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Introduction
Amidst stereotypes about the lack of young adult motivation towards labour market participation, recent research has found that young adults are generally orientated towards successful labour market attachment (Devadason, Reference Devadason2008). While young adults might have differing outlooks on varying opportunities afforded them, some research has shown that many maintain a sense of hope about achieving upward social mobility through gainful employment (Reeskens and Oorschot, Reference Reeskens and van Oorschot2008; Taylor, Reference Taylor2011).
Even with such a positive orientation towards the labour market, young adults still face multiple barriers to successful labour market attachment. In cross-national studies of young adult employment, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) (2014) has consistently found high rates of unemployment among studied countries. In Canada, the OECD country in which we conducted our study, approximately 13 per cent of young adults (those between the ages of fifteen and twenty-nine) are neither employed nor enrolled in an educational programme (Marshall, Reference Marshall2012). Of course, there are regional differences in Canada that impact employment rates. However, young adults experience higher rates of unemployment than adults over the age of twenty-five in every province and territory (Bernard, Reference Bernard2013). Furthermore, labour market participation rates remain lower for racial minority populations in comparison to non-racial minorities (Statistics Canada, 2014). For instance, based on the most recent data in Canada, in 2011 the average unemployment rate among racial minorities was 9.9 per cent (compared to 7.3 per cent for the non-visible minority population) (Statistics Canada, 2014). This is a situation that is made more evident based on age: in 2011, those that were between the ages of fifteen and twenty-four and were a racial minority experienced a 20.5 per cent unemployment rate (Statistics Canada, 2014).
As a result of this apparent inequality in labour market attachment trends of young adults, and more so for racial minority young adults, this research sought to better understand the factors that shaped racial minority young adult perspectives towards labour market success, and upward social mobility more generally. The underlying intention is to provide insight to create more specific social programmes and policy approaches that can help reduce this apparent inequality within the contemporary labour market. We asked the research question: ‘How are racial minority young adults' (i.e., those between the ages of fifteen and twenty-nine) perspectives on labour market success shaped?’ Our findings provide evidence that social capital is the major factor influencing our respondents' perspectives on labour market success. In particular, our respondents divulged that interpersonal relationships with employers, family members and neighbourhood/community members influenced respondents' perseverance and motivation for upward social mobility through securing and maintaining employment.
Social capital and aspirations towards labour market attachment
This research has been conceptualised around a general theory of social capital. Social capital is a theory that hypothesises that people's social relationships contribute to their individual personal development. Loury (Reference Loury, Wallace and Lamond1977, cited in Coleman, Reference Coleman1990) introduced the term social capital to describe the social resources that people have, and specifically how those resources impacted the overall development of young people's cognition. Later, Coleman (Reference Coleman1990: 305) presented the term in a text on social theory, and argued that ‘social capital is created when the relations among persons change in ways that facilitate action’. For Coleman (Reference Coleman1990) social capital is a resource for someone to achieve a set goal that otherwise would not be attainable. Bourdieu's (Reference Bourdieu, Granovetter and Swedberg2001: 103) essay ‘The Forms of Capital’ (originally published in 1983) provides a more in-depth understanding of the relationship between group participation (or social capital) and individual level outcomes (such as upward social mobility). He argues that the ‘volume of the social capital possessed by a given agent thus depends on the size of the network of connections he can effectively mobilise and on the volume of capital (economic, cultural or symbolic) possessed . . . by each of those to whom he is connected’.
Together, these theories of social capital conceptualise the relationship between social engagement and individual development and behaviour, including individual perceptions and aspirations towards upward social mobility. From an empirical perspective, Yeung and Rauscher (Reference Yeung and Rausher2014) highlight the importance of positive employer–employee relationships and opportunities, along with peer relationships as mediating effects on negative adolescent behaviour (such as substance abuse and crime). Similarly, Oliver and Cheff (Reference Oliver and Cheff2014) found that belonging to positive and supportive relationships can support young adult women experiencing homelessness to achieve more stable lives through improvements to both their physical and mental well-being. As both of these examples highlight, young adult labour market attachment is a developmental process that can be supported through (or impacted by) the nature and quality of an individual's social capital (Krahn and Taylor, Reference Krahn and Taylor2005). One way that social networks can support this developmental process is through support that aids in the creation of positive aspirations and motivations towards upward social mobility among youth and young adults (Cheng and Starks, Reference Cheng and Starks2002; Kim and Schneider, Reference Kim and Schneider2005).
In fact, in relation to perspectives on employment held by young adults, some research has pointed to the ‘family, school, and community processes that shape aspirations', and probed youths’ ‘relationships between aspirations and future educational and occupational attainment’ (Krahn and Taylor, Reference Krahn and Taylor2005: 405). However, these experiences can be further compounded by racial minority status. Indeed, racism casts a long and troubling shadow. Krahn and Taylor (Reference Krahn and Taylor2005: 430) highlight that racial minority youth and young adults generally maintain positive orientations towards the possibility of attachment to the higher skill and higher pay labour market, but suggest that ‘it is possible that as these youth become more exposed to systemic racism and blocked opportunities in their pursuit of career goals, their confidence and optimism could turn to disillusionment’. But how, in more precise terms, do these disillusionments take hold?
Essentially, social capital has been understood in terms of access to, and the ability to mobilise, resources that are embedded within social relationships, resulting in a higher status attainment among individuals (Lin, Reference Lin1999, Reference Lin2000). Many studies have focused on the fundamental role played by access to informal knowledge about the post-secondary educational system and career development – through experiences of parents, family members, peers or other informal mentors – as an important social capital resource contributing to motivations and aspirations (Lareau, Reference Lareau2011; Stanton-Salazar, Reference Stanton-Salazar2011). However, one question that emerges is whether or not this is a fully sufficient ‘social capital’ explanation of differences in young adult perspectives towards successful labour market attachment among racial minority young adults.
Current research suggests that it is not a sufficient explanation. For example, Yan et al. (Reference Yan, Lauer and Chan2012) investigated the experiences of racial minority young adults in British Columbia, Canada and found that, even in booming employment markets in Canada, these young adults still face barriers and are marginalised in their efforts to successfully attach to the labour market. In particular, they concluded that young adult social networks and familial social ties do not equally support labour market attachment for racial minority youth, as is the case in non-racial minority young adult populations. Similarly, in Australia, Hopkins et al. (Reference Hopkins, Taylor and Zubrick2013) found that for minority Aboriginal young adults with reduced family health and increased community risk (e.g., gang and drug sale presence, concentrated poverty or limited labour market opportunities) there was a reduced likelihood of participation in employment and/or education. Also, previous scholarship has found that barriers to labour market attachment among young adults can have a greater impact, particularly amongst youth who grow up in low-income areas and who have had a history of precarious attachment to the labour market (MacLeod, Reference MacLeod1987; Bourgois, Reference Bourgois2003). Likewise, some recent research in Calgary, Alberta, found that poor interpersonal relationships with employers, insufficient labour market opportunities and unrealistic expectations held by workers, all have an impact on the labour market success of vulnerable populations (Graham et al., Reference Graham, Jones and Shier2010; Shier et al., Reference Shier, Graham and Jones2009). Together, this previous research demonstrates the importance of a better understanding of a wide range of different social interactions that may be supportive of shaping positive attitudes towards labour market attachment, and particularly so for marginalised populations, such as racial minority young adults who might experience compounding factors that can impede successful labour market attachment.
Methods
To understand the factors that can shape racial minority young adult perspectives on employment, data were collected through one-to-one interviews (n = 36) with young adults between the ages of seventeen and twenty-nine who were involved with one of six community-based organisations providing employment support to young adults in Toronto, Canada. Of these thirty-six respondents, twenty-five are male and eleven are female. All respondents were members of a racial minority subpopulation. Twenty-nine reported being Black, three Latin American, one South Asian, one Middle Eastern, one West Asian and one East Asian. The mean age of the respondents was twenty-two years old. This study received ethics certification from the University of Calgary's Conjoint Faculties Research Ethics Board.
Participants had a variety of employment experiences. Some were fairly new to the labour market, while others had more lengthy histories of employment in low-paid/low-skilled jobs. Participants were recruited through a process of snowball sampling with the aid of the six community partner organisations. The inclusion criteria for the study were that the young adults lived in the Jane‒Finch neighbourhood community of Toronto, Canada; were between the ages of fifteen and twenty-nine (however, the youngest age of a participant was seventeen years old); and fitted into one of the following four categories: (1) actively seeking employment (n = 20) (i.e. respondents indicated they were unemployed but were engaged in activities that help to gain employment, such as applying for jobs); (2) employed but feeling frustrated with their employment situation (n = 7); (3) not actively seeking employment (and presently unemployed) nor attending school (n = 6); or (4) employed and satisfied (n = 3). Including respondents from a range of categories in relation to their employment status or situation aided in developing a comprehensive understanding of young adult experiences. The smallest category of respondents, unsurprisingly, was those that had been both employed and satisfied, because individuals that fit with this category were less likely to be utilising services offered by the community partners that aided in the preparation and recruitment of individuals for employment opportunities. However, it is important to recognise that oppressed populations can experience an internalisation of their precarious labour market situation and become somehow resigned to their position within the labour market (see Shier et al., Reference Shier, Graham and Eisenstat2015), and as a result it is useful to include young adults that might report being satisfied with their employment.
The neighbourhood community of Jane and Finch was selected as the site of data collection because there are a large number of young adults in the community seeking labour market attachment, but there remains a high young adult unemployment rate in the community (City of Toronto, 2013a). The Jane and Finch community (or as it is alternatively known, the University Heights community in Ward 8 of the City of Toronto) is a low-income community with concentrated poverty. It has one of the highest rates of low-income/subsidised housing in all of Toronto's neighbourhoods, and in some census tracts within the community the proportion of people living below Canada's low income cut-off (LICO) rate is four times greater than the metropolitan average (City of Toronto, 2013b). Because concentrated poverty within neighbourhoods can impact outcomes for young adults, comparing young adults within a low-income community with those of a higher-income community may provide different responses on social and psychological factors that can contribute to labour market success. Therefore, we focused specifically on this one community to sample participants. Also, while it is likely that similar neighbourhoods exist in other Canadian cities, the City of Toronto was selected because this research was one part of a larger Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Community–University Research Alliance (CURA) grant. One of the central features of that grant was to investigate, in a more comprehensive way, issues pertaining to young adults in the Jane‒Finch community.
Data were collected through standard techniques of interviewing used in qualitative research (Fetterman, Reference Fetterman1998, Reference Fetterman and Given2008; Holstein and Gubrium, Reference Holstein and Gubrium1995; Patton, Reference Patton1990; Seidman, Reference Seidman1991). Respondents were interviewed once; the interviews lasted approximately one hour. The interviews were in-depth and conducted in person by two members of the research team using a semi-structured, open-ended interview guide. Questions prompted respondents to describe their current and past experiences with employment, and the barriers that they experienced when searching for and accessing employment opportunities. For instance, respondents were asked: ‘Can you tell me about your experiences of employment?’; ‘Can you tell me about your experiences of employment in your family and your neighbourhood?’; ‘What sort of resources have you used to get a career?’; and ‘Can you tell us about an experience with career training, career preparation?’. The interviews were digitally recorded and transcribed verbatim.
Data were analysed using qualitative methods of analytic induction and constant comparison strategies (Goetz and LeCompte, Reference Goetz and LeCompte1984; Glaser and Strauss, Reference Glaser and Strauss1967). Specifically, emergent themes (Charmaz, Reference Charmaz, Denzin and Lincoln2000; Williams, Reference Williams and Given2008) and patterns (Creswell, Reference Creswell2009; Fetterman, Reference Fetterman and Given2008) were identified within the transcribed interviews with a focus on the factors that respondents identified as having an impact on their present employment situation. The first step in the coding process was to read all the transcribed material with the objective of identifying common themes. The themes were coded and the data were searched for instances of the same or similar phenomena. Finally, the data were translated into more general categories that were refined until all instances of contradictions, similarities and differences were explained, thus increasing the dependability and consistency of the findings. Two members of the research team collaboratively worked on this stage of the research to maintain the credibility criteria of the study (i.e., discussing the rationale for determining particular codes that emerged).
Findings
Respondents identified three important aspects of their social networks (and subsequent accumulation of social capital) that shape their perspectives on labour market attachment: (1) interaction and experiences with employers; (2) personal life and familial relationships; and (3) neighbourhood social dynamics. Each is discussed with select quotations. Identifying characteristics, such as place names and dates, have been eliminated to maintain confidentiality. Identifying numbers are included after each excerpt along with the participant's gender and age.
Interactions and experiences with employers
There has been limited research on the role of employers in supporting successful labour market outcomes (Shier et al., Reference Shier, Jones and Graham2011). With regard to those youth having precarious attachment to labour markets specifically, employers are described as unreceptive (and possibly discriminatory) towards certain population groups of young adults – such as those experiencing homelessness (Karabanow et al., Reference Karabanow, Hughes, Ticknor, Kidd and Patterson2010) – but little research has investigated aspects of those employer/employee relationships that contribute to perceptions of upward social mobility among young adults. As a corrective, respondents described two aspects of their interactions and experiences with employers that have shaped their perspectives on labour market attachment. The first area of response relates to the nature of the interaction between employer and employee. The second refers to the quality of the relationship between the employer and employee.
For the first, negative interactions within the labour market can impact individuals' willingness to maintain employment. For instance, one respondent stated:
The one that I was hired by, he was pretty laid back but the supervisor, I did not like him. He had a temper for everything, and I mean, it was my first time doing cash, and I might have messed up, but he came down on me completely. It was to the point where, it was like, are you trying to teach me how to do a job or are you trying to embarrass me. (003, female, 17 years old)
Likewise, positive interactions can help support personal development among new workers. For instance, one reported:
I've learned something, too, you learn what you do and do not like, what you are good at, what you are bad at, what you dread going to, how much you enjoy it. I think when I worked at [respondent names place of employment] my boss really helped develop my whole person because they were really encouraging. (004, female, 24 years old)
Also, different dynamics within organisations can support youth development and promote positive expectations of young people within the labour market. As one respondent put it:
I definitely was satisfied working with [respondent names place of employment]. The supervisors, the executive director, they are really nice people to talk to and always willing to hear your opinions, your views, and we always had an open space where you can share ideas. So I definitely enjoyed working with them. (005, female, 20 years old)
The role of employer–employee relationships was about more than the quality of the interaction and also included the quality of the overall working relationship. In some cases, this was enhanced by previous long periods of volunteering in particular organisations. For instance, one respondent described her inability to secure employment by simply applying for vacancies. Her employment success came from a long-standing relationship with an employer:
For the most part, I just went in the door and applied, like at [respondent describes many different retail and food industry places of employment], I've just applied. In terms of this position here, it was an opportunity after volunteering for almost two years. So I established a relationship with my boss. (015, female, 20 years old)
Without these positive relationships, young adults with little job experience have difficulty securing employment and many jobs might appear to be out of reach. For instance, one respondent describing the implications of not having long-standing relationships with potential employers stated:
It has been a little hard, because basically whenever I ask for an application form, there is always this part where they want an employment history. I always leave that blank, and I think that is probably a big factor why I don't have a job yet. I have finished a one-year course in graphics and multi-media, but they probably don't need that because I am just applying for those simple jobs like fast food. They are easiest to get into, I think . . . But it has been really hard, because, I have dropped off a lot of resumes – around thirty – but no one has called me yet in the last three months. (023, male, 19 years old)
Abusive relationships between employers and respondents contributed to the respondents' willingness to leave their place of employment. A further challenge for some of these young adults is having adequate relationships with employers that can lead to permanent full-time employment. The expected process of applying and dropping off resumes with no social interaction between the employee and the potential employer created challenges for some respondents. For these respondents, without adequate relationships between employers and employees, labour market attachment can still remain elusive. This might be an area of focus to be taken up by youth employment support programmes. Presently, programmes typically focus on the young adult participant but neglect to include the employer side of the interaction. Efforts to support positive employee–employer relationships can be made through outreach services within the community.
Related to social capital theorising, many of these respondents describe sufficient access to social capital through various employment opportunities. For instance, many have had opportunities in employment (albeit in lower skill, lower pay employment opportunities) and work experience. However, the way they are treated by employers has an impact on how they perceive work and their own motivations towards upward social mobility. Smith (Reference Smith2005) refers to this as a problem within the social capital literature, where access is generally understood to equate to mobilisation. Instead, and as these respondents point out (and as was similarly found in Smith's (Reference Smith2005) research), aspirations towards labour market attachment are determined in part by how that social capital becomes manifested in the employee–employer interaction.
Personal life and familial relationships
Some research has shown that having parental support can lead to negative employment outcomes – suggesting the parents act as a safety net for young adults, which can impede their overall development/transition to adulthood (Swartz et al., Reference Swartz, Kim, Uno, Mortimer and O'Brien2011). Other research has found that familial relationships can act to provide informal knowledge about methods to achieve upward social mobility (Lareau, Reference Lareau2011). Respondents here capture some of these themes, and provide further insight into the impact of parent–child relationships on labour market attachment.
Families can provide an element of motivation and personal perseverance for young adults. Some respondents described the hard work of family members and the inherent work ethic culture within their family as a mediating factor in their own perseverance in seeking employment. For instance, one respondent described:
My mom, she has an immigrant background, and like a lot of immigrants in this community, they just work. I don't know if any of them just came to this country to pursue a dream or anything, but their dream was probably a better future for their family and they just work, that's what I think, that is at the core of the story for me. (001, female, 23 years old)
Family members can even play an instrumental role in promoting labour market attachment, even in situations where opportunities are not readily available. In some instances, family members provide a realistic perspective to young adults about labour market attachment. One respondent described the influence of her parents in pushing her to not give up and to try one more time:
My parents pushed me but I also wanted the money for school, for college and . . . I was saving up early for college at that point. Um, it was embarrassing, I went to that place three times, looking for employment, so finally they interviewed me, and my mom pushed me the last couple of times. I would tell her ‘It was so embarrassing, I don't want to go in there anymore’ but they had seen me so much, so they finally hired me. (004, female, 24 years old)
This respondent later described the role of her father in creating a level of knowledge about what can contribute to labour market success, such as post-secondary education. Parents can provide a level of expectation and encouragement for young adults, but in some cases they are not fully knowledgeable about the expectations. The previous respondent further elaborates:
I was the first one in my family to go to university, so I didn't know what a bachelor, what a masters, any of that was, and I ended up going to one information session and asking completely stupid questions, and they kind of laughed at me, so I kind of learned mostly about it when I got there. (004, female, 24 years old)
This lack of knowledge about how to succeed in the labour market can be stifling. Some respondents described how options presented to them were limited, based on what has been achieved by family members. With the lack of insight about possible labour market opportunities, a mindset of low expectations can develop in some young adults. This then becomes a contributing factor to intergenerational poverty. For example, one respondent described the types of labour market attachments of individuals in her immediate and extended family:
In terms of my family – my parents and the generation above me, my aunts, uncles, and even beyond that – they have not been very enterprising individuals, I think they make ends meet, and will work for other people for the rest of their lives. They haven't been able to go beyond that. (015, female, 20 years old)
However, many respondents described how living in situations of low achievement can act as a motivating factor to move upwardly within the labour market. But challenges inherent in the labour market can make it difficult to secure employment even if one develops a skill or the knowledge level expected for upward mobility. Our previous respondent elaborated:
My siblings and I are definitely trying to change things in our family. We were all born here and we are all in post-secondary education. We believe that education is sort of like the key to success. But I don't know how true that can be. Like even my sister, she graduated, and she is looking for employment and it's been awhile and she can't find a position. So I don't know how true that is anymore. (015, female, 20 years old)
This respondent describes the motivation for upward social mobility, but comments on the disconnect between educational attainment and labour market success.
For many respondents, family dynamics have contributed to their labour market participation, and we can see with these excerpts how positive and negative family interactions can shape young adult perspectives on labour market attachment. For instance, family members and dynamics can be a positive, motivational source for pursuing labour market attachment amidst multiple social and labour market barriers impeding success. Many of the respondents in this study were members of newcomer families who demonstrated to their children a strong work ethic in pursuit of their family's upward social mobility in a new country of residence. Families are an important source of social capital for youth and young adults and they act, in part, to shape what individuals are going to achieve. These findings highlight that the challenge with familial social ties is more about access to social capital than it is about mobilisation. As a result, programmes and policies need to be developed that support useful efforts for racial minority young adults to improve access to familial- or community-based social capital.
Neighbourhood social dynamics
Neighbourhood social dynamics are another aspect of an individual`s social capital impacting individual personal and social development. The social dynamics within neighbourhoods, such as high poverty prevalence rates, the presence of an active (and visible) illegal labour market (such as the drug trade) or socially undesirable, or criminal, behaviour such as gang involvement can all negatively impact perspectives on upward social mobility among young adults living in such a neighbourhood (Bourgois, Reference Bourgois2003; MacLeod, Reference MacLeod1987). As an example, Kaufman and Rosenbaum (Reference Kaufman and Rosenbaum1992) found that low-income black youth had better education and employment outcomes after moving away from inner-city low-income communities. Building on the literature about neighbourhood implications on young adult development in relation to labour market attachment, respondents described how the nature of social dynamics within their community acts as a motivating factor for their labour market attachment. While some young adults might have positive influences that are reflected in how their lives develop, some respondents described how the negative social relationships visibly present in their community– such as gang involvement and the illegal labour market – acted as a motivating factor to seek further education and upward social mobility through labour market participation. For instance, one respondent described:
Education is a big deal here. If you had education, you wouldn't be here. Youth in Jane and Finch can't think that their life is going to be here for the rest of their lives. I never want that for myself, I dread that for myself, I can't have that for myself. (001, female, 23 years old)
Similarly, another respondent described the nature of social interactions within the community and his disdain for living life that way:
Most of the people in my neighbourhood don't work. Like, the guys don't work. They're living off employment insurance. They got laid off and they're surviving like that. Some sell drugs to survive. I'm not going to lie . . . I don't think it's the only option, but sometimes, it is. No one's hiring me. And, you can't make money, you can't give anything to your family. It's just sad. (017, male, 20 years old)
Likewise, another respondent described the need to present, to youth in the community, opportunities to see what people outside the community are doing for employment:
Just let the kids see what they can do, where they are not stuck in their community. We have to show people that they too can do these things, and we are not stuck with doing what we see people around here doing. (002, male, 20 years old)
Furthermore, respondents described how finding opportunities for employment would help develop social networks within the wider labour market which can possibly be a source of future employment success. For example, one respondent stated:
I want to work outside to broaden my horizons. Although it is hard to find employment outside the community. I'd rather it be outside, I would gain more experience, and I want to meet new people. I don't want to be stuck in this one little box, being around here. (003, female, 17 years old)
While previous research has argued that neighbourhood dynamics can contribute negatively to individual employment outcomes, some of our respondents demonstrate that aspects of the social nature of their neighbourhood can also act as a motivating factor to do better for themselves in life. Witnessing the challenges experienced by people in one's own milieu can provide the impetus needed to continue moving forward even though individuals are facing several barriers to labour market success. For the respondents in this study, there was no indication that the social and economic conditions of their neighbourhood limited their perspectives of their own aspirations for upward social mobility. Of course, we might well have obtained different responses from the individuals that many of the respondents describe (i.e., those that are not working, or are receiving social assistance, or are actively involved in the illegal labour market etc.). However, what these respondents do describe is a positive orientation towards upward social mobility in the presence of access to negative social capital. To better support these young adults, and following this social capital framework, efforts could be made to supplement this negative social capital with access to and mobilisation of other more positive sources of social capital – such as through local youth and young adult programming ‒ and within the labour market itself (possibly through efforts to increase the mobilisation of social capital in employment settings).
Discussion
As an addition to current literature on the micro-social dynamics that shape young adult perspectives on labour market attachment, respondents here provide evidence that their families, neighbourhoods and relationships with employers have contributed to their willingness to engage in the labour market and, in some respects, can contribute negatively to their labour market success. Family members (and parents in particular) can provide motivation, encouragement and a work ethic, but depending on family members' level of knowledge about ways to achieve upward social mobility, some participants were hindered in the pursuit of successful labour market attachment. Employers (and dynamics of interpersonal relationships within organisations) can be supportive of young adult development in employment situations, but these relationships can also create difficult situations for young workers that can impair their continued job maintenance. And while the negative qualities of high poverty neighbourhoods – such as gang presence, low labour market participation, minimal labour market opportunities and the presence of an apparent illegal labour market – have been found as factors possibly impacting labour market attachment of young adults (see for example: Bourgois, Reference Bourgois2003; MacLeod, Reference MacLeod1987), respondents here described how these characteristics of the social dynamics of their community acted as motivating factors for upward social mobility. Together, the findings highlight key aspects of young adult social networks that can contribute to a positive orientation towards upward social mobility through meaningful labour market participation. More specifically, the findings advance theory about the relationship between social capital accumulation (and mobilisation) and labour market aspirations among racial minority young adults.
First, the findings highlight the more specific nuances of the key social networks that impact the perspectives on upward social mobility of racial minority young adults (who live in highly concentrated poverty neighbourhoods). This research moves beyond existing literature that tends to focus on families, the education system and the role of informal knowledge in preparing young people for future occupational attainment (Lareau, Reference Lareau2011; Stanton-Salazar, Reference Stanton-Salazar2011). It highlights interacting social dynamics within families, neighbourhoods and employment situations, all of which contribute to varying degrees of social capital (both positive and negative).
Second, while aligned with a general theory of social capital, the findings provide a unique perspective on the relationship between access to and mobilisation of social capital resources. Most studies on social capital and labour market attachment focus on specific aspects of an individual's social network that support (or hinder) their upward social mobility. For example, studies have focused on neighbourhood dynamics (MacLeod, Reference MacLeod1987), the role of families and schools (Collins, Reference Collins2009; Lareau, Reference Lareau2011; Stanton-Salazar, Reference Stanton-Salazar2011) or access to employers (Smith, Reference Smith2005). In all of these studies, the relationship between perspectives on upward social mobility and social capital is somewhat linear. This means that individuals who have access to social capital resources and have mobilised those resources will have perspectives that are more positive on upward social mobility. The analysis from this research highlights that the relationship between access and mobilisation of social capital resources is more complicated. For instance, individuals have access to social capital through employment opportunities, but when those resources are not mobilised effectively (on the part of the employer) this can have an adverse effect on perceptions of upward social mobility. In comparison, respondents identify how social capital in families, while mobilised to some degree, is limited based on the quality of that resource. This leads to the need to identify ways to improve access, make up for deficiencies in access and to better mobilise existing social capital resources within families to improve the employment aspirations and outcomes for racial minority young adults.
There are several implications from this research for policy-related discussions and for practical efforts to address the global challenge of young adult unemployment and under-employment. For the most part, social policy that aims to support young adult labour market participation does not consider the fundamental role of these various sources of social capital and the implications for young adult development in relation to labour market attachment. Nor does it consider the specific nuances of access and mobilisation of social capital resources. For instance, in many advanced industrialised countries, the social policy frameworks aimed at supporting young adult labour market attachment focus on individual level inadequacy to explain labour market deficiency (e.g., individuals don't have the right skills or don't have sufficient motivation) (Butterwick, Reference Butterwick and Cohen2003; Lowe, Reference Lowe2002). In Canada, the current Youth Employment Strategy (www.youth.gc.ca) utilises programmes and initiatives to develop basic skills, a career focus, and promote student summer employment. In the United Kingdom, under the Department for Work and Pensions, the focus is on wage subsidies for employers who hire individuals within certain categories/classifications – such as young adults (http://www.dwp.gov.uk/youth-contract/key-initiatives/). In Germany – with a youth unemployment rate around 9.5 per cent – the focus is on early training through large-scale nationally focused apprenticeship training programmes (The Economist, 2011). Together, these policy trajectories focus primarily on providing opportunities for young adults to engage in the labour market by providing incentives for employers. In many cases, such as the summer job programmes in Canada, this policy direction only supports participation in the precarious labour market through increasing rates of temporary employment opportunities for young people. Alternatively, the respondents from this study suggest the need for a policy direction that aims at harnessing positive social relationships between youth and employers, ones that support the development and advancement of young people in current employment situations, and aim to mobilise the social capital resources within the labour market. Similarly, the research here provides insight for more local level policy initiatives – such as in the public education system or the local municipal government. For example, while local school boards might support career counselling initiatives in local high schools, the findings here suggest that those efforts need to extend beyond providing career advice into possibly engaging with youth and family to foster relationships that might lead to a more positive perspective on upward social mobility. Similarly, municipal (or local city) governments are in the best position to develop policy around programming and supports for young people that live in neighbourhoods with negative social dynamics.
There are some points of clarification and limitation that should be mentioned and recognised when interpreting the results of this study. First, the racial minority status is not a central orientating theme of the analysis or discussion because the data here are not comparative with the experiences of non-racial minority youth. Our focus specifically on racial minority young adult perspectives on labour market attachment is in line with the empirical finding that their experiences with successful labour market attachment are not necessarily the same as non-racial minority young adults. However, further comparative research (possibly in relation to the specific thematic categories of differing sources of social capital presented here) is needed to assess, possibly with more specificity, which aspects of racial and non-racial minority young adult social networks predict more positive aspirations and motivations towards upward social mobility.
Also, it is important to note that the intention of this qualitative study is not to make generalised statements about how programmes and policies should be changed to meet present demands and needs of service users. Furthermore, qualitative strategies of inquiry are context specific. Within this study, we interviewed programme participants in one programme in a low socio-economic status community in Toronto, Canada. While comparisons can be made to other contexts (at international, national and local levels), the findings are only transferable to those contexts with comparable situations. Finally, such a strategy of inquiry does not provide a sufficient evaluative component of the programmes themselves. Essentially, it allows only for suggestions to improve programme and policy focus, but provides no means of assessing if that change in focus will have a significant effect on outcomes.
With this all said, it is important to note that a qualitative strategy of inquiry has merit in addressing the complicated issue of young adult unemployment and the inadequacies of the programmes that are presently utilised to address this social issue. Through a synthesis of findings from quantitative analysis of institutional (i.e., labour market) changes in society and outcome comparisons among programme participants (such as Alderson et al., Reference Alderson, Beckfield and Nielsen2005; Rock et al., Reference Rock, Ekstrom and Freeberg1987; Penner, Reference Penner2012) with experiential studies of need such as ours, better policy and programme recommendations can be made.
Conclusion
Social welfare policies and recommendations within industrialised nations need to move beyond addressing individual level barriers and further consider the micro-social context in which social inequality and exclusion emerge. From a theoretical perspective, the findings here challenge the socially constructed notions of individualism that are inherent in labour market policies and practices. As these respondents show, the social dynamics within families, neighbourhoods and employment situations can impact labour market attachment by shaping the perspectives of racial minority young adults. The transitioning period to full-time, meaningful employment is an important developmental stage of young adulthood. As a result, it is important to develop policies and programming that support that development. One way that can be achieved is through efforts to mobilise existing social capital resources within employment situations and by increasing levels of social capital available within families and neighbourhoods of concentrated poverty. The ability to speculate the extent to which these social relationships are important in predicting labour market attachment is a limitation of this study design, but further research could pursue – using quantitative measures – the effect of these social dynamics on labour market outcomes for young adults. Furthermore, our findings are limited in their ability to explain the impact of these factors in relation to other individual indicators of labour market attachment success, such as human capital (i.e., previous work experience and educational attainment). But this question can also be pursued in further quantitative inquiry about social relationship dynamics and young adult labour market attachment.
Acknowledgements
We are grateful for the generous support received by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada to conduct this research. This study was part of a Community and University Research Alliance grant that sought to better understand the experiences of young adults in lower income communities: The ACT (Assets Coming Together) for Youth Project (2009–2014). This research was also possible due to the generous support received from our community partners that aided in participant recruitment and provided feedback on our analysis and written work. We also extend our appreciation to the anonymous peer reviewers, whose comments have contributed to an improved publication.
