of the presence and interaction of these services and whether they complement or overlap each other. For local providers and local and national policy makers, this research will provide empirical evidence of what works and for whom in relation to employability support. The research will contribute to academic debates on conceptualisations of employability held by policy actors, and how these align with the conceptualisations held by the young people the support services target. Findings of the research will be shared and discussed with the collaborating partner and other key stakeholders. A knowledge exchange workshop and briefing papers aimed at support providers and policy actors will ensure dissemination outside the academic community.