The Regional Factor in the Further Education and Employment of Male School-Leavers

Abstract

The note draws attention to certain aspects in which adolescent life-histories vary from region to region. In general the likelihood of recruitment to part-time rather than full-time study is greatest in English regions which are subject to economic decline. This appears to mirror the relative availability to school-leavers of conventional apprenticeship. Scotland, Wales and South-East England show important differences from this pattern due to the extreme lack of industrial infra-structure and the influence of vestigial `national' culture. In late adolescence the broad effect seems to be a loss of talent to London and the South-East. It is suggested that any attempt to account theoretically for regional decline should give special attention to the educational and economic constraints on adolescence.