Brotherhood of St Laurence lunchtime research seminar - Young people’s experience of work placement and part-time work

Living with and managing change and uncertainty become key factors for young people in late modernity where they have to learn how to live with the realities of a changing labour market and unpredictable transitions in an increasingly globalised culture and society.  Crafting narratives within a neo-liberal economic discourse has required young people to draw on enterprising subjectivities such as the need to be self-managing and responsible for their life course directions. Young people though, live in differing social, economic and geographical circumstances that impact on their capacity to access resources to navigate their life situations and biographical patterns. While this period for young people is often described as a transitional phase, for example from school to work, this description does little justice to the complexity of the processes that are occurring and the active identity work that young people are undertaking. This seminar explores the context of work as a site for the crafting of identity narratives, in particular investigating the resources that young people draw upon including work placement, part-time work, community activities and parental support.
Dr Helen Stokes has been a Research Fellow and Lecturer at the Youth Research Centre, University of Melbourne since 1996. Over the past 14 years she has conducted and managed research projects and evaluations, internationally, nationally and locally. These have included a range of projects based in schools and community organizations. Central to this work has been research about young people’s participation in and experiences of work, including VET, structured work experience and part-time work. Her PhD research focused on the relationship between identity formation and the role of formal and workplace learning for young people.