Social networks and the occupational choices, access and attitudes of employed and unemployed Sydney youth

This study examined the role of social networks in the occupational choice, access and retention of Australian youth. It explored the nature of the interaction between factors which provided a set of conditions in which access to jobs and job retention was either facilitated or inhibited. The main focus of the study was on experiences of family, schooling and employment as sources of networks, and the way in which these three sources interact to produce networks with different characteristics. The focus on networks generated certain propositions which formed the basis of the study. The first concerned the role of contextual factors and the extent to which these have an impact on the choices, access to, and attitudes to employment of youth. The literature indicated that individuals respond in an active way to their understanding of the job opportunity structure in their local community. The study therefore examined the distributive contextual influences on choice and access which arise from the social and economic context. The second proposition was that the social networks of youths have certain characteristics which differ between networks, and that these differences provide a set of conditions in which job access tends to be either facilitated or inhibited. The third proposition focusses on family, schooling and employment as discrete variables and in interaction, and as a contributing factor to the formation of network structures and processes. Data were collected from a sample of employed and unemployed youths in the 15 to 24 year age group. Decisions about the methodology of the study were made to allow an investigation of the distributive contextual and individual influences; to examine the role of social networks; and to explore the role of perceptual influences on youth employment. A sample of localities in Sydney was selected and included in the study, and information collected about these areas. A sample of youths in the 15 to 24 age group from these localities were selected and interviewed. Using a snowballing technique these youths nominated the members of their social network whom they felt to be important, and additional data were collected from these people. Self enumeration questionnaires were then sent to a further 100 youths in the same areas to gain complementary information. Additional data were gathered through discussions with groups of employed and unemployed youths and with specialists from the localities, such as CBS and D83 staff, counsellors, youth workers and community group leaders. The findings from the study suggested that the social networks of youths are important in the process of occupational choice and access, and in the transition from school to employment. In this context, networks serve the dual purpose of providing friendship and support, and a medium between the youth and the labour market. These two types of action sets were termed support and instrumental action sets. Differences occur between networks as a function of the relationship between family, school and employment, and these differences contribute to their role as either job facilitating or job inhibiting. The differences between these two types of networks are demonstrated in the systems of norms and values supported by the network and in the attitudes to education and work held by network members. From these shared attitudes and values two cultures emerged - the culture of the unemployed and the culture of the employed. These differences can be explained in part through the concepts of social and cultural capital - that is, the attitudes and values youths bring to work that are valued by employers. They are derived from the interaction between family, school and employment and therefore reflect a dynamic process which differentially determines access to information and work and to social experiences in the family, school and employment. As a result, youths enter the workforce equipped with different skills, and with experiences and attitudes that prepare them differentially for a range of occupations