Harwood, Aramiha
(2008)
Life Transitions: Overseas Study, Work And
Career For Young Singaporeans.
International Journal of Asia Pacific Studies (IJAPS), 4 (1).
pp. 1-19.
ISSN ISSN: 1823-6243
Abstract
The author explores the study, work and career pathways of Singaporean
students, coming to Australia to complete a tertiary qualification and returning to
Singapore to pursue work and careers. Within these pathways, an attempt is made
to understand the complexity of influences which shape their life choices and
decisions. The background of Singapore, its social and economic development,
and its Asian and western cultural foundations, is placed in the context of young
Singaporeans studying in Australia. In relation to youth pathways research,
particular dimensions of structure and agency are applied to the experiences of
these students. Family and culture, education, (Singapore) state, the workforce
economy and globalisation are all identified as structural influences. At the
agentic level, role conflict and negotiation, reflexivity risk-analysis and identity
are identified. Twenty-four participants in Singapore, self-identified as
Singaporean and having studied in an Australian university, took part in a semistructured interview and were asked to reflect on their life stories as study to work
pathways. Twelve of the parents of the participants were interviewed, to provide
perspectives on their children's pathways. It was found that there is a complex
interaction of structure and agency throughout the participants' life stories, taking
place on an everyday basis. Attempting to understand this interaction requires an
understanding of fundamental concerns in participants' lives at critical junctures
of transition from study to work. The concept of identity provides insight into the
'ultimate concerns' of participants, allowing for changes and developments,
through the changing affiliations and relationships experienced at different stages
of their life stories. The roles and affiliations linked to a changing identity, in the
case of these participants moving between countries, cultures and institutions,
provides the basis for understanding the relative effects of structure and agency in
their study to work transition.
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