Voices of the forgotten half: The role of social class in the school-to-work transition.

Abstract

This study examines the impact of social class on the school-to-work (STW) transitions of young adults in working-class occupations. Using an exploratory, qualitative research methodology, interviews were conducted with 10 men and 10 women to examine the role of social class in the STW transition. All participants were working in low-skilled jobs and grouped into 2 cohorts based on their family's socioeconomic background: higher socioeconomic status (HSES) and lower socioeconomic status (LSES). The findings indicate that social class played an important role in the participants' STW transition. Individuals from the HSES cohort expressed greater interest in work as a source of personal satisfaction, higher levels of self-concept crystallization, greater access to external resources, and greater levels of career adaptability compared with their LSES counterparts. I was forced into this way of life. It's like I was forced to drop out of school and being in the position I am in now. (Participant #40

Young People’s Attitudes to Attractive Work, During and After Upper Secondary School

“…The distribution of answers to the three options was in good agreement with what the 1440 professionals (Hedlund et al, 2010) responded to the same question. In earlier studies, it is stated that young adults with a tendency to see work as a source of income have a background in a lower social class (Blustein et al, 2002). More than half of the young people in the present study, both in 2013 and 2015, answered 'earning a living and survival' as the main reason for working.…”

“…Most of the adolescents, but not all, have the notion that work is to make money to earn a living. Blustein et al (2002) state in a school-to-work transition study that socioeconomic background significantly affects adolescents' view of work. Young adults coming from a lower social class have a tendency to only see work as a source of income.…”

A Qualidade da Experiência de Estágio e o Desenvolvimento Vocacional de Estudantes dos Cursos Tecnológicos

“…Tomando agora as relações observadas entre as variá-veis sócio-demográfi cas, são os participantes mais velhos (e.g., Rogers & Creed, 2011;Rogers, Creed, & Glendon, 2008), de nível socioeconómico mais elevado (e.g. ; Blustein et al, 2002;Thompson & Subich, 2006) e do sexo feminino (e.g., Creed et al, 2009;Kracke & Schmitt--Rodermund, 2001;Rogers & Creed, 2011) que reportam os maiores níveis de exploração, que se apresentam menos indecisos (e.g., Vondracek, Hostetler, Schulenberg, & Shimizu, 1990), mais comprometidos (e.g., Chung, 2002) e com menor tendência para a exclusão prematura de opções (e.g., Lopez, 1994). Para o intervalo relativo ao período de estágio, as correlações entre os valores médios obtidos em cada um dos momentos (T1xT2) sugerem alguma estabilidade na atividade exploratória e nos níveis de indecisão, de compromisso e de autoefi cácia.…”

Life design counselling effects on the career adaptability of learners in a selective independent school setting

“…This arguably suggests that the above-mentioned efforts may receive greater attention since financial support and social class appear to provide access to more career advancing opportunities (Lent, Brown, Talleyrand, McPartland, Davis, & Chopra 2002). Blustein, Chaves, Diemer, Gallagher, Marshall, & Sirin (2002) were also able to ascertain that in comparison to lower-income families, individuals from high-income families generated greater personal satisfaction from work and benefited more directly from the availability of external resources. In general, they also displayed a higher level of career adaptability and seemed to be in a better position to enjoy more meaningful and self-fulfilling careers.…”