Attitudes to School

The reasons for a later entry to university are explored in the first part of this chapter. The differences in the Australian and the UK school systems are explained, and the varying points at which participants completed or withdrew from compulsory education are described. The chapter then looks at some of the decisions that the men made relating to employment or pursuing technical qualifications and why, at that stage, university was not seen as a potential or viable option. Antipathy to school and an unsatisfactory school experience are considered through the lenses of class, family culture, gendered expectations and masculine identities. The chapter ends with the voice of Cedric which supports the view that complexity is inherent in all constructions of men’s experience here.