Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rcrh6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T01:22:19.933Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Young Adult Social Networks and Labour Market Attachment: Interpersonal Dynamics that Shape Perspectives on Job Attainment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 June 2015

JOHN R. GRAHAM ,
MICHEAL L. SHIER  and
MARILYN EISENSTAT
JOHN R. GRAHAM
Affiliation:
School of Social Work, Florida Atlantic University, Florida, USA email: [email protected]
MICHEAL L. SHIER
Affiliation:
Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto, Canada email: [email protected]
MARILYN EISENSTAT
Affiliation:
Retired, formerly with PEACH – Promoting Education and Community Health, Canada email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Following a qualitative study design with young adults (aged seventeen to twenty-nine) of a racialised minority status (n = 36) in a low-income community in Toronto, Canada, we found that social relationships and dynamics greatly influenced perspectives towards labour market success. Respondents identified that interpersonal relationships with employers, family members and neighbourhood/community members influenced their perseverance and motivation for upward social mobility through securing and maintaining employment. The findings highlight the fundamental relationship between perceptions of upward social mobility and individual social capital. In particular, the wide array of social networks that can influence the perspectives of racial minority young adults – both positively and negatively. The findings extend contemporary discussions about the relationship between social capital and career aspirations among racial minority young adults, to include a spectrum of interrelated social networks that collectively aid in improving personal development. While contemporary discussions focus on the utility of informal knowledge sharing about career development and post-secondary attainment, the findings here demonstrate the importance of policy and programme solutions that support the mobilisation of a wider array of embedded social resources, within the social networks of racial minority young adults, that help support positive perceptions towards upward social mobility.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Social Policy , Volume 44 , Issue 4 , October 2015 , pp. 769 - 786
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alderson, A. S., Beckfield, J. and Nielsen, F. (2005), ‘Exactly how has income inequality changed? Patterns of distributional change in core societies’, International Journal of Comparative Sociology, 46: 5–6, 405–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bernard, A. (2013), Unemployment Dynamics among Canada's Youth, Ottawa, ON: Statistics Canada.Google Scholar
Bourdieu, P. (2001), ‘The forms of capital’, in Granovetter, M. and Swedberg, R. (eds.), The Sociology Economic Life, Boulder, CO: Westview, pp. 96–111.Google Scholar
Bourgois, P. (2003), In Search of Respect: Selling Crack in El Barrio, New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Butterwick, S. (2003), ‘Life skills training: “Open for discussion”’, in Cohen, G. (ed.), Training the Excluded for Work: Access and Equity for Women, Immigrants, First Nations, Youth and People with Low-Income, Vancouver, BC: UBC Press, pp. 161–77.Google Scholar
Charmaz, K. (2000), ‘Grounded theory: objectivist and constructionist methods’, in Denzin, N. K. and Lincoln, Y. S. (eds.), Handbook of Qualitative Research, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, pp. 509–35.Google Scholar
Cheng, S. and Starks, B. (2002), ‘Racial differences in the effects of significant others on students' educational expectations’, Sociology of Education, 75: 306–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
City of Toronto (2013a), Backgrounder ‒ 2011 Household Survey: Labour force, Education, Place of Work, Community and Mobility, Toronto: City of Toronto.Google Scholar
City of Toronto (2013b), Ward Health Profile: Ward 8 York West, Toronto: City of Toronto.Google Scholar
Coleman, J. S. (1990), Foundations of Social Theory, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Collins, J. (2009), ‘Social reproduction in classrooms and schools’, Annual Review of Anthropology, 38: 33–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Creswell, J. W. (2009), Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches, 3rd edn, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Devadason, R. (2008), ‘To plan or not to plan? Young adult future orientations in two European cities’, Sociology, 42: 6, 1127–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fetterman, D. M. (1998), Ethnography: Step by Step, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Fetterman, D. M. (2008), ‘Ethnography’, in Given, L. M. (ed.), The Sage Encyclopedia of Qualitative Research Methods, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, pp. 288–92.Google Scholar
Glaser, B. G. and Strauss, A. L. (1967), The Discovery of Grounded Theory: Strategies for Qualitative Research, New York: Aldine Press.Google Scholar
Goetz, J. P. and LeCompte, M. P. (1984), Ethnography and Qualitative Design in Educational Research, San Diego, CA: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Graham, J. R., Jones, M. E. and Shier, M. (2010), ‘Tipping points: what participants found valuable in labour market training programs for vulnerable groups’, International Journal of Social Welfare, 19: 1, 63–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holstein, J. A. and Gubrium, J. F. (1995), The Active Interview, Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hopkins, K. D., Taylor, C. L. and Zubrick, S. R. (2013), ‘The differential influence of contextual risks on psychosocial functioning and participation of Australian Aboriginal youth’, American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 83: 4, 459–71.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Karabanow, J., Hughes, J., Ticknor, J., Kidd, S., Patterson, D. and ARK Outreach (2010), ‘The economics of being young and poor: how homeless youth survive in neo-liberal times’, Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare, 37: 4, 39–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kaufman, J. E. and Rosenbaum, J. E. (1992), ‘The education and employment of low-income black youth in white suburbs’, Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 14: 3, 229–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kim, D. H. and Schneider, B. (2005), ‘Social capital in action: alignment of parental support in adolescents' transition to postsecondary education’, Social Forces, 84: 1181–206.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krahn, H. and Taylor, A. (2005), ‘Resilient teenagers: explaining the high educational aspirations of visible-minority youth in Canada’, Journal of International Migration and IntegrationRevue de l'integration et de la migration internationale, 6: 3–4, 405–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lareau, A. (2011), Unequal Childhoods: Class, Race, and Family Life, 2nd edn, Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lin, N. (1999), ‘Social networks and status attainment’, Annual Review of Sociology, 25: 467–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lin, N. (2000), ‘Inequality in social structure’, Contemporary Sociology, 29: 785–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Loury, G. (1977), ‘A dynamic theory of racial income differences’, in Wallace, P. and Lamond, A. (eds.), Women, Minorities and Employment Discrimination, Lexington, MA: Lexington Books, pp. 153–188.Google Scholar
Lowe, G. (2002), ‘Employment relationships as the centerpiece of a new labour policy paradigm’, Canadian Public Policy, 28: l, 93–104.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MacLeod, J. (1987), ‘Ain't no makin’ it’: Leveled Aspirations in a Low-Income Neighborhood, Boulder, CO: Westview Press.Google Scholar
Marshall, K. (2012), Youth Neither Enrolled Nor Employed, Ottawa, Canada: Statistics Canada.Google Scholar
Oliver, V. and Cheff, R. (2014), ‘The social network: homeless young women, social capital, and the health implications of belonging outside the nuclear family’, Youth and Society, 46: 5, 642–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (2014), The OECD Jobs for Youth Review, http://www.oecd.org/employment/theoecdjobsforyouthreview.htm (accessed 15 March).Google Scholar
Patton, M. Q. (1990), Qualitative Evaluation and Research Methods, 2nd edn, Newberry Park, CA: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Penner, L. W. (ed.) (2012), Preparing Today's Students for Tomorrow's Jobs in Metropolitan America, Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press.Google Scholar
Reeskens, T. and van Oorschot, W. (2008), ‘Those who are in the gutter look at the stars? Explaining perceptions of labour market opportunities among European young adults’, Work, Employment, and Society, 26: 3, 379–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rock, D. A., Ekstrom, R. B. and Freeberg, N. E. (1987), ‘The effects of youth employment program participation on later employment’, Evaluation Review, 11: 1, 84–101.Google Scholar
Seidman, I. E. (1991), Interviewing as Qualitative Research: A Guide for Researchers in Education and the Social Sciences, New York: Teachers College Press.Google Scholar
Shier, M., Graham, J. R. and Jones, M. E. (2009), ‘Barriers to employment as experienced by disabled people: a qualitative analysis in Calgary and Regina, Canada’, Disability and Society, 24: 1, 63–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shier, M. L., Jones, M. E. and Graham, J. R. (2011), ‘Social communities and homelessness: a broader concept analysis of social relationships and being homeless’, Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 21: 5, 455–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shier, M. L., Graham, J. R. and Eisenstat, M. (2015), ‘Psychosocial characteristics and successful labour market attachment among young adults: the internalisation of individual inadequacy as explanations for failure within the labour market’, Canadian Journal of Family and Youth, 7: 1, 27–54.Google Scholar
Smith, S. S. (2005), ‘“Don't put my name on it”: social capital activation and job-finding assistance among the Black urban poor’, American Journal of Sociology, 111: 1, 1–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stanton-Salazar, R. (2011), ‘A social capital framework for the study of institutional agents and their role in the empowerment of low-status students and youth’, Youth and Society, 43: 1066–109.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Statistics Canada (2014), 2011 National Household Survey: Data tables, Ottawa, ON, www12.statcan.gc.ca (accessed 1 March 2014).Google Scholar
Swartz, T. T., Kim, M., Uno, M., Mortimer, J. and O'Brien, K. B. (2011), ‘Safety nets and scaffolds: parental support in the transition to adulthood’, Journal of Marriage and Family, 73: 2, 414–29.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Taylor, S. (2011), ‘Educational and vocational exploration in vulnerable youth’, Child and Youth Services, 32: 4, 355–79.Google Scholar
The Economist (2011), ‘Left behind: the jobless young’, The Economist, 10 September, 75.Google Scholar
Williams, J. P. (2008), ‘Emergent themes’, in Given, L. M. (ed.), The Sage Encyclopedia of Qualitative Research Methods, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, pp. 248–9.Google Scholar
Yan, M. C., Lauer, S. and Chan, S. (2012), ‘Double jeopardy: an exploratory of youth from immigrant families entering the job market’, Journal of Immigrant and Refugee Studies, 10: 1, 96–115.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yeung, W. J. J. and Rausher, E. (2014), ‘Youth early employment and behaviour problems: human capital and social network pathways to adulthood’, Sociological Perspectives, 57: 3, 382–403.CrossRefGoogle Scholar