Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
13th Conference of the European Sociological Association, Athens, Yunanistan, 29 Ağustos - 01 Eylül 2017, ss.764
This paper explores final-year university students’
perceptions of labour market and future work. Higher
education has long been considered as a gateway to
a secure future in Turkey, however, the recent
economic and political changes taking place and the
changing labour market opportunities, no longer
promise a ‘secure’ future for the youth. The rate of
population with tertiary education among 25-34 age
group in Turkey has risen from 13% in 2005 to 27% in
2015 according to the OECD. On the other hand,
according to EUROSTAT data, the employment rate
of university graduates (73%), remains as one of the
lowest in comparison to the EU countries.
Furthermore, in 2015 Turkey ranked third among the
OECD countries in terms of graduate unemployment
rate, with a score of 9%. In this context, focusing on
young people at the point of higher-education-to-work
transition in two public universities in capital of Turkey,
this study aims to address the subjective dimension of
a ‘transition’ experience, which is increasingly
becoming uncertain. By conducting in-depth
interviews with students at the verge of graduation,
the study aims to understand how young people
locate and construct their subjectivities in relation to
their ambivalent futures in the labour market and world
of work. The study argues that while youth transitions
involve a dimension of reflexivity and agency, the
transition itself is a historically grounded subjective
experience. It also shows that specific social,
economic and political context of higher education
contribute to the dimension of uncertainty for young
people in terms of their experience of transition to
labour force and work.