‘Education, education, education'

This chapter explores how 29 young men from Glasgow and Liverpool navigated the transition from education to employment amid the challenges of deindustrialisation, fragmented job opportunities and the policy-driven expansion of higher education. Drawing on interviews conducted in 2020 and longitudinal data from Understanding Society (2018–2020), it examines their experiences and perceptions of post-compulsory education, employability and risk in environments where stable work is limited. Using the Zones of (in)security framework, the analysis maps how educational qualifications shape labour market outcomes. While degrees can improve access to secure jobs, a substantial number of graduates remain in precarious positions. These findings are supplemented by residential data, which show a link between higher qualifications and residence in less deprived areas, although this relationship is not deterministic. Framed by Beck&s;s Risk Society thesis and Reith&s;s Age of Chance, the chapter highlights how young men interpret education as a risky investment, who signalled apprenticeships as providing clearer pathways. Challenging deficit-based accounts of male disengagement, the chapter instead points to structural barriers and critiques policy narratives that overstate the transformative potential of education in insecure employment landscapes.