The Times Are a Changing: Emerging Adulthood, Ethnicity, and Career Aspirations

According to Arnett’s (2000) Theory of Emerging Adulthood the years between 18 and 25 are a distinct period in the life course where young people explore possible selves in the areas of work, love, and world views, delaying the time before they enter adulthood. During this time emerging adults are forming and revising their aspirations for the future, which lay the foundations of adult life. However, the theory has been criticised for its limited applicability to those outside of western industrialised cultures. This has resulted in a gap in the literature regarding the experience of the emerging adulthood period for those from ethnic minority backgrounds. This thesis aims to address this gap by investigating how ethnic identity predicts decisions regarding expected age of marriage, parenthood, the importance of achieving career aspirations and confidence in achieving career aspirations of participants from collective cultural backgrounds. A sample of 245 participants (male = 70, female = 175) completed an online survey. A series of between subjects ANOVA’s found that those from a collective cultural background reported that their ethnicity was more important to their sense of self compared to those from a Caucasian background. Further, participants from collective cultural backgrounds also reported that their career aspirations were more important to them compared to Caucasians. An un-expected finding was that those from a collective cultural background expected to have their first child later than Caucasians. This is inconsistent with the proposition by Arnett (2000) that the emerging adulthood period, and the subsequent delay in reaching the traditional marker of parenthood, is only experienced by those from western industrialised cultures. Further research is needed to determine whether the factors associated with the emerging adulthood period in collective cultures are the same or similar to those experienced by Caucasians. Finally, future research needs to investigate the different aspects of ethnic identity that are implicated in career aspirations