Chapter 10: Unrealized Potential: Marginalized Youth Around the Globe, With a Focus on Turkey

In this chapter we discuss a global concern, marginalized youth Not in Education, Employment, or Training (often referred to as NEET). NEET status usually describes a highly heterogeneous group of individuals aged 15–29 who are not employed or in school (Carcillo et al., 2015; Eurofund, 2016; Mauro & Mitra, 2015; Serracant, 2014). Some are women who are not in the labor market because of family responsibilities, some are individuals who are discouraged by long, fruitless employment searches, and some are recent college graduates who are looking for work and are in NEET status for a short period of time. In this chapter, we are focusing on disadvantaged youth whose education was interrupted before completing high school because of economic and sociocultural reasons, such as poverty or girls not being allowed to continue with their education.