comfortable . Similarly , it may lead to schools having a vested interest in promoting particular routes ( Hogarth as cited in Ryan & Lorinc , 2018 ). However , more needs to done within schools to break the divide between the ‘ academic ’ option and the ‘ technical ’ one . In breaking this divide , schools will be meeting their duty to : “ help pupils to make an informed choice about an academic option […] and a technical route ” ( Department for Education , 2018 , p . 11 ).
As part of this narrative , participants often viewed apprenticeships as being more suitable for certain individuals . Importantly , participants often spoke about other people , such as their friends or peers , as being more suited to an apprenticeship rather than themselves . This suggests that some young people still hold stereotypical views around apprenticeships . One of the things schools can do to begin to break down these stereotypes is to give pupils access to current or ex-apprentices that can share their experiences and outline the benefits of undertaking an apprenticeship , something that has been found to be an effective way of demonstrating the benefits of apprenticeships ( Kashefpakdel & Rehill , 2018 ). This was identified by a participant in school A who felt that ‘ hearing from people who do them ’ would make them more likely to want to do an apprenticeship .
Previous studies such as Lehmann & Taylor ( 2015 ) have indicated the importance of family and familiarity in the decision to undertake an apprenticeship . However , within this study , whilst each participant knew someone who had done or was doing an apprenticeship , they appeared to lack that familiarity with apprenticeships which meant an apprenticeship was not an “ unquestioned consequence ” ( Lehman & Taylor , 2015 , p . 613 ) of their surroundings . If this is the case , then the role of official careers guidance becomes more important , particularly given the apparent general lack of knowledge of apprenticeships by the parents / guardians of participants . However , as outlined in the findings , participant ’ s knowledge of apprenticeships through official advice was at times limited and vague , reaffirming Mann and Caplan ( cited in Institute for Employment Research 2013 ) who suggest young people ’ s knowledge of apprenticeships is ‘ hazy ’. The impact of this lack of knowledge is emphasised by a review by the Institute for Employment Research ( 2013 ) that found that a lack of complete information about post-16 choices was a key issue in many young people having a lack of interest in apprenticeships .
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