TeenEduGoals · Adolescents’ education transitions: Multiple insights into the process dynamics of goal-construction and youth actions over time

Adolescents’ education transitions: Multiple insights into the process dynamics of goal-construction and youth actions over time

What is the problem being addressed? Two inter-related ideas are at the backdrop of our project: (1) Research addressing adolescents and young adults’ development and careers is in need of strategies and conceptualizations that move beyond the field’s current emphasis on individual processes, and that push researchers to systematically understand and investigate the person from an integrative perspective. (2) The deep social and historic changes influencing today’s world, in particular in education and work, and the implications these changes have had in the ways in which youth construct their careers. We addressed these two ideas (1) by adopting a more holistic, dynamic understanding of how youth build meaning across time and in certain contexts; (2) by applying such understanding to improve our knowledge of the of the ways in which young people address events and transitions in the career domain. Our core research questions were: (1) What are the processes that at different levels of functioning adolescents and young adults in Finland use to engage and disengage with career goals? (2) How do such processes relate to one another and to the education and/or work pathways young people construct for themselves? Why is it important to society? Education and work are two domains most influenced by ongoing changes in our societies, and key areas where adolescents and young adults set goals and construct plans for the realization of these goals. Well-formulated goals, and a sense of one’s potential and capabilities enable young people to envision different future alternatives for themselves and plan strategies to attain these goals. Goals are end states or processes young people strive to achieve (e.g., entering into higher education, finding a job). To date, little is known about (1) the specifics of the ways in which a young person goes from engaging with a career goal to disengaging with the goal; (2) the ways in which these processes of career goal (dis)engagement are reflected in or influence how youth make career choices and address education or work-related transitions. Dealing with career-related events and transitions, which typically require choosing and pursuing career goal(s), is not always simple and it may even be daunting. Failure in or a radical postponement of tasks such as accessing the labour market or securing financial independence predicts problems in wellbeing and development. What are the overall objectives? The project’s main objectives were: 1. To investigate the developmental trajectories of the career goals of adolescents and young adults in Finland, and the relationships these trajectories establish with specific career pathways youth construct for themselves. 2. To design and implement a study that combines the building of a dynamic systems model with the CAT framework and its associated research method (A-PM). 3. To develop a holistic framework integrating multiple insights into the process dynamics of adolescents’ goal-construction and education-related actions over time. 4. To disseminate and communicate study findings and their implications for future research, interventions and policy.

Текст от CORDIS, на английски · Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз