Abstract

Young people are facing more complex and contested transitions to adulthood than ever before, and an increasing array of education and employment choices. Extended education and training protracts the transition from school to work subjecting young people to longer periods of dependency. At the same time identity is increasingly shaped through structures of class and choice of occupation. In recent years sociologists of education have highlighted the ways class is practiced and embodied in educational settings to generate advantage and disadvantage. However, the great majority of literature has focused on gender differences, ethnicities, economic and rural deprivation. This study utilises data from semi-structured interviews with 14-17 year old high school students from private and public schools within Western Australia. It examines the way youth understand their unique positions and options that are open to them through their aspirations and future orientation towards education and employment. The findings reveal constructions of prestige and economic positioning using cultural and symbolic configurations of class. Youth perceptions of attaining higher education and employment are influenced both by the dominant culture of ‘free choice’ as well as structural factors including family, institutions of employment and class.