High School Dropout Recovery? Young people post- school experiences and future aspirations

Dropping out from high school is a complex phenomenon influenced by a range of interacting factors on individual, family, school and community levels, representing a process rather than an event. Numerous studies have shown that, unlike the adolescents who graduate, those who drop out of high school experience long-term higher rates of unemployment, criminal activity and dependence on social welfare. Young people who drop out of school often express great remorse for leaving school and show interest in re-entering it. There are literature gaps regarding the experience of youth life conditions immediately after the school dropout and their perception of opportunities in the future. The aims of this study were to explore how young people perceive their life circumstances during the year after school dropout, and consequently, how they comprehend their future life plans and decisions. Specific emphasis will be given to dropout recovery, as a process of re-engaging dropout students back in different forms of education. The study is based on 20 semi- structured interviews conducted with young people who have experienced dropping out from high school. The participants were between the ages of 16 and 20 years, including eight females and twelve males. Dominantly, they dropped out from vocational high schools. A narrative-based, qualitative method was used to analyse the data according to three broad themes: feelings about leaving school, current life situation and their future aspirations. Regarding feelings about leaving school, most interviewed young people interpreted dropping out of school as a bad experience that impaired their sense of self-worth and limited their opportunities on the labor market. They dominantly expressed regret for dropping out from school emphasizing the fact that they did not obtained necessary qualification. Results also demonstrated the heterogeneity of current life situations of young people. Some of them work on part-time jobs and low-skilled positions, while some of them have re-enrolled in alternative vocational training programme. Few participants where neither in the labor market nor in education or training. In describing future aspirations young people who participated in the study had different ideas about their plans, such as looking for employment and continuing education, while some of them had no plans for the future. All of them had aspirations that were highly contextualized with available financial resources, perceived social support and circumstances that led to leaving high school. These findings could frame intervention strategies that equip young people with relevant practical skills to help them overcome vulnerability and marginalization in the period close to dropping the school. Many of them may benefit from counseling and specific guidance services that are focused on their individualized needs. Understanding the relation of various patterns of young people experiences to the educational re-engagement could encourage initiatives for youth at risk deployed by schools and social service agencies. Ethical and methodological challenges related to reaching this vulnerable group of young people will be discussed as well in presentation.