Participatory Support for NEET Young People: A Case Study of a Finnish Educational Project

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to offer a nuanced inquiry into the practices and scope of educational support offered to young people who are not in education, employment, or training (NEET). The study is based on participant observations and qualitative interviews with 35 young people and five project workers within the context of a Finnish educational project, which offered a daily group-based learning environment for 15-to-24-year-old NEET young people. Following a sociological interventionist approach, we interpret the logic of action—program theory—of the project, namely how the project workers defined the problems they intended to solve and what their aims and practical solutions were. Enhancing youth participation was the key point of their program theory. We juxtapose the program theory with young people’s perceptions of how they experienced the project’s participation-enhancing measures. In our analysis, we describe three levels of activity and participation forms the project enabled for the young people involved: individual, communal, and structural. The project enabled young people’s participation by offering tailored support for education and work and a social learning community linking young people to the wider community. Structural and systemic hindrances were also acknowledged, but the project aimed at helping the students adapt to these rather than challenging them. The results of this case study suggest that projects targeting NEET young people can operate and have an effect beyond individual support but could pay more attention to the structural barriers and let young people develop their own critical thinking.