Scarring effects for young people in challenging economic times: a conceptual synthesis and future policy and research agenda

A renewed conceptual framework of labour market scarring is developed. Due to economic shocks such as the COVID-19 pandemic, labour market scarring presents an important policy problem. The paper first outlines the theoretical mainstream view on scarring and argues that existing theoretical frame works on labour market scarring are not sufficient to understand the post-COVID labour market for graduates. We identify three areas in which mainstream understanding overlooks and discusses their explanatory value in understanding contextual mediatory factors and non-economic effects of initial scarring. A case is made for qualitative research and career development approaches to understand the processes of scarring as these provide further insight into its socio-psychological manifestations and consequences.