Youth Transition Studies in Contemporary Labor Markets
Summary
Youth transition studies examine how individuals aged roughly 15–29 navigate the shift from education into the world of paid work. Over the past decade, research has highlighted the interplay of structural forces—such as precarious employment, digitalisation and global economic shifts—and individual agency in shaping career trajectories. Scholars investigate how institutional frameworks, including vocational training, apprenticeship schemes and career guidance services, influence access to stable jobs. Attention is given to the role of social inequalities, mental health and identity formation as young people negotiate new adulthood under conditions of labour market volatility. Comparative analyses spanning Europe, Asia and the Global South illuminate how policy interventions and employer practices can foster more equitable and resilient entry pathways.
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Youth Transition Studies in Contemporary Labor Markets publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in youth transition studies in contemporary labor markets across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Worker-citizenship: The set of norms and expectations through which young people position themselves as responsible, contributing members of the labour market.
Precarious employment: Work characterised by short-term contracts, low job security and limited access to social protections.
Neoliberal subjectivity: An orientation in which individuals view themselves as entrepreneurial, self-improving agents responsible for managing risks and career development.
Employability: The aggregate of skills, behaviours and attributes that enhance an individual’s capacity to obtain and retain employment.
References
- Working conditions and attitudes towards work: the case of Portuguese youth from Braga. Frontiers in Sociology (2024).
- Shaping worker-citizenship: young vocational education graduates’ labour market positionings within new adulthood. Journal of Youth Studies (2023).
- A Quest for Passion: Understanding Precarious Migration of Young Highly Qualified EU Citizens as Lived Neoliberal Subjectivity. Sociology (2021).
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