Transitioning Under the Caribbean Sun: The Career Decision-Making Experiences of Emerging Adults in the Turks and Caicos Islands

• In Event: Roundtable Session 84
  In Roundtable Session: Human Capacity Building in Africa and in the Caribbean

Abstract

Literature in the area of post-secondary choices and experiences of young people confirm that decisions about family, school and work are scaffolded by a number of contextual factors. This paper examines the educational and occupational decisions of young people from the Turks and Caicos Islands making pivotal life decisions during a time of robust socio-economic and infrastructure development followed by a sudden change in the labor market resulting from political uncertainty and an economic downturn. The author shares results from a qualitative inquiry informed by an interdisciplinary conceptual framework exploring the dynamic interplay between career decision experiences of emerging adults and the structuring effects of resources, geographic location, socio-economic development, class, race, and gender.

Author

• Ramona Parkash Arora, McGill University