Young people's aspirations for education, work, family and leisure

Young people are arguably facing more ‘complex and contested’ transitions to adulthood and an increasing array of ‘non-linear’ paths. Education and training have been extended, identity is increasingly shaped through leisure and consumerism and youth must navigate their life trajectories in hi...

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Main Authors: McDonald, P., Pini, Barbara, Bailey, J., Price, R.
Format: Journal Article
Published: Sage Publications 2011
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/49260
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author McDonald, P.
Pini, Barbara
Bailey, J.
Price, R.
author_facet McDonald, P.
Pini, Barbara
Bailey, J.
Price, R.
author_sort McDonald, P.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Young people are arguably facing more ‘complex and contested’ transitions to adulthood and an increasing array of ‘non-linear’ paths. Education and training have been extended, identity is increasingly shaped through leisure and consumerism and youth must navigate their life trajectories in highly individualised ways. The study utilises 819 short essays compiled by students aged 14–16 years from 19 schools in Australia. It examines how young people understand their own unique positions and the possibilities open to them through their aspirations and future orientations to employment and family life. These young people do not anticipate postponing work identities, but rather embrace post-school options such as gaining qualifications, work experience and achieving financial security. Boys expected a distant involvement in family life secondary to participation in paid work. In contrast, around half the girls simultaneously expected a future involving primary care-giving and an autonomous, independent career, suggesting attempts to remake gendered inequalities.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-492602017-09-20T00:00:57Z Young people's aspirations for education, work, family and leisure McDonald, P. Pini, Barbara Bailey, J. Price, R. Young people are arguably facing more ‘complex and contested’ transitions to adulthood and an increasing array of ‘non-linear’ paths. Education and training have been extended, identity is increasingly shaped through leisure and consumerism and youth must navigate their life trajectories in highly individualised ways. The study utilises 819 short essays compiled by students aged 14–16 years from 19 schools in Australia. It examines how young people understand their own unique positions and the possibilities open to them through their aspirations and future orientations to employment and family life. These young people do not anticipate postponing work identities, but rather embrace post-school options such as gaining qualifications, work experience and achieving financial security. Boys expected a distant involvement in family life secondary to participation in paid work. In contrast, around half the girls simultaneously expected a future involving primary care-giving and an autonomous, independent career, suggesting attempts to remake gendered inequalities. 2011 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/49260 10.1177/0950017010389242 Sage Publications restricted
spellingShingle McDonald, P.
Pini, Barbara
Bailey, J.
Price, R.
Young people's aspirations for education, work, family and leisure
title Young people's aspirations for education, work, family and leisure
title_full Young people's aspirations for education, work, family and leisure
title_fullStr Young people's aspirations for education, work, family and leisure
title_full_unstemmed Young people's aspirations for education, work, family and leisure
title_short Young people's aspirations for education, work, family and leisure
title_sort young people's aspirations for education, work, family and leisure
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/49260