Student Experiences of the Leaving Certificate Applied Programme

122 ENGAGING YOUNG PEOPLE?7.2.6 RETAIL SECTORNearly three-in-ten females completing the LCA programme are employedin the wholesale/retail and personal services industries, as displayed inFigure 7.13. The early leaver groups and those performing well in theLCE/LCVP have relatively low levels of employment in these industries.However, females performing poorly in the LCE/LCVP exam have thehighest levels of employment in these sectors.Figure 7.13: Percentage of Females Employed Within theWholesale/Retail and Personal Services Industries (2001-2005 Leavers 1-2 Years After Leaving School)35302520%151050Low Medium-Low Medium-High HighNo Quals Junior Cert LCA LCE/LCVP LCE/LCVP LCE/LCVP LCE/LCVPSource: School Leavers' Surveys 2002-2007.These figures correspond with findings in the qualitative interviewswhere the majority of females interviewed had worked or were working inthe Wholesale/Retail and Personal Service Industries. These jobs includedpositions as sales assistants in retail outlets and department stores andwaitressing in restaurants.Aoibhin got a job in a large supermarket in the summer after her examsand stayed on eventually becoming a night supervisor. She worked thereuntil recently when she left due to illness:I was a, a checkout girl and worked up then, I was a checkout supervisor.And what did you think of the work?I enjoyed it because, with me working nights, seeing different people, some of olderpeople wouldn’t have been shopping at night and it’s almost easier to workingnights.What different responsibilities did you have as supervisor?The extra responsibilities was making sure the staff were doing the work and just,was the staff doing the work and money in the tillsHow many staff would you have been in charge of?There wouldn’t have been, there would have been seven or eight to about eleven,twelve o’clock and then there was three then during the night, so it wasn’t a hugenumber. (Aoibhin, 22, completed LCA, unemployed)