You’re Fried: The Realities of Youth Employment in the West Midlands - Gender Discrimination in Youth Employment

A blog by youth co-creators

March 2025

*aliases have been used to protect young people’s identities and where aliases have not been used, young people are referred to as youth co-creators.

Intro

This blog is taken from an interview carried out by a youth cocreators on the INSPIRE Legislative Theatre Project at the end of performance development session where they created a scene for the final play.

In this discussion Quinn and Katniss (not their real names) share their experiences and insights about the challenges faced by young people. They spoke about the gendered challenges faced by young women and girls in pursuing careers that have traditionally been dominated by men, like the police force. Their conversation highlights the double standards and social pressures put on young people to make decisions about their career choices.

The convo

Knowledge: We're here with Quinn and Katniss. And we just wanted to find out, like, what happened in the scene here today?

Quinn: So basically, we made a scene about a girl and a boy who both wanted to join the police force, and they approached their family about it and the family was really accepting of the boy wanting to join the police force. But when it came to the girl, the family were, like, very misogynistic and sexist, towards the girl.

Katniss: Yeh, and in the next scene we had the career advisors who were talking to the boy and the girl, and they were supportive of the boy and then they're saying the girl that being in police force wasn’t feminine for a girl to get into a job. Then we did another scene where it was the aftermath of that, and the boy was able to join the police whereas the girl was rejected from multiple jobs and ended up homeless.

Knowledge: Ok, so what were you trying to represent? Like double standards in your scene or?

Katniss: Yeah, like sexism because obviously when you think of police, it's very tough and like girls wouldn't normally go into that, so.

Quinn: We wanted to represent how people go through the pressure with their families and especially the girls feeling like you know they can't make any money to support themselves and being told by the families that they're not good enough and stuff.

Katniss: Yeah, especially compared to the boys.

Knowledge: Do you feel like you've experienced this in real life? Is this a thing you’ve seen, or you experienced?

Katniss: I mean do want to go into the police myself so, like people I have spoken to, like family have said ‘oh that's cool, but I sure you're tough enough for that?’ Even dad even said you're not tall enough to go into the police!

Quinn: I grew up with two brothers and I was like always battling like the challenges of you're not good enough, you're not manly enough, stuff like that, and I was like, treated as weak compared to them. And like, that's why I resonate with that scene.

Knowledge: So obviously if you experience this, I've been seeing it around you, how does that even make you feel?

Quinn: I guess when I was younger it like it just made me feel like weak and powerless and like I didn't have a voice and that and have you really seen it around It's just it was more like my experience.

Knowledge: I see.

Katniss: I understand people's perspectives because obviously when we are brought up in a certain type of way, you're going to think certain type of way. So, I can't be too mad. But also, it's just like ignorant so, I’m just going to prove them wrong!

Knowledge: Obviously, she's your friend, when you see and hear what she's experienced this, how does that make you feel as like, a spectator?

Katniss: I mean, hearing experiences that's similar to mine like it makes me feel heard, but also for Quinn, it makes quite irritating because knowing that just because we're girls, we're treated a certain type of we're and told – ‘you can't do this, you’re not tough enough for something like it's unfair’.

Knowledge: Anything you want to add?

Quinn: Into that or I mean I think, like I'm inclined you said it is like you feel hard when you hear a lot of the people having the same experiences as you and like it's sad to see. But it's also like competent. All, yeah.

Knowledge: It’s comforting you are saying, so like being heard is something more people should, you know, can feel in these types of situations.

Quinn: Yeah, definitely, yeah.

Knowledge: So, in your scene as well, you spoke about and dug into the school counsellors who weren't really helping you and you know, like everywhere you went, you got the same response, is something that you feel like you've experienced?

Katniss: Yeah. Like as I said before, like I've tried to get jobs and they’ve said, ‘oh, you can't work here because you don't have enough experience’. And I'm just like, well, how am I meant to get experience if you don’t let me work for you.

Quinn: I got told by my careers advisor at like I should do a more feminine job or something because I wanted to go into medicine and. Like it's a weird thing to hear when, like, you've had your mind set on one thing for so long and to go to someone who you think is going to support you and advocate for you and they tell you that job isn’t right for you – it’s just wrong.

Knowledge: Is there any way you feel through this that you have learnt that the policymakers who are going to be involved in this can help to relieve pressure off you through family and everything?

Katniss: I mean, I haven't. Obviously, I know like this whole project's about policy. But I don't know enough about policy to know how to go into that.

Quinn: I think this whole thing is just about learning about policies and I guess, having the policymakers hear you and having everyone else hear you. It's good to make a change and to make things different for the generation that comes after us.

Knowledge: The fact that you don't know about enough about policy, who do you think you can go to find that information or is that something that's not available to you?

Katniss: I've learned about policy and my subjects, but not anything to do with work or anything that could help me understand more, I’m not sure on who to speak to.

Knowledge: And is that the fault of the policy or the education system?

Katniss: Both really because if education is supposed to set you up for life, how are you expected to go through life and not know what you're meant to do, like how to get a job or write a CV, but then also policymakers should be able to put their work out there so more people can know what they're actually doing.

Knowledge: Hold on we have a question.

Youth co-creator: Do you hope that what we are doing on the INSPIRE would help you to like almost to get those policies in place to help you?

Katniss: Yeah. I think with the project and the play like showing policy makers, what we need for a change or how younger people benefit in the future as well.

Youth co-creator: And you think also that with the INSPIRE project, those policy makers that are going to watch this will be able to help you?

Quinn: Personally, I think yeah, I mean, we can just hope that the Policy makers see our play and they decide to make a change because they see the struggles that young people go through. With employment, the misogyny, and the stereotypes we go through and just all the horrible things and how hard it is for us to actually get a job.

Youth co-creator: You talk about how you want to change it for, like the younger generations that can, like, improve on it. So how would you change it so that they can benefit from your suggestions?

Katniss: I think it's more that they need to have more knowledge, so maybe through education or having like, maybe even outside of school places that they know they can go to find information.

In summary

Youth cocreators want policymakers to listen to the voices of young people and make changes that alleviate the pressures they face, such as knowledge and support through education and accessible resources.

The experiences shard in this interview shed light on the realities of youth employment in the West Midlands. The youth co-creators’ stories underscore the need for societal and policy changes to create a more supportive environment for young people, especially girls and young women, to pursue their career aspirations without facing discrimination and bias.