Transitions and Labour Market outcomes of young people from Ethnic Minority Backgrounds in Scotland

Thinking first about the theoretical approach this project should take to inform the main body of research, the social theory of functionalism and socialisation will play an important role. Looking specifically at how the education system in Scotland is teaching these young people the skills they need for entering the labour market and meeting the economic needs of society. Furthermore, Bourdieu's cultural capital theory may also be used as a social theory to underpin this project as it looks at how those who experience inequality in society, such as BME young people, may have less cultural capital than their peers, affording them less opportunities in the future and restricting their pathways. Finally, the micro vs macro (structure vs agency) social theory will give a better understanding to how this research is informed by examining whether these young people's choices are guided by their own desires or whether society is having an impact on the choices that these young people are making in Scotland.
Furthermore, looking at current literature on the topic, to provide more background before the main body research, leads us to look at crucial Government initiatives such as the Development of the Young Workforce - a huge focus in secondary schools currently. Examining progress reports from the Developing the Young Workforce Programme will give a better understanding of the transitions and outcomes of young people from ethnic minority backgrounds leaving school for positive destinations. Academic journals will also be examined looking at relationships between ethnicity and factors that may influence their choices, and therefore their transitions and labour market outcomes, such as socio-economic background.
This research will adopt a mixed methods approach. Quantitative data analysis using large scale datasets will be employed to look at the relationships between ethnicity and social class and examine how these factors can impact the choices of these young people in school, their educational attainment, and future labour market outcomes. These datasets will include data from the Scottish Government, including the Scottish Longitudinal Study, and data on transitions and destinations of school leavers. Further datasets from UCAS and HESA will also be analysed to give a better insight into how these choices can create pathways for future employment of these young people. As these datasets are large it may be beneficial in the early stages of the research to create a common database for ease of analysis. Qualitative research methods for data collection will also be employed to compliment the statistical analysis. Semi-structured interviews will be used with pupils of different ethnic minority backgrounds to explore the reasons why they make the choices they do. Semi-structured interviews will be able to provide a greater deal of flexibility for the researcher and the participant while also allowing for depth of analysis and the ability for the researcher to make comparisons and recognise patterns between participants. Semi-structured interviews with individuals responsible for Developing the Young Workforce in each school may also be beneficial to gain a better understanding of what each school does to ready their young people to leave for positive destinations.