Youth, Work and ‘Career’ as a Way of Talking about the Self

Abstract

This article develops research on youth and ‘career’ beyond a focus on attitudes towards employment flexibility and towards an examination of the ideological role of work in the formation of youth identities. The article draws on a programme of research on the formation of young people’s working identities, and presents interview data in which young people discuss the meaning of ‘career’ and the significance of work in general. These data show that across divergent aspirations and family histories of employment, young people define ‘career’ in terms of the promise of self-actualisation through labour, and thereby position work as the key site for self-expression and the cultivation of personal uniqueness. This article therefore suggests that the notion of ‘career’ is a way that the ‘post-Fordist work ethic’ is articulated on the level of youth identities, elevating self-realisation through labour as the goal of successful labour market engagement for youth.

Perceived stress in adolescence and labour market participation in young adulthood - a prospective cohort study

“…The increasing number of young people experiencing stress and other mental health problems early in life [ 9 , 50 ] is worrying in relation to its potential negative effect on their future well-being and attachment to the labour market. In order to address and reverse increased stress in young people, we have to understand the pressure that is currently being put on young people to behave in a disciplined manner and make the correct choices for their future lives [ 18 , 51 ]. This kind of performance pressure to succeed in life may lead to stress and mental health problems [ 15 – 17 ] which eventually can affect educational attainment and labour market participation [ 31 ].…”

“…Stress in young people is increasingly understood as a negative consequence of wider social trends in the “Performance Society” [ 15 , 16 ], in which control over and success in life have become dominant ideals [ 17 ]. Young people generally behave extremely disciplined with regard to future choices and plans and direct their attention to the future and consider the consequences that their choices may have for their future possibilities [ 18 ], which can cause worry and stress [ 19 ] and eventually may lead to labour market marginalisation.…”

ʼA toxic combinationʼ

“…I analyseprocessen afsøgte vi mønstre og variationer af informanternes oplevelser og fortaellinger. I denne proces informerede teorier om vaerdikampe og selvrepraesentation (Skeggs & Lovedays, 2021) og teorier om, hvordan unge bliver dannet som 'arbejdssubjekter' (Farrugia, 2018(Farrugia, , 2020(Farrugia, , 2021 laesningen af empirien, i en gensidig dynamisk og undersøgende proces (Haavind, 2000).…”

“…Randi fortaeller, at det fremadrettet i arbejdslivet er vigtigt for hende, at hun kun 'giver sig selv 80 og ikke 110 procent' i et arbejde for at undgå at blive syg igen. Randi er på den måde nødt til at genforhandle repraesentationen af sig selv som et arbejdssubjekt, der indenfor den postfordistiske arbejdsetik giver sig selv 110 procent (Farrugia, 2020). I lighed med Mias valg om at forlade branchen er det en kraevende proces, og Randi fortaeller om at føle det som 'en falliterklaering' og om en følelse af at have 'spildt tiden' .…”

A Quest for Passion: Understanding Precarious Migration of Young Highly Qualified EU Citizens as Lived Neoliberal Subjectivity

“…Meanwhile, Farrugia (2019) claims that, rather than by economic gain or social mobility, contemporary middle-class workers tend to be driven by their passionate attachment to work, imagined as unique to every individual and expressed not only in relation to labour, but across the person’s life as a whole (also Lorey, 2006). Young people in particular are encouraged to view their work and ‘career’ as the basis for a meaningful sense of self, requiring passionate investments and commitment (Farrugia, 2020). Following this line of argument, we can assume that passion – understood as committed self-identification with one’s chosen work/career – also plays a role in the migration of highly qualified young EU citizens.…”