Abstract
The English education system has been in constant change for much of the last decades. A smooth progression to post-compulsory education, training or stable employment has been a key policy aim. However, the economic restructuring and related austerity measures since the Global Financial Crisis were perhaps the most dominant factors shaping the current policy scene in education. In her recent book Youth Identities, Education and Employment, Kate Hoskins looks at the students’ post-16 and post-18 choices and experiences in England through the lens of identity in the context of recent policy changes.
The book describes the policy scene in England with regard to further and higher education and youth employment, drawing comparisons to Greece and Spain. Hoskins argues that neoliberal policies opened the path for deeper social inequalities in all three countries. Subsequently, the empirical results are presented on post-16 subject choices, post-18 routes, university course choices and choices to take alternative pathways such as apprenticeship and employment. Finally, the concluding chapter discusses the potential for adopting a multi-dimensional social justice approach to creating equal opportunities. Following previous studies on youth transitions (Ball et al., 2000; Hodkinson et al., 1996), Hoskins uses Bourdieu’s concepts of habitus, field and cultural capital. This allows the reader to compare the author’s findings in relation to the vast literature on youth transitions.
The strength of the book lies, to a great extent, in documenting the ways students describe their choices and aspirations in a changing policy context characterised by the cuts to ‘education maintenance allowance’ and the increase in tuition fees. While students from disadvantaged backgrounds stress that these changes put pressure on them, those with fewer financial constraints adopt a more individualistic approach to financing their education; they appear to be more inclined to think of themselves as consumers and of education as a consumer good. As consumers, some students question the value of higher education in the labour market. The evidence presented in the book shows clear effects of the recent policy changes on the way students think about education.
While the impact of gender, class and ethnic identities appears to be weak, Hoskins teases out the ways these identities, in particular gender identity, may shape the students’ choices and aspirations. It is possible that the weaker effects of social class found in this study are a result of the school selected as the case study. An affluent school with an academic lead, with 21 A-level subjects on offer as opposed to one BTEC, perhaps does not allow exploring a wide range of choices and aspirations based on class and ethnicity, especially in choosing between higher education and other options. Hoskins’ research highlights the need to further investigate the intersections of multiple identities.
In the concluding chapter, Hoskins makes several policy recommendations. The author highlights investment in apprenticeships (as vocalised by the students and teachers in the study) and vocationally oriented higher education pathways as two main recommendations. It is encouraging that recent reports on ‘post-16 technical education reforms’ show that these two suggestions are already on the agenda of the current government. In the final pages of the book, the author also shares her reflections on the multi-dimensional social justice approach (Gewirtz, 1998). The author defends this approach, rightly so, as she clearly shows the negative impact of recent changes in policy led by marketisation and neoliberalism. While her call for a multi-dimensional social justice approach is a welcome concluding note, the suggestion of a tuition fee structure reflecting the ‘different earning capacity of graduates entering the employment market depending on their field of study’ (p. 135) may deepen the existing inequalities.
Overall, Hoskins’ book puts a spotlight on recent education policies. The discussion of recent developments in Greece and Spain is useful towards the aim of pointing out the neoliberal trends in the broader European context. By emphasising the similarities across different European countries, Hoskins draws attention to the relevance of her research findings for a wider audience beyond England. This is a valuable attempt to stress how convergence in education policies leads to similar outcomes of deepening inequalities in dissimilar contexts such as England, Spain and Greece, which are defined by their unique traditions and education systems.
