Economic Hardship and Stress Exposure in the School to Work Transition: Does Agency Matters?

• In Event: Poster Session 13
  In Poster Session: PS 13 Topic -Diversity, Equity & Social Justice

Abstract

Context. The school-to-work transition (SWT) represents a key developmental task for young adults (Schoon, 2015). It is particularly hazardous for poorly educated young adults from low socioeconomic backgrounds. Indeed, in the United States, 27% of young adults aged 16–29 without a high school degree are neither in education, employment or training (NEET status), in comparison to 14% in the general population of the same age group (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2016; OECD, 2020). Young adults who are NEET are at risk of long-term unemployment and job insecurity (Thompson, 2011). Youth form low socioeconomic backgrounds are more at risk of becoming NEET and staying in that status for long periods, in part because socioeconomic disadvantage increase exposure to stressors that in turn pose significant challenges for success in education and employment (Davidson & Arim, 2019; Pearlin, Schieman, Fazio, & Meersman, 2005).
Despite those challenges, many young adults facing difficult conditions successfully navigate their SWT (Schoon & Lyons-Amos, 2016). Some specific individual characteristics might account for that success, notably agency and some of its components, including professional identity (that is, youth’s work-related positive self-conception; Heinz, 2009), grit (that is, individual propensity to thrive for a goal; Kwon, 2017), and vocational aspirations (Gutman & Schoon, 2018). For example, one study conducted in a disadvantaged sample found that young adults with clear vocational aspirations were less likely to become NEET (Duckworth & Schoon, 2012). However the extant SWT literature does not consider the interrelationships between stress exposure, agency and employment (Hitlin & Kirkpatrick Johnson, 2015; Ng-Knight & Schoon, 2017; Schoon & Lyons-Amos, 2016). Moreover, little attention has been paid to youth without high school diplomas, even though they are particularly likely to go through long bouts in a NEET status (Lavoie, Thouin, & Dupéré, in press).
Present study. This study aims to examine, 1) the links between low SES and stress exposure in the late teenage years and the quality of the SWT in the early adulthood; 2) the potential protective role of three components of agency (professional identity, grit and vocational aspirations). We expect that low economic status and stress exposure will be linked longitudinally to young adults’ NEET status and that agency will limit the magnitude of these associations.
Method. This study relies on a sample initially recruited in 12 deprived public high schools in Montreal, Canada. After an initial screening phase in which almost seven thousand students participated, a subsample of 545 adolescents (mage = 16,3 yo) was selected, while oversampling school dropouts and students at high risk of dropout but persevering. This subsample participated in semi-structured interviews during which the Life Events and Difficulties Schedule was administered to assess stressor exposure, as well as a series of validated questionnaires. They were interviewed again four years after the initial data collection, at age 20–21.
Analytic strategies. Multiple logistic regressions will be used to assess the link between low SES, stress exposure and the NEET status. The protective effect of agency will be assessed with multiple moderation.

Authors

• Guillaume Descary, Université de Montréal (UdeM)
  Presenting Author

• Véronique Dupéré, Université de Montréal
  Non-Presenting Author