In the European Union, and indeed globally, the route to economic competitiveness is said to arise from the development of a knowledge economy. Education policies frequently emphasise the need to prepare young people for the putative fourth industrial revolution, so that they will be able to fully mobilise their talents, contribute to wider society and avoid social exclusion (Brynjolfson and McAfee, 2014). Such notions have become a hegemonic feature of international policy debates (see OECD, 2014). In this context Vocational Education and Training (VET) has been depicted as integral both to economic and social justice agendas. A significant body of education research has addressed the way in which European VET systems aim to develop in young people the competences, skills and dispositions required at work (Mulder and Winterton, 2016).

Insofar as the research has addressed social inequalities, it has focused mainly on the reproduction of classed and/or gendered relations, and on disengagement and unemployment, with limited recognition of ethnicity (see Atkins and Avis, 2017; Beck et al, 2006; Colley et al, 2003; Hughes, et al, 2006). Issues of race and racism – race as a social relationship - have often been covered only in passing, couched, for instance, in terms of articulations between class, gender and ethnicity (see for example Cedefop 2011) Sustained examination of race and VET has been rare. In addition, in European discussions the term ‘migrant’ is often used as a gloss for race/ethnicity. (See also in current concerns surrounding refugees and asylum seekers fleeing from conflict in the Middle East, in Chadderton and Edmonds, 2015). It is, however, important to recognise that divisions and stratifications in education are mediated by the specific social formations in which they are located. Virolainen (2015) and Jørgensen (2014) have noted different VET strategies in Nordic countries, and the relationship of these to class and gendered processes. In Germany a number of writers have noted the relationship of VET to class (Deissinger, 2015; Müller, 2014; Schmidt, 2010; Schneider and Tieben, 2011; Brown, Lauder and Ashton, 2011).

In a previous paper Avis, Orr and Warmington (2017) examined the English research on relationships between race, ethnicity and VET, much of which has lain dormant since the structural accounts of the 1970s and 80s. A number of significant questions emerged from the literature: the marginalisation of black youth in VET, their allocation to low level courses, and ‘warehousing’. The latter concept, first developed in the 1970s and 80s, refers to the way in which particular fractions of working class youth were effectively ‘parked’ on youth training schemes and low level VET. They were, to use Blacker’s (2013) current term, effectively ‘eliminated’ from the labour market. This process is particularly applicable to black male youth (Roberts 2009, 51; Finn 1987, 149. 187-8; and see Marsh, 2011). This paper addresses an under-researched area, the lived experience of male and female black Caribbean and mixed heritage youth in VET. The study is an exploratory case study of an opportunistic sample of ten young people (16-25) from the north of England. Utilising Leonardo’s (2005) research our position is one of race ambivalence. Thus, whilst race may be ‘unreal’ in the sense that it is not a coherent scientific category, its effects or ‘modes of existence’ are nevertheless real, having innumerable consequences (Leonardo, 2005: 409).       

Atkins, L., Avis, J. (2017). “Youth Transitions, VET and the ‘Making’ of Class: Changing theorisations for changing times?” Research in Post-compulsory Education Avis, J., Orr, K., Warmington, P. (2017) Race and Vocational Education and Training in England, unpublished mimeo Beck, V., Fuller A., Unwin, L. (2006) Safety in stereotypes? The impact of gender and 'race' on young people's perceptions of their post-compulsory education and labour market opportunities, British Educational Research Journal, 32(5) Blacker, D. (2013) The falling rate of learning and the neoliberal endgame, Brown, P., Lauder, H., Ashton, D. (2011) The Global Auction, Cedfop, 2011. Vocational education and training for the common good: The macrosocial benefits of VET. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union Chadderton, C., Edmonds, C. (2015) ‘Refugees and access to vocational education and training across Europe: a case of protection of white privilege?’, Journal of Vocational Education & Training, 67(2), 136-152. Colding, B. (2006),"Ethnicity, gender and vocational education in Denmark", International Journal of Manpower, 27 (4) 342 - 357 Colley, H., James, D., Tedder, M. and Diment, K. 2003. “Learning as Becoming in Vocational Education and Training: Class, Gender and the Role of Vocational Habitus.” Journal of Vocational Education and Training 55(4): 471- 497. Brynjolfson, E., McAfee, A. (2014) The Second Machine age Deissinger, T. (2015) paper presented International perspectives on apprenticeships, training and young people’s transitions to work, University of Huddersfield, 10 July Finn, D. 1987. Training without jobs: new deals and broken promises. Macmillan. Hughes, C., Blaxter, L., Brine, J., Jackson, S. (2006) Gender, class and ‘race’ in lifelong learning: policy and practice in the UK and EU, BERJ, 32(5) Jørgensen, C. (2014) The current state of the challenges for VET in Denmark, http://nord-vet.dk/indhold/uploads/report1b_dk.pdf accessed 20 Dec 2015 Leonardo, Z. (2005) “Through the multicultural glass: Althusser, ideology and race relations in post-civil rights America.” Policy Futures in Education 3(4): 400-12. Marsh, J. (2011) Class Dismissed, Month Review Press Mulder, M., Winterton, J. (Eds) (2016) Competence-based Vocational and Professional Education Bridging the World of Work and Education, Springer Müller, W. (2014). ‘Everyone is his own boss.’ Current threats to educational attainment in German schools, in F. Coffield, et al (eds) Beyond Bulimic Learning, IoE Press Roberts, K. 2009. Youth in Transition. Palgrave. Szalai, J., Carson, M., KusA, Z., Eniko Magyari-Vincze, E., ZentaI, V. (2014) Comparative Report on Educational Policies for Inclusion. EDUMIGROM, Center For Policy Studies Central European University, Budapest,