Concentración micelar crítica y formación de micelas

4.2.1(i) Hindsight

I defined this theme as ‘how young people think and feel looking back on the experience of being NEET’.Two of the interview questions asked the young people to sort twenty ‘thoughts and feelings’ cards to reflect how they felt now that they were in education, employment or training, and how they felt ‘then’ at the time they were NEET. They were then asked to elaborate on their reasons for sorting the cards in the way they had. The qualitative and quantitative information from this process clearly shows that NEET status was associated with extremely few positive feelings for the respondents, and in most cases with a high number of negative feelings. The young people’s responses are

described in detail in Appendix 10. Overall, respondents unanimously felt more positive with their current situation than they had been when NEET, but some expressed mixed feelings about ‘now’ and were evidently not feeling fully settled in their lives.

With one exception (B), the respondents seemed to have moved on sufficiently in their lives to look back on their time as NEET with a degree of perspective and acceptance. In B’s case, her experiences had seemed too raw for her to re- visit, and this seemed to be a factor in her not completing her interview. All of the interviewees identified that their NEET situation had arisen through a combination of circumstances. They described personal factors for which they took some responsibility (such as their behaviour at school), and external

115

factors which they thought should have been handled differently (for example the support offered at or after school).

When they were asked if they had learned anything from their time of being NEET, many of the young people seemed highly motivated to avoid a repeat of the experience:

Interviewer: Erm how do you think that time of your life, that six months has actually changed you as a person?

G: “I think it’s definitely made me never wanna be like that again.” Interviewer: Really yeah.

G: “It’s definitely made me like more motivated to stay in my job.” Interviewer: OK, yeah.

G: “Or if I was gonna leave, to get, to walk straight into another one and never ever have to sit there again and not have a job I think. That’s definitely one of the big ones.”

Although the young people expressed mainly negative views about being NEET, most were able to identify things they had learned from this life experience. The ability to see difficult experiences as growth points was a strong theme in many of the narratives.

E said she had gained maturity and optimism:

Interviewer: ...how you think this time of your life’s changed you and you know what you’ve learnt from it?

E: “A lot. I’ve definitely grew as a person. I don’t know. I think I’ve

matured a lot faster than a lot of my friends as well now ‘cause I’ve seen myself outgrowing all my well, all of my friends from school I’ve pretty much outgrown now.”

Interviewer: Hmmm.

E: “So yeah I think it’s changed me as a person. It’s definitely made me more of an optimistic person and gives you a little bit more, a little bit

116 more hope. That you like you will, you will end up being where you want to be.”

F felt that he had learned valuable independence skills as a result of his circumstances of having to live in supported housing and being NEET. His comments also reflected a strong sense of optimism:

F: “Yeah erm, I learnt how to be independent, I learnt how to use a washing machine, err, cooker.”

Interviewer: Practical things.

F: “Yeah, yeah good things that I can use for life. Erm, I learnt not the system, but the support that is available for, for a variety of different situations.”

Interviewer: Hmmm.

F: “It, should they arise. Erm, and I learnt that everything is not all doom and gloom. And I learnt that I don’t know, even in the worst place that you think you can possibly be you can still, I don’t know, get

somewhere.”

However many young people expressed regrets about the choices they had made and the pathways they had chosen. Three of the apprentices regretted missing out on the opportunity to go onto higher education. Respondent F saw himself as responsible for not sorting his life out sooner, while D reflected on how her life might have been different in terms of job prospects and economic security:

F: “‘Cause I mean I, I think I could have done more with my life if I had sorted it out before the sort of point where I realised ‘oh actually I’ve, I’ve messed it up for myself’.”

Interviewer: Hmmm.

F: “I should have worked it out before that. Erm”

117 Interviewer: Erm, why did you end up in that situation?

D: “I don’t know...” Interviewer: Hmmm.

D: “...I feel like it just, I feel like I was kind of pressured but at the time it seemed like such a good, like looking back at it, it seemed like a… I thought in my head it was a really good idea to not go to college and to move away from home and…”

Interviewer: Yeah.

D: “…in my head at the time it seemed, but I look back and I think it’s the worst thing I could of ever done.”

Interviewer: Really?

D: “I really wish now that I had stuck to my college, completed it ‘cause my life would be completely different and even if I had my daughter still…”

Interviewer: Yes.

D: “I would have been probably in a good job by now, still would have my daughter and she still would be going to nursery but I just would have been so much better off.”

Interviewer: Really, yeah.

D: “So I have so much regret at that time.”

4.2.1(ii) Self efficacy

The definition developed for this main theme is ‘young people describe the current strength of their belief in their personal ability to complete tasks and reach goals’. Most of the young people expressed a strong sense of personal efficacy. Although their self-confidence varied, they took responsibility for their choices in life, talked about their goals (for example gaining qualifications to enter particular jobs such as becoming a bus driver or a Teaching Assistant) and hoped that they would get on in life. They suggested a range of personal qualities which had helped them: academic ability, being able to get on with others, motivation, maturity, and pride in their achievements.

118

Having strong personal motivation to do well was a frequently mentioned theme:

G: “Erm I think it comes a lot from yourself.” Interviewer: OK.

G: “I think it’s definitely gotta be from what you wanna do or…not other people’s opinions ‘cause at the end of the day even if people do give their opinions you’re always gonna do what you wanna do.”

Interviewer: That’s true.

G: “Like erm, so I definitely think you’ve gotta be quite like motivated and actually wanna do well in life to actually do it, be positive and…sort of thing. So I think you have gotta, you’ve definitely gotta feel good in yourself…to be in that situation, to have a good situation and stuff so yeah.”

E talked about being an academically able student who had achieved good grades at school and this was evidently important to her sense of identity and self efficacy:

E: “…I’m not silly and I’m not dumb and that I know I’m capable of doing it and doing it to the best of my ability.”

Having not done well at school, A now felt pride about her learning:

A: ‘With work and that I feel proud in some things I do.’

Some respondents still had to cope with difficult situations which had improved but were not fully resolved now they had moved on to EET. F continued to rely on sleeping on the sofa at his girlfriend’s, while D grappled with retaining her independence from her ex-partner:

119 D: “So I have to try and kind of just concentrate on me and my future rather than letting him take over my mind again kind of thing ‘cause that’s how I see it.”