Working-Class Masculinities in Vocational Education and Training Courses

Abstract

We have seen how The Valley Boiz, The Geeks and The Emos performed different versions of working-class masculinity in Cwm Dyffryn High School. I also looked at how their masculine identities were further constructed through different social interactions and leisure activities beyond the school gates. I argued that these young men are adapting to insecure times in different ways and emphasized how historic legacies of space and place and their family biographies impact upon their educational decision-making and leisure interests. In this chapter, I explore the way young masculinities are performed in other educational spaces. Continuing with three young men from the same cohort — Bakers, Ian and Frankie — I focus on the performance of masculinity in three different vocational educational courses (VET) at three different FE colleges outside Cwm Dyffryn. Two ‘masculine’ courses — motor vehicle studies and a Modern Apprenticeship in engineering — are compared with a more ‘feminine’ subject, equine studies.