Emerging Adults’ Representations of Work: A Qualitative Research in Seven Countries

Abstract

With the recent evolution of the labor market, emerging adults with no diploma are particularly exposed to unsatisfying jobs and barriers to access decent work. The aim of the research was to identify their representations of work, based on the psychology of emerging adulthood and the psychology of working theory. Differences related to each country’s level of development and to the work situations met by the participants were expected. Ten emerging adults aged 20–25 were interviewed in seven countries ( N = 70). Data were processed using a thematic content analysis. The results stress that these emerging adults associate “decent work” with two specific qualities: the extent to which work allows survival needs to be met and the experience of positive social relationships in the workplace. This article discusses the similarities and differences in their representations of work and their role on identity development.

Moving Toward Decent Work: Application of the Psychology of Working Theory to the School-to-Work Transition

“…Beyond these indicators that point at objective working and employment conditions, authors in the field of vocational psychology also highlight the importance of the subjective meaning attributed to work (Blustein et al, 2016;Fournier et al, 2019;Massoudi et al, 2018). For example, in a research conducted in seven developed and developing countries on low-qualified young workers, participants stressed that work should not only offer good pay and working conditions but also purposeful and enjoyable contents as well as opportunities for socialization (Cohen-Scali et al, 2020). In line with these findings, we consider access to meaningful jobs as the second significant outcome of a successful STWT.…”

“If I won the lottery…”: work orientations of low-qualified young adults in Albania and Switzerland

“…However, our results also suggest the existence of a gap between young adults' representations of work in general and their concrete current job experiences (Cohen-Scali et al, 2020). For most participants, work as a life sphere seems to have a considerable importance in their life, although their current job is hard and unsatisfying.…”

“…Given these changes, understanding the meaning individuals attach to their work becomes salient (Fournier et al, 2020). Specifically, it is crucial to grasp if and how doing insecure and precarious jobs affects the meaning that people attach to work in their lives, as well as to take into account contextual factors-such as labor market conditions-when studying this issue (Cohen-Scali et al, 2020;Kazimna et al, 2020). Moreover, given that integrating the labor market often leads to job insecurity (Kenny et al, 2019; Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD], 2017b) and that the transition from education to work has long-term impacts on careers (Krahn et al, 2015;Yeung, & Yang, 2020), understanding young adults' meaning of work has become an important research topic (Masdonati, & Fournier, 2015).…”

Professional Position Positioned: The Interwoven Experience of Being a Young Adult and New at Work Analysed from a Relational Perspective of Age

“…Work is a critical aspect of the transition to adulthood, offering economic security and social respectability for young adults (Cohen-Scali et al, 2020; Ranta et al, 2013). However, it is simultaneously a process marked by insecurity because it is difficult for young adults to get stable employment (Tomic, 2018).…”