What is the impact when a social identity is not chosen and embraced, but imposed upon you?

UK policy can be criticised for pressurising the education sector to funnel learners who fail their GCSEs into vocational learning courses such as Media Studies. With narratives drawn from the original, person-centred research conducted by the author in the Further Education sector, this book centres the often-discounted voices of the so-called “low ability” learners themselves.

They tell of the lack of agency that comes from having choices made for them, and the impact on their lives and identities as well as their post-education destinations. Featuring stories from a range of individual research participants, the book also explores intersectional issues, such as how race, ethnicity, socio-economic status, and language of origin can feed into the imposed identity and how it impacts their sense of self.

Javeria K. Shah PhD is an interdisciplinary academic specialising in sociology, media education, and policy. She holds a range of academic and scholarly roles, including at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, University of London; and on a visiting basis at the Carnegie School of Education, Leeds Beckett University; the University of Winchester; and the University of Arts London. She is a member of the Post-14 Education and Work think tank based at the Institute of Education, University College London, and a document reviewer for Parliament’s Knowledge Exchange Unit.