Diverse Pathways: Rethinking the Transition to Adulthood

Abstract

Social change has affected all young people-but not all in the same way. While the transition to adulthood has generally been extended, not all young people are delaying the step into paid employment, independent living, and family formation, especially those from less privileged family background. Existing templates for the transition to adulthood are, however, dominated by the assumption of a standard trajectory generally involving pathways through post-compulsory education, without taking into account the resources available to young people nor the complexities and variations of the demands they have to negotiate in making the transition to independent adulthood. Current transition research examining variability in transitions focuses on a dichotomy of experience, as for example, the polarization into slow versus fast transitions (Jones in The youth divide: Diverging paths to adulthood.

Diverse pathways in becoming an adult: The role of structure, agency and context

“…We argue for a diverse pathways view of youth transitions (Schoon, 2015), postulating that there are distinct transition patterns that lie between the often assumed to be 'optimal' transition involving extended education participation and the more 'problematic' transition involving extended periods of unemployment or inactivity. Moreover, we assume that transitions are shaped by interactions between structure and individual agency.…”

“…Yet, the assumption of a polarised life course does not take into account the experiences of a 'forgotten middle' (Roberts, 2011) who successfully balance the structural and individual resources available to them (Schoon, 2015). 'Success' in transition experiences in this context has been conceptualised in terms of objective (i.e.…”

“…The diverse pathways view (Schoon, 2015) adopts an agentic perspective towards human development, and argues that transitions can have different meanings, antecedents, consequences depending on how they fit into larger sequences or trajectories. Both structural forces, as mediated by the family and local opportunity structures, and agency, as represented by individual planning and choice, create this heterogeneity by shaping the timing and sequencing of transitions to independent adulthood.…”

“…Page 3 of 34 A c c e p t e d M a n u s c r i p 3 educational aspirations and access to educational and employment opportunities remain shaped by socio-economic background and structural constraints (Schoon, 2015).…”

A socio-ecological model of agency: The role of psycho-social and socioeconomic resources in shaping education and employment transitions in England

“…Yet, the assumption of a polarised life course does not take into account the experiences of a 'forgotten middle' (Roberts, 2011), those who do not necessarily go to university and who negotiate their lives by balancing the socioeconomic and psycho-social resources available to them (Schoon, 2015a;Schoon & LyonsAmos, 2016). Empirical studies testing the complex interplay between individual and structural forces in shaping youth transitions are, however, scarce.…”