“My Participation is Often Dismissed” - Power Relations in Vocational School Students' Participation in Society

The precondition for a healthy democracy is the participation of its young people from various backgrounds in various forms of democratic participation. However, power relations influence which young people are seen as legitimate participants in society. This study combines multidisciplinary theoretical framework and empirical research done among vocational school students in Finland in various municipalities. If democracies are going to be equitable, we must recognize the value of the participation of students similarly situated, teach equitably of the various ways of participation so it empowers young people from various backgrounds to participate in various forms. The results of this study indicate that students have several understandings on participation. They already participate in valuable ways such as actions against climate change and racism. Some students are active agenda setters in society, but are not seen as agenda setters in the traditional sense in the Finnish society. Some students have considerable knowledge that could be applied to the development of societies from grassroots level to legislative processes. Yet, young people fear participation due to bullying or think that their participation is not valued or even seen. Therefore by reading the results closely we can ask, if students from vocational schools say that they did not think that they could influence society and that they are too small or “cannot say it in the right way”… has anyone asked them yet?