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This article investigates the existence of a "discouraged worker" effect among young people in the second year of post-compulsory education in schools in four contrasting Scottish labor markets. In both Scotland, the relationship between labor market conditions and patterns of post-compulsory educational participation has been the subject of debate and controversy. Previous studies of the "discouraged worker" effect have tended to concentrate on a macro-level analysis: little attention has been paid to developing an understanding of the factors which young people see as influencing their decision to remain in full-time education. In this paper the article authors explore the "discouraged worker" effect from a qualitative perspective, highlighting some of the reasons why young people follow trajectories which include extended educational participation and examine the ways in which young people from different social backgrounds adapt to the culture of the upper secondary school. The authors suggest that cultural responses to the school have become more individualized and that "discouraged workers" can be identified in both the middle and the lower attainment bands.

This article investigates the views of a sample of young people in Scotland about their experiences of the Youth Training Scheme It uses qualitative data drawn from a national postal survey of young people throughout Scotland which was conducted in 1985 It is argued that such data can be used in the generation of a simple form of `grounded they', and for gaining new insights into the way young people understand their world In particular, the article looks at the ways in which these respondents use and interpret the terms `slave labour' and `cheap labour' as applied to the Youth Training Scheme, and discusses some of the aspects of the Youth Training Scheme which are flit by trainees to be unsatisfactory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]