Research into post-school pathways for Blue Mountains youth

Are you a young person or do you work with young people in schools, employment or through community organisations?

Do you have experience navigating, or helping a young person navigate, the first couple of years after high school in the Blue Mountains?

Are you thinking about what you're going to do after high school?

Choosing what to do after school is complex whether you're going into work, undertaking caring responsibilities, taking a gap year, or heading to further study. It's particularly complex if you're growing up in the Blue Mountains where a significant number of young people leave after high school. These choices are known as 'post-school pathways' or 'post-school options', and Blue Mountains Economic Enterprise is interested in how these pathways are working in the Blue Mountains.

For this research, we'll be talking to young people, to local employers, and people who work with them. We would love to hear from you if you are a member of one of these groups. You'll be asked to take a 10 to 15-minute survey about your experiences planning for and navigating post-school pathways. You may then be asked to undertake a follow-up interview or focus group if you're interested.

Blue Mountains Economic Enterprise is co-ordinating this project and will produce a baseline report for future strategic planning and policy. The data may also be used in a PhD on young adults in Katoomba, the doctoral research of the project manager, Francesca Sidoti. The project is funded by the Australian Government's Building Better Regions Fund and has received ethics approval from Western Sydney University, approval number H13196.

If you are interested in participating, please contact the project manager, Francesca Sidoti (F.Sidoti@westernsydney.edu.au).

People interested in completing the survey can follow these links: