This study aims to investigate the transitory pathways to adulthood of a group of young people between the ages of 16 and 26 who had left school without earning the degree corresponding to the first stage of secondary education (ISCED 2) and had not earned it during the ten years following their departure.
This paper is part of a larger study funded under the National R + D Plan on the transitory pathways to adulthood of the first class of young Spaniards who had studied in the system that established compulsory education until 16 years of age. Its main objective is to further knowledge of the pathways young people follow after completing compulsory education and seeks to answer the following questions: What are their situations 10 years later? Which itineraries have they followed? Which factors explain these itineraries? Why do they take part in certain academic and employment options? The study pays particular attention to unqualified young people with diplomas lower than post-compulsory secondary education (ISCED 2 or lower), because of their greater vulnerability and the fact that they are a priority group in the area of European guidelines (European Commission, 2011).
The theoretical framework of reference is based on studies on the transition to adult life and especially, studies on the education pathways for early school leavers that lead to employment. Understanding the pathways from education to employment involves being familiar with a central aspect of the transition to adulthood, which acts interdependently with the other elements that make up the transition. These pathways are part of individuals’ biographical processes during a period of their development within a certain socio-historical, economic and political context in relation to other significant individuals and groups.
The main theoretical contributions derive from:
- Studies in the field of the sociology of youth that consider this period a biographical stretch or pathway, mainly studies by the GRET (University of Barcelona), which has developed an analytical model of transitions based on socio-historical and territorial contexts, institutional arrangements and the biographical process (Casal, 1999) and Claire Bidart’s contributions to the study of transitory pathways and processes (Bidart, 2008).
- Contributions from educational sociology to the study of educational inequalities, as well as research on the relationship between educational and social exclusion (Sen, 1999; Silver, Miller, 2003; Albert, Davia, 2011).
- Research in the field of job integration and transitory pathways for young people with low levels of education (Casal, 1999; Kuehn, Pergamit, Macomber, Vericker, 2009; Berzin, 2010; OECD, 2010; García, Casal, Merino, Sánchez, 2013).

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