The Road to Work for Former Students with Special Educational Needs: Different Paths for Young Men and Young Women?

Abstract

This article focuses on how young people with special educational needs have made the transition into working life. At 23–24 years of age, the young women have, to a lesser extent than the young men, succeeded in finding a permanent job. This finding reflects the fact that young women and young men follow different paths. Many young women with special needs give birth to children at an early stage in their life course, which consequently delays their gaining a foothold in the labour market. However, what occurs during their schooling also affects their adaptation to a job situation. Formal competence improves the young men's chances to get work, whereas the organization of the teaching is more important in the case of the young women. To a large extent, the young women benefit from an education that includes a job placement contract in a company. This article is based on a longitudinal study of 494 former special needs students from six Norwegian counties.