New Governance: Pitfalls of Activation Policies for Young Migrant Dropouts in the Netherlands

Migrant youth are at a disadvantage in the Netherlands when it comes to schooling and work: many drop out of school and are unemployed. We will use concepts of new governance to discuss the complexities surrounding the execution of policies to reintegrate dropouts back into school or the labour market from the perspectives of professionals (street level bureaucrats) working in activation programmes. The results show that cooperation is difficult. The most difficult youngsters are beyond the reach of most policy initiatives. Furthermore, many professionals perceive educational requirements as unrealistic for some youngsters. Finally, new requirements for employability may stigmatize youngsters as unwilling and unmotivated.