Young Adult Development at the School-to-Work Transition

The school-to-work transition is a critical part of the human life-span for young adults, their families, and society. The timing of the transition varies greatly and its co-occurrence with a number of other life transitions make it challenging to summarize or generalize. Individual differences and normative developmental factors, as well as external contextual factors such as global pandemics, changing economic circumstances, workplace demands, and cultural shifts, intersect to create a range of challenges and opportunities for those navigating this transition.
Written by internationally renowned scholars in developmental psychology, applied psychology, counseling, and sociology, the chapters in this book highlight the trends, issues, and actions that researchers, academics, practitioners, and policy makers need to consider in order to effectively support young adults' transition to work pathways. This volume provides an explicitly international perspective on this area, broad coverage of psychological topics on the school-to-work transition, and an inclusive focus on sub-groups and minority groups, making it a must-read for those who support young adults as they move from school to work.

E. Anne Marshall is a counseling psychologist and Adjunct Professor in the Educational Psychology and Leadership Studies Department at the University of Victoria, Canada. Her scholarship and community-engaged research focus on adolescent and young adult well-being, life and work transitions, and mental health in cultural and community contexts, particularly for Indigenous communities and marginalized youth. Jennifer E. Symonds is a developmental psychologist and Associate Professor of Education at the School of Education, University College Dublin (UCD), Ireland. She is Director of the Centre for Longitudinal Studies in Ireland (www.clsi.ie) and Associate Editor for the Journal of Early Adolescence. Jennifer's research aims to support young people to engage in learning, schools and society, and flourish across educational transitions.

Preface by Jeffrey Jensen ArnettIntroduction and Overview by E. Anne Marshall & Jennifer E. Symonds
Section 1: Personal Resources
1. The development of study and work engagement in young adulthood.Katja Upadyaya, Jennifer Symonds, and Katariina Salmela-Aro
2. It wasn't sheer luck after all: Opportunity and preparation predict chance events in school-to-work transitions.Pieter Baay, Christopher M. Napolitano, and Mattijs Schipper
3. Purpose and career goals: A qualitative study.Vanessa Madrazo and Jenni Menon Mariano
4. Ready, set go! School to work transitions in the new career.Jos Akkermans, Rowena Blokker, Corine Buers, Beatrice Van der Heijden, and Ans De Vos
Section 2: Social Resources
5. Romantic relationships and the transition to work: Characteristics, concerns, and an illustrative case.José Domene and Sarah Johnson
6. Narrative approach to career identity development: Parental influence in the Italian context.Luigia Simona Sica, Laura Aleni Sestito, and Tiziana Di Palma
7. Youth work transitions in the south of Europe: Pathways, priorities and expectations.Filomena Parada
8. Policies to enhance transition into work: A case study in Canada.Lorraine Godden and Christopher DeLuca
Section 3: School Experiences
9. School experiences and post-school pathways in the Republic of Ireland.Emer Smyth and Selina McCoy
10. Pathways from high school to work in the South African Youth Panel Survey.Kathryn Isdale, Vijay Reddy, Lolita Winnaar and Tia Linda Zuze
11. High school dropouts' movements in and out of work and education during the transition to adulthood.Laurence Lavoie, Éliane Thouin, Véronique Dupéré, and Eric Dion
12. Vocational education and youth labour market integration: The role of vocational specificity at the level of school-leavers, study programmes and education systems.Ardita Muja, Maurice Gesthuizen, and Maarten Wolbers
Section 4: Diverse Pathways - Vulnerable Groups
13. Transition to adulthood for individuals with intellectual disability. Deirdre Curle, Asmae El Bouhali, Zhu Ma, Sheila Marshall, John Murray, Filomena Parada, Tim Stainton, Jessie Wall, Siwei Wu, and Richard Young
14. Supporting the school to work transition for young adults formerly in care: Hope-informed interventions.Rachel King, Chelsea Arsenault, and Denise Larsen
15. A strategy for building transition-focused education capacity to support disabled students in Australian schools. Todd Milford, Breanna Lawrence, Wendi Beamish, Michael Davies, and Denis Meadows
Section 5: Diverse Pathways - Cultural Groups and Globalization
16. Indigenous and cultural minority school-to-work pathways in Canada.Anne Marshall and Suzanne Stewart
17. Gateways to occupational success: Educational mobility and attainment for Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Philip Parker, Gawaian Bodkin-Andrews, Michelle Trudgett, and Maggie Walter
18. University-to-work transition for emerging adult international students in Canada.Natalee Popadiuk and Nancy Arthur
19. Young Adult Transnational School-to-Work Transitions in the Context of Work Migration in Europe.Oana Negru-Subtirica
Section 6: The nature of the school-to-work transition - Two conceptualizations
20. Requisite metamorphoses: The experiences of recent college graduates transitioning from school to work.Tammy Halstead
21. Historical and social perspectives on school-to-work pathways in Australia. Conceptualising a new adulthood.Johanna Wyn and Dan Woodman