Young people's decision-making in 14-19 education and training: a review of the literature

Susannah Wright
The 14-19 phase has been described as a period of transition – from youth to adulthood, from compulsory schooling to employment for some, from compulsory schooling into post-compulsory education and training for others. This paper reviews research on an important aspect of these transitions – the decisions individuals make: the process of decision-making, and the outcomes of these decisions. The focus is on decisions related to education and training. Nevertheless these decisions are not taken in isolation from other areas of young people's lives.

This paper aims to evaluate the 'pathways' or 'careers' of 14-19 year olds (what they do), and why they take these pathways (why they do what they do). Government policy on 14-19 education and training emphasises individualised learning, increasing the range of options (of institutions, of courses) available to individual learners. This policy context requires a review of the evidence base on young people's decision-making.

Decisions are influenced by a range of factors, and the importance of these factors varies between individuals, and over time and place. In reality different factors are intertwined and they are only separated in this paper for analytical purposes. For this reason it is very difficult, if not impossible, to formulate a generalised theory of associations between different factors or of causal priority. Individuals also differ widely in the range of options between which they have a meaningful choice.

The concept of 'choice' is commonly used in the research literature, and is often elided with the concept of decision, but is rejected here because the experience of many 14-19 year olds does not seem to tally with the degree of agency and rationality implied by this term. This report uses the term 'decision' as this allows for the influence of external factors (structural, institutional, other individuals). However, 'decision' serves as a shorthand for a continuum between those who 'fall' into what they end up doing on the basis of long standing assumptions and do not consider alternatives, and those who gather information and weigh up different options. Also, one individual may gather information and weigh up options at one time, but 'fall' into what they end up doing on at another time. The concept of 'decision' is inadequate to convey this range, but there is probably no better English language alternative.

The rest of the review will be structured as follows: First I outline my search strategy and key characteristics of the research literature. This is followed by a brief summary of decisions related to education and training which 14 to 19 year olds face. Models of decision-making process used in the literature are then outlined. This is followed by a synthesis of information in various studies about factors which influence decisions, individuals' attitudes and perceptions, and the timing of decisions. The review concludes by identifying gaps in the evidence base and areas which need further research.

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