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Journal of Youth Studies, Vol. 5, No.

3, 2002

Taking Control of their Lives? Agency in Young Adult


Transitions in England and the New Germany

KAREN EVANS

ABSTRACT The present article provides an overview of Žndings from the UK Economic
and Social Research Council’s Youth Citizenship and Social Change Project on how
young adults experience control and exercise agency in differing socioeconomic environ-
ments. The research builds on previous Anglo-German and UK studies (Bynner &
Roberts, 1991; Evans & Heinz, 1994; Evans et al., 2000), which have contrasted the
regulated German and unregulated British approaches to transitions into the labour
market. In the present new study, the ways in which social changes have impacted on
the lives of individuals have been central to the rationale. The Eastern and Western parts
of Germany shared a common culture but operated totally different socioeconomic
systems during communism. West Germany and Britain had different versions of the
same socioeconomic system, but different cultural histories. Britain and Eastern Ger-
many have experienced, from different starting points, strong effects of market forces and
deregulation of previous systems. Government policy in both countries is now focused
on ‘people taking control of their own lives’. The present research has explored
comparatively the life experiences of 900 young adults in the under-researched 18–25
years age group. The sample, drawn from the three cities of Derby, Hannover and
Leipzig, consisted of 300 students in higher education, 300 unemployed and 300
employed young people. Three research Želdworkers from the areas under study brought
local knowledge and experience to the research process: Claire Woolley in Derby,
Martina Behrens in Hannover, and Jens Kaluza in Leipzig. Peter Rudd and the National
Foundation of Educational Research collaborated in the design and organization of the
databases and the analysis of data. In answering the question posed in the title, the
research has shown 18–25 year olds to be struggling to take control of their lives, while
the effects of those struggles are bounded in important ways by wider societal features
as well as social background and institutional environments. The range of empirical
encounters with young adults in the chosen ‘terrains’ has led to the development of the
concept of bounded agency to explore and explain experiences of control and personal
agency of 18–25 year olds in the settings of higher education, employment, unemploy-
ment and in their personal lives.

Introduction
Youth research is a prime Želd for the interdisciplinary investigation of the
manifestations and effects of social change. Its actors are at the frontier of
changes in the opportunity structures of the labour market. Research into the
position of young people Žnding their ways in the social landscapes of late
modernity promises unique insights into the operation of new forces at work.

Karen Evans, University of London, Institute of Education, 55 Gordon Square, London WC1H 0NT, UK.

ISSN 1367–6261 print/1469-9680 online/02/030245-2 5 Ó 2002 Taylor & Francis Ltd


DOI: 10.1080/136762602200000596 5
246 K. Evans

Research and analysis in this Želd has a tendency either to over-emphasize the
continuities of deep-seated structural inuences or to over-emphasize the dis-
continuities and changes in young people’s lives. Gudmundsson (2000) has
argued that these positions tend to be reinforced by the methodology chosen,
and he calls for greater methodological diversity in grappling with the complex-
ities of the situation of contemporary youth.
No researcher in this Želd has seriously doubted that social structures such as
ethnicity, gender and occupation or socioeconomic status have a signiŽcant
impact on the life chances and life experiences of young adults. Such a view has
driven much post-war theoretical thinking on the position of young people in
society and the possibilities that they have in higher education, training and
employment. The introduction of the concept of ‘agency’, however, is a rela-
tively new development. This came about as sociologists and others recognized
that the inuence of social structures was not direct, nor was it deterministic.
Young people’s experiences of life were complicated by the fact that they can
react and respond to structural inuences, that they can make their own
decisions with respect to a number of major, as well as minor, life experiences
and that they can actively shape some important dimensions of their experiences
(Rudd & Evans, 1998). Several recent studies of youth transitions, based in a
number of different countries, have converged in recognition of the need to
reconsider both structural inuences and the sense of agency and control
displayed by young people as they move into adulthood and various stages and
forms of independence:
The evidence in these studies indicates that many in the younger
generation are becoming increasingly pro-active in the face of risk and
uncertainty of outcomes, and are making pragmatic choices for them-
selves which enable them to maintain their aspirations despite the
persistence of structural inuences on their lives. (Wyn & Dwyer, 1999,
p. 5)
Youth transitions research has been forced to move in a number of new
directions and to explore the use of new frameworks, terminologies and meth-
ods in understanding these phenomena. As Wyn and Dwyer argue:
The evidence suggests that the life experience and future prospects of
this generation are more complex and less predictable than those of
their predecessors, and that consequently the established linear models
of transition to adulthood and future careers are increasingly inappro-
priate… This convergence of evidence from different countries and
continents points to a need to re-examine established understandings of
‘transitions’ and the frameworks which have been adopted in much
youth research in the past. (1999, p. 5)
This research builds on earlier Anglo-German Studies, as reported in Bynner &
Roberts’ (1991) Youth and Work. Transitions to Employment in England and Germany
and Evans & Heinz’ (1994) Becoming Adults in England and Germany, which
compared career trajectories and institutional structures for youth transitions in
these two countries. Both systems were found to have strengths and weaknesses,
but transitions to work in England tended to be ‘accelerated’, whereas in
Germany they were ‘extended’. These studies contributed to the development of
a number of conceptual frameworks including the notion of ‘career trajectory’
Agency in Young Adult Transitions 247

Figure 1. Conceptual schema for structure–agency.

and typologies of transition behaviours. Such trajectories and behaviours were


based on ‘broadly similar’ routes to employment, and had their foundations in
education, family background and ‘the predictability of ultimate destinations in
the labour market’ (Bynner & Roberts, 1991, p. xvi). Such frameworks rightly
emphasized the importance of structures in young people’s lives, including
dimensions of social class, gender and ethnicity, and the inuence of economic
features such as labour markets and unemployment rates. A number of
metaphors have been used to describe such transitions, including niches, path-
ways, trajectories and navigations (Evans & Furlong, 1996). The later studies
moved from a concentration on trajectories towards personal biographies, intro-
ducing conceptions of individualization which suggest that progress through the
school to work phase is based on complex interactions of individual agency and
structural inuences.
The present research has developed a conceptual scheme for investigation of
the individualization ‘thesis’ in the context of theories that explain structure and
agency in different ways. The work of Beck (1992, 1998) and of Baethge (1989)
have been taken as theoretical sketches to be explored, contested and developed.
I have located these and other theoretical stances within the dimensions of
structure–agency, internal–external control and social reproduction–conversion,
as shown in Fig. 1.
In collecting a unique body of new evidence, a high level of cross-institutional
and international collaboration has produced valuable data sets, including very
detailed quantitative survey Žndings from the total sample of 900, together with
a rich collection of group interview transcripts. In deepening knowledge of the
relationships between structural features and feelings of control, the research
team used questionnaire and group interview data to compare the experiences
and orientations of young adults in the matrix of nine institutional settings and
localities that structure experience and action in different ways, focusing on the
‘social regularities’. We also investigated gender and social class differences in
feelings of control and indicators of agency. To develop an improved under-
standing of the factors involved in becoming socially deŽned as independent
and personally effective or (conversely) marginalized in different settings, our
248 K. Evans

analyses of the interview transcripts were triangulated with the questionnaire


data. We also drew on case history and key informants’ data from the earlier
studies, using these to inform the interpretations of our new data, and involved
researchers and users (young people, policy makers, practitioners) in debate
about the most effective ways to support transitional processes from the earliest
stages.

Agency and Control


The present research has been organized around two key concepts: agency and
control. In the initial conceptualizations of earlier work (Rudd & Evans 1998),
agency was understood as:

Input from young adults as individuals (to transitional processes),


emphasising those aspects of social engagement which are predomi-
nantly individual, creative, proactive and involve resisting external
pressures.

The present research has moved towards an expanded concept informed by the
work of Emirbayer & Mische (1998), ‘a temporally embedded process of social
engagement’ in which past habits and routines are contextualized and future
possibilities envisaged within the contingencies of the present moment’, to arrive
at a metaphor for socially situated agency, inuenced but not determined by
structures and emphasizing internalized understandings and frameworks as
well as external actions.

The second, related, concept of ‘control’ started with the ideas of control beliefs
as ‘subjective representations of [the person’s] capabilities to exercise control’
(Flammer, 1997). This is distinct from the actual exercise of control, which can be
considered as the regulation of process. According to Flammer, control beliefs
can be conceptualized as a composite of contingency and competence beliefs.
Contingency beliefs are beliefs in the probability that certain actions will affect
outcomes in particular ways. Competence beliefs are the beliefs people have
about their capabilities to act in ways that will produce the probable outcomes.
The distinctions between contingency and competence in Flammer’s work are
parallelled by the identiŽcation of two components in the work of Bandura
(1997). Bandura has characterized control beliefs as a combination of expecta-
tions: ‘response–outcome’ expectations, plus efŽcacy expectation. Flammer’s
work concentrated on the development of three dimensions of control beliefs:
the ontogenic development of the structure of control beliefs, individual differ-
ences in the strength of control beliefs, and the ‘micro-genesis’ of a given control
belief. A fourth dimension is discussed only briey: variations in the strength
and domains of control beliefs for different age groups and cultures. The present
research is centrally concerned with this ‘fourth dimension’ in ways that are
informed in part by the prior work on the structural composition of control
beliefs. The composite ‘control belief’ is a personal construct that is linked to
environmental inuences in complex ways, and is differentially constructed
throughout the life course and in different domains of experience.
In the present research, we have focused on control beliefs, agency and those
attributes and behaviours that imply agency and feelings of control. In so doing,
Agency in Young Adult Transitions 249

we have emphasized interdisciplinary understandings and explored theoretical


standpoints through our empirical encounters.

Conceptual Schema for Structure–Agency


Theoretical perspectives that consider the inter-relationships between structure
and agency can be located in relation to three dimensions.

Dimension One
The Žrst dimension is that of social determinism versus individualization and
reexivity in social biographies. The development of the individualization thesis
is accredited to a number of German sociologists, and the usual starting point is
Beck’s outline of a new type of society based on ‘reexive modernization’, which
he called a Risk Society (Beck, 1992, 1998). The notion of a ‘risk society’ has been
applied to the situation of an uncertain and fragmented transition experienced
by a young person. Individualization is part of the dissolution of the traditional
parameters of industrial society, including class culture and consciousness,
gender and family roles: ‘These de-traditionalizations happen in a social surge
of individualization’ (Beck, 1992, p. 87). Within the ‘individualized society’, the
individual must learn ‘to conceive of himself or herself as the centre of action,
as the planning ofŽce with respect to his/her own biography’ (p. 135). Baethge
(1989) took this thesis further by applying it to the situation of youth in
industrialized societies. He made reference to ‘the disappearance of class-speciŽc
socialization structures’ and to a new trend towards ‘double individualization’
(Baethge, 1989, pp. 28–31). The latter trend involved, Žrst, the structural disinte-
gration of social classes or strata into ‘individualized’ sub-groups and, second,
the formation of individualistic identities at the expense of collective identity
(see also Sennett, 1998). These perspectives stress the need for new categories
because the old labels or descriptions of youth transitions simply no longer Žt
and have lost their explanatory power. There may well be an acknowledgement
within this perspective that inequalities remain—indeed, very few writers in the
Želd would argue that inequality has disappeared—but social classes are now
diffused or have disappeared. As proponents of the idea that people are agents
actively and individually engaged in the construction of their own biographies,
Beck and Baethge are thus positioned close to the base of the cube.
Furlong & Cartmel (1997) have argued that these accounts of individualization
are based on an epistemological fallacy. The social world has come to be regarded
as unpredictable and Žlled with risks that can only be negotiated on an
individual level, while structural forces operate as powerfully as ever, and while
the chains of human interdependence remain intact. Furlong and Cartmel are
thus positioned high on the structure/agency dimension.
The underlying aim in the present study is to uncover how young adults
experience control and exercise personal agency, exploring the subjectivities
associated with choice and determination under differing structural and cultural
conditions. What kinds of beliefs and perspectives do people have on their
future possibilities? How far do they feel in control of their lives? What is the
interplay between these subjectivities and social characteristics of age, gender
and social class? How does what people believe is possible for them (their
250 K. Evans

personal horizons developed within cultural and structural inuences) deter-


mine their behaviours and what they perceive to be ‘choices’.

Dimension Two
The second dimension emphasizes internal versus external control processes.
Bandura, Elder, Flammer and other ‘efŽcacy’ researchers have emphasized
internal processes of the ‘acting individual’ in relation to the external environ-
ment. There are limitations to personal control in all domains of life. There are
some aspects of environment and personal circumstance that are extremely
difŽcult to change. Others can be overcome by the exercise of initiative and
learning. Rothbaum et al. (1982) distinguished between primary and secondary
modes of control. People exercising primary control try to change their environ-
ment in ways that they feel will better Žt their aspirations. Or they try to change
their environment to Žt with their subjective perceptions. Secondary control
operates in reverse, by changing subjective perceptions, aspirations and interpre-
tations to match the environment. When primary control fails or is expected to
fail because of the obstacles that the individual perceives to be operating,
secondary control comes into play more strongly. Flammer (1997) hypothesizes
that a gradual shift from primary to secondary control can be expected over the
life course. It can also be expected that there are large individual differences in
the limits that are encountered early in adult life, and that these also vary
between different socioeconomic and cultural environments.
Human development in the Žrst three decades of life involves increasing
individual control and beliefs. Beliefs in a certain amount of control become
important for well being (see, for example, Connolly, 1989). Studies of over-esti-
mation of control beliefs have shown the developmental value of high control
beliefs (Flammer, 1997, p. 85). Over-estimation of control increases scope for
further development in children. It has been argued that schooling fails to
maximize human potential by reducing control beliefs for signiŽcant numbers of
children. Heckhausen and Krüger (1993) have also shown that desired attributes
are seen as more controllable than undesired ones among younger, middle-aged
and older adults. People who are directly affected by important changes hold
higher control beliefs in relation to these changes than people who are not yet
directly concerned with them. This applies particularly to life-course transitions.
People also have illusions about control, which go beyond simple over-esti-
mation. People sometimes believe they are exerting control even over clearly
random events. Taylor & Brown (1988) have reviewed evidence of control
illusion as it relates to judgement of the future. Most people believe that things
will improve for them in the future, that their own future will improve more
than that of others, and that there is a lower likelihood that undesirable events
will happen to them. It is held that control illusions are important for personal
well being, as well as the ‘capacity for creative and productive work’ and the
ability to care for others. What are the conditions under which individuals
develop beliefs in high or low control? Flammer comments that research has
mainly centred on educational environments and has not examined what he
terms the ‘broader ecology of socialisation’. Whether a person under-estimates
or over-estimates their extent of control is very consequential on their experi-
ences and socialization.
As we put it in Evans & Heinz (1994):
Agency in Young Adult Transitions 251

The extent to which young people succeed in developing longer-term


occupational goals depends not only on their past socialisation in
family and school, but also to a large degree on the way their identity
formation is linked to challenge, and rewarding experience in the
passage to employment itself. (p. 212)
Social biographies of individuals are linked to social structures and institutions
and changing conditions. They are also linked to cultural norms and expecta-
tions and how these intersect with institutional structures. Sociologists who
emphasize internal processes of the acting individual alongside reexivity and
individualization are positioned at the intersection of agency and internal
processes. Those who place emphasis the external limits on internal processes
are placed at the intersection of structure and external processes.

Dimension Three
The third dimension places the focus on social reproduction versus conversion,
exploring the degree to which social mobility and transformation can be at-
tributed to individual and collective scope for action. The original position of
rational choice or rational action theorists was that people tend to act in ways
that are rational in the situation in which they Žnd themselves. In arguing for a
‘privileged’ theory of action, development of this theoretical line has had to
accommodate the numerous cases of action that are apparently not rational by
objective criteria. The arguments that such actions are always subjectively
rational (i.e. that they appear rational from the actors’ point of view) weakens
the theory as a sociological theory of action unless the systematic tendencies are
investigated and explained. Based on law of large numbers, Goldthorpe (1998)
has emphasized the over-riding importance of analysing the conditions under
which actors come to act, from the sociological perspective. He argues that
people act systematically, rather than just idiosyncratically, in a way that is
subjectively rational. He argues that sociologists should concentrate their ex-
planatory efforts on the situation of action rather than on the psychology of the
acting individual, aiming to show how social, structural and processional
features of a situation may cause the actor to make choices that are not
objectively rational, but are rational from the actor’s point of view (i.e. subjec-
tively).
Rationality in action is seen as situationally rather than procedurally deter-
mined.
it is far more illuminating to investigate empirically, across societies
and cultures, those more particular structures and processes—at the
level of social networks, group afŽliations and institutions—by which
patterns of action are guided into conformity with speciŽed standards
of rationality or are deected from them. (Goldthorpe, 1998, p. 189,
footnote 15)
Furlong & Cartmel’s (1997) emphasis on structural determinants, external pro-
cesses and social reproduction places the ‘epistemological fallacy’ argument
towards the back right-hand intersection, while Bourdieu’s (1993) emphasis on
social reproduction is also high but emphasizes subjectivities of the acting
individual and explores agency in relation to ‘habitus’ and ‘Želd’.
252 K. Evans

Understanding Social Regularities and Individual Action


The present research has aimed to gain a better understanding of social regular-
ities in the experiences of individuals. In looking at individuals, within the
perspective of structuration, we can develop hypotheses about the structuring
effects of contexts while focusing on personal and collective experiences of
agency; that is, the social regulations within and between setting and area, and
the underlying factors that account of these form particular foci for the research.
In so doing, we consider the status of the research participants as learners and
novices and the conceptual advances of recent research that has explored
learning careers and learner identities [1]. Our integrative concepts, however, are
those of control and agency. As Elder (1995) has observed, all social transitions
entail some risk of losing personal control. How this is experienced and acted
upon depends on biography to date and on material and social situation. Our
expanded concept of agency sees the actors as having a past and imagined
future possibilities, both of which guide and shape actions in the present. Our
actors also have subjective perceptions of the structures they have to negotiate,
which affect how they act. Their agency is ‘socially situated’. Our initial research
questions focused on comparative experiences of control and agency in our
chosen cities and settings and how this links with status as ‘learners’.
· What are the effects of extended dependency? Do young adults in Germany
(which is generally thought of as having a more structured framework for
young people) feel less ‘in control’ than young adults in England?
· Are there common experiences across the three areas of gender, ethnicity and
social class?
· What are the differences in experiences of young people in education, employ-
ment, unemployment and training? Do young people who have gained a
foothold in employment feel more in control of their lives than their peers in
higher education or unemployment schemes. Do workplaces foster a sense of
agency and control more strongly than other environments?
· Do conŽdence and optimism increase or decrease with age and experience in
the labour market
Our starting points in investigating agency and control through our ‘empirical
encounters’ involved identiŽcation of key variables. The metaphor of actors in a
social landscape that emerged from the initial analyses then guided its later
stages. The aim throughout has been to move the focus from structures onto
individuals without losing the perspective of structuration (as Gudmundsson
(2000) has advocated elsewhere). SpeciŽcally, we are interested in the variations
of horizons and beliefs, viewed from different positions in the social landscape,
about what is desirable and possible.

From Abstractions to Lived Realities: A Methodological Problem


The issue of young people’s degrees of control over their career destinies is
central to much of the literature on the transitions into the labour market and
employment. Important methodological and epistemological discrepancies arise
here. As argued in Rudd & Evans (1998), these are based around the possibility
that there is a tension between an individual young person’s response to such
questions and evidence provided from broader social and economic trends and
patterns. In other words, a young person will typically be optimistic and will say
Agency in Young Adult Transitions 253

that he/she is in control of his/her life course and that occupational success is
largely based on individual effort, while there may be a whole mass of data and
theory, developed at a national, societal or ‘macro’ level, which suggests that
many young people, especially from particular social groups or ‘trajectories’,
have only limited chances of ‘success’ (conventionally deŽned) in the labour
market. This is just a particular manifestation of a classic problem for social
and educational researchers: there is a possible discrepancy between individual/
subjective viewpoints and larger-scale social and structural patterns and trends.
The difŽculty for these enquiries can be stated as follows: how can the social
research design take account of both the micro and the macro dimensions of
complex educational, social and economic processes in the transitions that are
part of early adulthood? Consequently, as well as the substantive aims already
outlined, the present study also has the methodological aims of further develop-
ing research strategies that can take account of the diversity of individual and
structural dimensions affecting young people’s transitions. Researchers need to
consider how to faithfully and accurately discover, articulate and map out
people’s attitudes and beliefs relating to their education, training and career
opportunities, and particularly the part these young adults play themselves in
creating these opportunities. We need to give consideration to the language used
and the methodological stages and procedures required in such research inves-
tigations. How are theoretical conceptions of structure and agency to be linked
with the ‘lived realities’ of young adults experiencing the multiple transitions
and ‘status inconsistencies’ in their lives?
One way of researching agency in human lives is to examine cases holistically
and longitudinally, as Bloomer (1999) and Bloomer & Hodkinson (2000) have
shown. Another approach lies in comparing the ways people report and contex-
tualize, in the present moment, past behaviours and future possibilities. As they
experience transitions in their lives from different social locations deŽned by
age, gender and social class, these behaviours and perceived possibilities are
mediated by cultural factors such as normative ‘expectations’ and socioeconomic
structural features such as labour markets and welfare systems.
It is the second approach we have used in this research, extending the
methodological framework successfully used in previous studies. This frame-
work has been strongly inuenced by the work of Ragin (1991), who holds that
good comparative social science balances holistic study of cases within contexts
with analysis of key variables across contexts. The aim is to develop what Ragin
has termed an extended dialogue between ideas and evidence, exploring data
and evidence from multiple sources iteratively with reference to theoretical ideas
and frameworks discussed earlier.

Methods
There were three overlapping ‘layers’ of research.
· Information gathering: documentary analysis and the gathering of as much
information about the young people, their colleges, workplaces and their
contexts as possible.
· Structured questionnaires: administered to samples of approximately 100
respondents in each of the settings, producing mainly quantitative data.
· Group interviews: with sub-samples drawn from the questionnaire respon-
dents in each of the settings, producing mainly qualitative data.
254 K. Evans

The methodological stages outlined were used to work a way into young
people’s subjective perspectives on transitions and status passages in work,
education and their personal lives. The use of both structured and unstructured
techniques meant that several different viewpoints (e.g. ofŽcial, unofŽcial, insti-
tutional, group, individual) were represented and triangulation of methods and
of data sources strengthened the validity of the study’s Žndings. The aim has not
been to draw conclusions about the wider populations of England and Germany,
but to uncover commonalities and differences in the experiences of samples of
18–25 year olds matched by institutional setting in three cities, with nation
providing part of the sociopolitical and structural environment that affects
experience in signiŽcant ways. Our extended analysis of the sociopolitical
environments has been published in Evans et al. (2000).
With the co-operation of the College and University Principals, their Heads of
Department and the subject tutors, Chambers of Commerce, Labour Administra-
tions and a range of voluntary and community organizations, broadly represen-
tative samples were obtained for each type of ‘institutional setting’ in each
locality. Close liaison between the team members allowed adjustments to made
to ensure that the social categories of age, gender and occupational/educational
level were adequately represented, as well as broad Želds of employment and
study, as appropriate. Nine hundred questionnaires were completed. The inter-
view samples were selected from questionnaire respondents who had agreed to
be part of the group interviews, with the aim of maximizing comparability of the
groups. The aim was to conduct 18 group interviews: two in each of the three
settings in each of the cities, involving in total at least 108 of the survey
participants. In practice, 21 interviews were carried out involving 136 partici-
pants [3].
In line with the aim of contributing to the reconceptualization of agency as a
process in which past habits and routines are contextualized and future possibil-
ities envisaged within the contingencies of the present moment, the question-
naire was structured to capture features of past lives, current experiences and
orientations, and future perspectives of our research participants. The German
and English versions of the questionnaires and group interview frameworks
were developed together and piloted [4]. The aim throughout was to link the
three layers of qualitative, quantitative and documentary data to gain a full
understanding of the positions of our respondents in their ‘social landscapes’.

Selected Findings
A starting point was to analyse the data for each of the three groups (higher
education, employed and unemployed) separately, comparing the Žndings for
each of the groups across and between the three localities (Derby, Hannover and
Leipzig). Findings speciŽc to each of the three groups have been published
separately: Behrens & Evans (2002) on the experiences of the unemployed
respondents, Evans (2002) on the higher education respondents, and Woolley
(2002) on the employed respondents. These papers illustrate how initial analyses
were placed in context, combining sources of data to arrive at an initial
understanding of the position of each group. Our next stage of analysis extended
to 3 3 3 comparisons across groups and cities, Žrst exploring questions of
structure and agency, and then focusing on the exploratory research questions.
A factor analysis carried out on the full quantitative data set identiŽed 12 factors
Agency in Young Adult Transitions 255

of importance in the analysis of agency and control. Twelve viable CONTROL,


AGENCY and FUTURE factors have been identiŽed through an initial factor
analysis and scaled into indices.
· S(1) sociable/conŽdent
· C(1) fulŽlled work life
· C(2) fulŽlled personal life
· C(3) believes opportunities open to all
· C(4) believes own weaknesses matter
· C(5) planning not chance
· C(6) believes ability not rewarded
· A(1) active career seeking
· A(2) unlikely to move—also F(1)
· A(3) politically active (group)
· A(4) helping/people career oriented
· F(2) negative view of the future
Figure 2 illustrates how the relative proŽles of the groups of respondents on sets
of factors could be compared by setting within area and by area within setting,
to identify commonalities and differences worthy of further exploration. (See
Appendix for Technical Notes.) Subsequent analysis used the full set of qualita-
tive, quantitative and documentary evidence to explore the emerging Žndings
further, with reference to our conceptual scheme, related research and national
contexts.

Actors in the Social Landscape


One of the most striking Žndings has been the almost universal recognition of
the importance of qualiŽcations. The achievement of qualiŽcations has the status
of a universalized goal. The means for achieving these goals have diversiŽed in
both countries, but more in England than in Germany, and our respondents in
the two German cities were more aware of the effects of ascribed characteristics
of gender, ethnicity and social class than their counterparts in the English city
(Fig. 2). More respondents in Derby considered that qualiŽcations over-ride
other social characteristics in shaping life chances.
To provide insights into the experiences and orientations of young people
differently positioned within the social and institutional ‘landscapes’ in our three
chosen localities, analyses compared the experiences of each group in turn across
the three cities, as a precursor to thematic analysis across the full matrix. The
experiences of our respondents within each of the three settings are compared
in separate papers (see Evans, 2001a; Behrens & Evans, 2002). The present article
concentrates on two of the four earlier research questions for thematic analysis
across the full matrix.

Common Experiences of Gender, ‘Race’ and Social Class


The second research question asked how far our respondents shared common
experiences of gender, race and social class. The group interviews proved a
particularly powerful vehicle for exploring these issues, while providing data
that was invaluable in interpretation of questionnaire results. Our design also
enabled us to make comparisons by gender and social class, to explore some of
256
K. Evans

Figure 2. Relative proŽles of respondents on self, agency and control indicators.


Agency in Young Adult Transitions 257

the structural foundations of variations in control and agency exhibited by the


respondents [5].

Gender
The majority of group interview participants saw the effects of gender in life
chances as outweighed in importance by the effects of educational qualiŽcations,
effort and performance. In this respect, the qualitative evidence was consistent
with the questionnaire response patterns. Despite this, there was awareness that
particular sectors of the labour market remain biased towards one or other sex.
Beyond this, more subtle forms of sexism were seen to be operating, such as
people being stereotyped by the way they look and women having to perform
better than men in order to gain an equal degree of respect. There were frequent
references to ‘competence’ overriding other factors, but within an overall aware-
ness that there are differentials in the levels and status achieved by females and
males in employment and the economy.
More generally, the interview transcripts revealed awareness of gender
alongside the individual attribution of success, with a sense of acceptance by
young women of the need to prove oneself more as a female. While there were
quite powerful discourses around gender in many of the groups, there were
differences in emphasis in the perceptions of scope and limits for choice and
equality of treatment. Even the English groups appear more differentiated than
Arnot (2000) has suggested. The demands of child-bearing and child-rearing
were at the forefront of the thoughts of our German female respondents.
In the German interviews, although women were generally seen as having the
same chances as men at work, the view was often expressed that women must
at some point ‘choose between work and family’. In the questionnaire responses,
many more women than men gave priority to ‘child-rearing possibilities’ as
something they wanted from work in all areas, but more in Germany than in
Derby. However, the largest proportion in any group who considered this a
priority was 50 per cent (Leipzig females in higher education). There is little
evidence of the emergence of the ‘new man’ who pays close attention to family
considerations.
Differences in male and female views of equality in society as measured by the
factor ‘believes opportunities are open to all’ were found only in Leipzig, where
females generally believed less that equality existed. This was the case irrespec-
tive of their situation in education, employment or unemployment [6].
Across all areas, males had more experience of being unemployed on more
than one occasion. In Hannover and Leipzig, males from working-class back-
grounds were most likely to experience this [7]. In Derby, the number of male
respondents experiencing multiple employment was only slightly higher than
females across the social spectrum. Males in Hannover and Leipzig were also
found to have been signiŽcantly more active in searching for work (factor A(1)).
These Žndings together appear to conŽrm that males are having a tougher time
in penetrating the labour market and Žnding stable employment, and that this
is the case particularly for males of working class origin in Hannover and
Leipzig. In Derby, female respondents were found to view their futures
signiŽcantly more positively than males.
There was evidence of females behaving with a higher degree of agency than
males, at least in some respects. For example, females tended to leave the
258 K. Evans

parental home earlier than males, and were more open to the possibility of
moving away from the area they currently lived in. These are examples of
agency at an individual level. They also exhibited higher levels of collective
agency in that they were found to be more politically active. This difference was
apparent in the most difŽcult environments. A possible explanation is that
females are more resilient, becoming disengaged less easily than males. Remark-
ably consistent differences emerged across the three areas between males and
females in higher education that appeared to reect greater agency on the part
of the female respondents.

‘Race’ Ethnicity And Nationality


The Žndings shown in Fig. 3 mask the fact that 53 per cent of ethnic minority
respondents in Derby thought that race had a considerable effect in shaping life
chances (compared with 17 per cent non-minority) and 30 per cent thought that
gender had a considerable effect (compared with 18 per cent). In group interview
responses, the groups had rather less to say on the topic of race than gender, and
gave fewer examples, except in Leipzig, where responses reected the high
proportions who perceived ‘race’ as important in life chances. Issues of ‘national-
ity’ aroused strong feelings and reected concerns about the ‘xenophobia’
reported in recent press coverage of developments in the Eastern part of Germany.
That is not to say that the attitudes were themselves primarily xenophobic. The
attitudes expressed recognized that non-Germans suffer particular forms of overt
discrimination and that this fundamentally affects life chances.

Social Class
Similarly, discussion of social background is inuenced by different meanings in
Germany, particularly in Leipzig where class pride (for manual workers and
farmers) in the GDR was replaced by class-based disadvantage for the former at
least. The interview approach aimed to gain insights into this is various ways,
through the questions that asked about inuences of family background, obsta-
cles, both material and social, and through open questions about the factors that
affect and inuence occupational destinations and ‘career’. Ethnicity of the
respondents reected the distribution in the local population in each institu-
tional setting, as far as possible, but the differences in the nature of the
population groups and the numbers were insufŽcient for statistical analysis to be
meaningful [8].
Social class awareness is shown to be mixed in with family and gender
dimensions in complex ways, with much reference throughout the interviews to
the importance of ‘social connections’ and the invisible social factors, beyond
qualiŽcation and competence, which affect success.
English respondents were more likely than their German peers to change their
job expectations, usually (but not always) in an upwards direction. English
respondents were also more independent of their parents in all groups. Social
class was perceived to be more important in Germany (56 per cent stating this
has considerable effect in Leipzig, 45 per cent in Hannover) than in England (28
per cent in Derby). In the group interviews, a minority of participants were
willing to talk about their life experiences directly within a social class perspec-
tive, but many respondents, especially students in Germany, were aware of the
Agency in Young Adult Transitions 259

Figure 3. Respondents’ opinions on the importance of a variety of social


characteristics in affecting a person’s opportunities in life (numbers and
percentages). Numbers viewing each factor as having a ‘considerable’ effect on a
person’s opportunities.

inuences and beneŽts of their parents’ occupational background. The effects of


‘framing’ in limiting what might be seen from any particular social position
(Bloomer, 1999) came through strongly in the interview transcripts, but equally
there were many indicators that forms of social capital were seen as being
convertible and expandable through qualiŽcations, making new connections and
taking chances. This came through in the views, expectations and experiences of
the respondents in all groups, particularly in the group interviews. However,
class-based limits are recognized by the majority in all three localities and most
disbelieve that ‘talent always rises to the top’. Only one-quarter of the Derby
respondents felt that ‘social class/status does not affect your chances in life’,
although this is higher than the very small minorities of the Germans who were
prepared to agree with this statement.
Relatively few of the items and measures designed to identify the dimensions of
agency and control in their lives were signiŽcantly associated with the respon-
dents’ social class, where this was measured by father’s occupation [9]. There were
many more signiŽcant associations with their present setting. One variable that is
of particular signiŽcance in this research, is the orientation towards long-term
planning, as reected in factor C(5) [10]. As well as being an indicator of pro-
activity and of some forms of agency and control, this variable is theoretically of
great interest given the central place given to people becoming the ‘planning ofŽce
for their biographies’ in the theoretical perspectives that emphasize human agency
most strongly [11]. This was one of the few variables that was signiŽcantly
associated with the social class origins of the respondents. The proŽle of the area
samples on this index is represented in Fig. 4 [12]. Life chances may have become
more determined by their abilities to be pro-active, but this Žnding suggests that
this is the very characteristic that has structural foundations in social class [13]. This
Žnding, which we have treated with caution given problems of self-report of
father’s occupation, merits further investigation through the large-scale data sets of
the panel and longitudinal studies available, preferably comparing the Žndings on
the ‘old’ categories of the Registrar-General’s scale with the new NSEC categories.
260 K. Evans

Figure 4. Factor ‘planning not chance’ by social class within areas (control 5). Figure
is based on comparisons of factor score means.

Comparing Feelings of Control: Views of the Self and Feelings of Control in Different
Settings
Our third research question asked whether educational settings foster stronger
feelings of control than the employment and unemployment settings in which
people experience the full realities of the operations of the labour market [14].
This question, together with our questions about optimism, stemmed from our
earlier work with 16–19 year olds in full-time education, which showed high
levels of optimism, positive expectations and feelings of control even in de-
pressed labour market conditions.
The pattern of responses is strongly indicative of greater feelings of control
and agency among those in employment settings than among those in the
environments of higher education and unemployment (which are both more
‘uncertain’ but in different ways). The items and factor scores that discriminated
most between groups were related to self-conŽdence, reecting self-trust and
feelings of capability to deal with circumstances as they are (see Fig. 2). Views
on the importance of individual effort, ability and luck in shaping life chances
showed a higher belief in ability and effort in the English groups, with higher
proportions identifying with the statements ‘that getting a job depends on
ability’ (Derby, 83 per cent; Hannover, 65 per cent; Leipzig, 54 per cent), and that
‘people deserve their success’ (Derby, 61 per cent; Hannover, 40 per cent;
Leipzig, 29 per cent). Although the proportions holding this belief decrease from
the higher education to the employed group, and from the employed to the
unemployed group, the majority in all three groups agreed with these state-
ments. Smaller majorities in Germany agreed that getting jobs depends on ability
Agency in Young Adult Transitions 261

(consistent with the earlier Žndings) but a minority in both German cities held
the view that people usually deserve their success [15]. The statement ‘Talent
always Žnds its way to the top’ produced much higher agreement from the
Derby higher education and employed groups than from their Leipzig counter-
parts. About one-Žfth disagreed in all cities; many of the German respondents
recorded that they did not know. While these responses from the Derby group
suggest a strong belief in individual effort and ability, this does not mean that
they are blind to the effects of social status and class in affecting life chances.
The English respondents’ belief in the importance of individual effort was
found, in previous work, to be accompanied by a degree of optimism, whatever
the state of their local labour market (Bynner and Roberts, 1991; Rudd & Evans,
1998). We asked whether optimism would decline in older age ranges as the
realities of the labour market and other constraints were experienced more
directly, and compared mean factor scores for the factor F(2) ‘negative views of
the future’. There were no signiŽcant differences by age, between the younger
(18–21 year olds) and older (22–25 year olds) in any of the settings or areas.
Further analysis, however, has produced a more differentiated account, when
analysed between settings. Respondents in the employed and higher education
groups reected the relatively high levels of optimism shown by our previous
full-time education and apprenticeship-based groups. Small differences between
respondents with higher and lower occupational status were not statistically
signiŽcant. The responses of the unemployed groups showed individual attri-
bution of failure to greater or lesser degrees irrespective of age. In comparisons
between areas, the results suggest that negative views of prospects do begin to
bite in the more economically depressed areas, in the 18–25 years age range, as
people come up against the realities of the labour market (see Fig. 2).
Contradictory responses suggested that respondents in the UK groups feel
‘forced’ into unemployment schemes and therefore not ‘in control’, while at the
same time feeling individually responsible for their predicament. They believed
it was down to them to get out of their situation, despite the negative environ-
ment. They experienced stress in dealing with their situation, and emphasized
‘being realistic’ about what they can achieve. There was little fatalism expressed
in any of the interview responses, which were suggestive of frustrated agency
rather than lack of agentic abilities or attitudes. This is consistent with the
individual attribution of failure and suggests that compulsion in schemes may
be counterproductive, particularly in the UK environment [16]. The responses
from the West German samples show that these see the unemployment schemes,
which seek to ‘imitate’ the apprenticeship, as the way back to a ‘standardized’
career, while in Eastern Germany the schemes are seen as a kind of state-created
labour market.

Bounded Agency
The analysis of the research Žndings has demonstrated the interfusion of agency
and structural inuences, and that contradictions are sometimes apparent in the
respondents’ positions and views. Dualistic treatments of structure and agency
quickly become problematic. In the present short report, it has been possible
only to convey some themes or ‘motifs’ emerging from the group interviews. It
has not been possible in an article of this length to do justice to the rich
engagements that illuminated many aspects of the analysis. The combined data
262 K. Evans

showed that, despite feelings of lack of control in the least advantaged groups
and disbelief in some of the principles of individualism and meritocracy, most
research participants attached considerable importance to individual effort and
expressed the belief that if people worked hard and achieved suitable
qualiŽcations then they should be able to follow their own independent pathway
in adult life. Social connections, forging them and ‘making them work for you’,
as well as the importance of image and self-presentation were much empha-
sized. They are certainly not blind to the inuences of economic and social
structures, but the least advantaged emphasized that they have to be ‘realistic’
in their individual aspirations and goals. It was striking that there was little
sense of fatalism in any of the interview encounters, with only three interactions
out of hundreds coded as displaying fatalistic attitudes. Frustrated agency and
struggle characterized the day-to-day experiences of many of the young people
who were in disadvantaged situations. In explaining the individual attributions
of success and failure within socially structured environments and the almost
universal recognition of the importance of ‘qualiŽcations’, we have looked
through the lens of agency as a socially situated process, shaped by the
experiences of the past, the chances present in the current moment and the
perceptions of possible futures, to Žnd the concept of bounded agency. These
young adults are undoubtedly manifesting a sense of agency, but there are a
number of boundaries or barriers that circumscribe and sometimes prevent the
expression of agency. The Žndings also further challenge the simplistic appli-
cation of the concept of ‘individualization’ in differing socioeconomic and
cultural environments, in ways which imply or assume unilinear trends within
undifferentiated contexts of ‘modernization’.
One of our starting points (Rudd & Evans, 1998) was to argue that many
studies of youth transitions have under-estimated the degree of choice or agency
evident in transitional processes. While the ‘individualization’ thesis places
agency centre stage, accounts of individualization and structuration, as Gud-
mundsson (2000) has pointed out, are no more than theoretical sketches, which
can be developed and contested in ‘empirical encounters’. This has allowed for
the emergence of a range of ‘middle ground’ theoretical positions (Fig. 5).
The present research together with the English and Anglo-German studies
that preceded it offer an accumulating set of empirical encounters through
which the limits and possibilities of theoretical and analytical approaches can be
considered [17]. The evidence (Evans et al., 2000) suggests that agency operates
in differentiated and complex ways in relation to the individual’s subjectively
perceived frames for action and decision. Thus, a person’s frame has boundaries
and limits that can change over time, but that have structural foundations in
ascribed characteristics such as gender and social/educational inheritance, in
acquired characteristics of education and qualiŽcation, and in the segments of
the labour market into which these lead. In this and other respects, the hypoth-
esis that a ‘structured individualization’ process [18] is apparent in the experi-
ence, values and behaviour of young people is supported. While structured
individualization accounts for the variety of experiences and incidences of
interrupted or broken transitions in all social groups as well as for the class-
based and gender-based linkages in planning orientations and horizons, it shifts
the attention back onto the operation of structures rather than understanding
agency and the agency–structure interfusion. Our expanded notion of agency
recognizes socially situated agency. We look at agency as it operates in the social
Agency in Young Adult Transitions

Figure 5. Locating bounded agency in middle range theory.


263
264 K. Evans

landscape involving the dynamics of multiple, interlocking sociobiographical


journeys in a social terrain. This makes a conceptual advance in linking social
change and individual lives. It goes beyond the ‘core assumption of the life
course paradigm which asserts that developmental processes and outcomes are
shaped by the life trajectories people follow, whether reective of good or bad
times’ (Elder, 1995, p. 49) by examining the possibility that the ows of inuence
are multiple sometimes mutually reinforcing and reciprocal. For example, am-
bitious goals and endeavours are likely to appeal to young people who have
strong control beliefs and not to those lacking self-conŽdence. In turn, the
progress in working toward goals of this kind tends to further enhance a sense
of personal agency. Beyond this, we argue that social relationships also structure
experience and interlock with personal constraints in complex ways, while
external inuences and constraints turn into modes of agency through a process
of internalization.
Goldthorpe’s (1998) answer to the agency problem is that a calculation of costs
and beneŽt is involved, while accepting that rationality operates within individ-
uals’ horizons and social norms and calling for more cross-cultural studies to
illuminate this. Our cross-cultural study did not set out to study the rationality,
objective or subjective of our respondents’ decision-making, but it revealed the
apparent rationality of our respondents’ perceptions and actions in relation to
the features of the three labour markets involved and their positions in the
‘social landscape’. However, these are as well explained by the individually
perceived need to maximize their options and minimize social risk as they are
by any calculation of ‘cost and beneŽt’. Furthermore, our Žndings support the
arguments that social divisions are becoming obscured by a universalized belief
in competence and that this is most advanced in market-oriented environments
[19]. Our group interview transcripts demonstrated how social differences are
perceived and collectively experienced but how, in discussion, questions of
‘competence, will and moral resolve’ permeated and often dominated the
discourse. This was particularly marked in extended discussions of gender
differences [20]. Our further analysis is considering whether our research partic-
ipants may be converting social and cultural inheritance into action in new but
socially differentiated and bounded ways.
The apparent differences in orientations to ‘life project planning’ may be
explained in part by interactions between the generations, and the extent to
which parents are able to secure the prospect of ‘better lives and opportunities’
for their children. The changing but bounded aspirations and expressions of
agency may also be explained by sociocultural inuences experienced in their
peer groups and institutional settings, as well as by the contingencies inherent
in life transitions. There are some important indicators of ‘collectivities’ in
perceptions of the social landscape and common experiences that were well
articulated (and may therefore be surmised to be well internalized). Socially
bounded agency means that roles and social relations may be redeŽned as part
of the strategy to ‘take control of their lives’, and these redeŽnitions may have
collective and cultural features that extend beyond the scope of the present
research. Development of middle-ground theoretical positions needs further
work to concentrate on:
· understanding of cultural forms and their place in collective and individual
action, as a way of countering relapse into dualisms in the structure/agency
debate;
Agency in Young Adult Transitions 265

· expansion of concepts of the life course to account more fully of subjectivities


and interlocking social relationships; and
· extension of social theories of learning to learner identities and learning
careers into adulthood and through the life course.
The evidence of the present study supports the view that the more insecure and
exible system (represented by the English labour market of Derby) necessitates
greater pro-activity and the maintenance of the positive approach to ‘opportuni-
ties’. This arises out of individual attributions of success and failure, which are
themselves linked with beliefs that ‘opportunities are open to all’. For young
adults in Eastern Germany, our previous Žndings [21] showed that market
signals were picked up quickly and, in our 1996–98 case studies, behaviours in
the Eastern city were aligning with those of our English counterparts as
unregulated ways into the labour market opened up. The subsequent reassertion
of the heavily regulated apprenticeship system and the introduction of pro-
grammes to stabilize and regulate ‘broken’ transitions into the labour market for
18–25 year olds is similarly reected in their orientations and expectations. For
young adults in the case studies carried out in 1996–98, agency and active
behaviours created chances for some of those in the most precarious situations,
to gain newly appearing footholds in the labour market. Our current respon-
dents show, by comparison, less short-term pro-activity and renewed hopes of
ways back to standardized careers through a government-created labour market.
This is associated with a longer-term planning orientation, a different kind of
pro-activity. But as actors move in these social landscapes, spaces open up for
action that is not wholly reducible to the effects of social reproduction or
underlying structural features. The concept of ‘bounded agency’ provides a
focus for further consideration of policy issues. Young adults do manifest
agentic beliefs in relation to work and their social environment, but encounter
frustrations in expressing or acting on them. There are obviously some con-
straints in a ‘social landscape’ that will be very difŽcult to move or remove, but
others might be reduced through new policy initiatives or foci. For example,
policies have to ensure that the greatest demands to ‘take control of their lives’
do not fall on those who are the least powerfully placed in the ‘landscape’. This
means that agencies working with young people need to emphasize brokerage
and advocacy as a primary aim and function, to the extent that young adults
perceive and experience this to be as real as the emphasis that is currently placed
on their ‘deŽcits’.
Young people are social actors in a social landscape. How they perceive the
horizons depends on where they stand in the landscape and where their journey
takes them. Where they go depends on the pathways they perceive, choose,
stumble across or clear for themselves, the terrain and the elements they
encounter. Their progress depends on how well they are equipped, the help they
can call on when they need it, whether they go alone or together and who their
fellow travellers are.
If policies and interventions are to be made effective, we need to sharpen our
awareness of the interplay of structural forces and individual’s attempts to
control their lives.

Acknowledgements
Grateful acknowledgement is made to the Economic and Social Research
266 K. Evans

Council for their funding of the Major Award Number L 134 251 011, Youth
Citizenship and Social Change Programme. The author’s thanks also go to John
Dobby, Senior Statistician, National Foundation for Educational Research, and
Louise Dartnell, University of Surrey, for their invaluable help in data prep-
aration and analysis.

Notes
[1] The relative neglect of post-school learner and control/agency beliefs in the earlier literature
from the social psychological perspective is indicative of the pre-occupation with schooling as
the main site of learning.
[2] This book, published by Macmillan in 2000, combines analysis carried out under both the
Anglo-German Foundation funded study and the present ESRC study.
[3] The further interviews were undertaken where it was considered desirable to have additional
interview material available because of differences in balance and emphasis and in the conduct
of the interviews.
[4] Throughout the research, differences in meanings would have to be addressed. As with all
international studies, particular issues arise over comparability of educational level and
occupational level. Our approach, informed by previous work (Bynner & Roberts, 1991; Evans
& Heinz, 1993; Evans et al., 2000), ensured that these differences in meaning were taken into
account from the outset and were borne centrally in mind in the analysis and interpretation of
the data. The analysis, statistically , utilized cross-tabulations, factor analysis, index construction
and correlations including some multivariate work. The qualitative interview transcripts were
fully transcribed, coded and analysed with the aid of the software package ‘NVivo’.
[5] While the samples reected the ethnic composition of the population in each of three settings
in each locality, the numbers were insufŽcient for conclusions to be drawn.
[6] The greater visibility and general awareness of social inequalities in Leipzig, compared with
Derby and Hannover, is disproportionately attributed to female perception in the area. This is
not surprising in the light of evidence (Diewald, 2000) that women were among the most
downwardly mobile groups in the East of Germany following reuniŽcation.
[7] A multivariate analysis showed that having a greater number of periods of unemployment
longer than four weeks was related to perception of ‘chance’, political inactivity, being male,
older and having had more than one type of setback.
[8] Derby has a signiŽcant black population, Hannover a Turkish population, and Leipzig has an
incoming population from Russia and some of the other Eastern European countries.
[9] After exploring NSEC, we decided to use the Registrar-General’s Scale for Coding of Social
Class, which has in-built problems of comparability because of different deŽnitions of skill
level. Because of difŽculties of comparing skill level within the manual occupations (combined
with a high level of non-response to this question), a Žve-fold classiŽcation has been used for
the purpose of analysis: Professional, Managerial, Other Non-Managerial, Manual, and Never
Worked.
[10] Composite of items including goal orientation and alignment of career with personal interests.
[11] See Beck (1992), Bandura (1995), Ziehe (1996), and Baethge (1989).
[12] Bivariate correlation analyses showed that a planning orientation was related to being of
managerial class, not being of manual class, having had no major setbacks, leaving full-time
education later, being employed and believing that you might move to another area at some
point in your career.
[13] It should be noted, however, that the chart masks important differences by setting. In the higher
education group, for example, it was the skilled non-manual that scored highest in the Derby
sample.
[14] We have reviewed the importance of control beliefs with reference to Bandura (1995). In the
research, we have explored these alongside related self-evaluations and views of the self, and
carried out analyses to identify the main factors. The expanded SELF factors are given in Tables
2.13–2.18 of Evans (2001a).
[15] These differences were further tested through comparisons of the factor score means, which
conŽrmed that the German sample have stronger feelings than their Derby peers, and that
individual ability goes unrewarded, irrespective of setting when compared with their Derby
peers.
Agency in Young Adult Transitions 267

[16] See also Žndings of the parallel project in the Youth Citizenship and Social Change Programme
(Harris et al.).
[17] Our full treatment of this is in preparation for publication by Kluwer (2003) as a sequel to ‘From
socialisation to post-modernity’ (Rudd, 1999).
[18] See, for example, Heinz (1999), Roberts (1995) and Engel and Strasser (1998).
[19] See, for example, Ball et al. (2000).
[20] Initial Žndings on gender were presented at the American Educational Research Association
Conference 2000 and have been elaborated in Woolley (2002).
[21] See Evans et al. (2000).

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Appendix: Technical Notes


Representatives of Samples

We acquired samples that were representative of respective populations within setting within area.
This being the case, it is valid to compare any of the nine samples with each other and to view the
differences as being indicative of differences in the respective populations.
We have no reason to believe that any systematic bias will have been introduced, from the way
the samples were drawn within areas within settings, and hence the expected values of statistics in
these samples should be the same as their corresponding population values. We also have no reason
to believe that the variance of these statistics in the samples will be systematically different from
their variance in the corresponding populations, and hence we can estimate the population variance
from the sample variance and hence the sampling distribution of any of these statistics under
random sampling. Since extreme results are no more likely to arise from using our sampling strategy
than from using simple random sampling, then a result that is found to be signiŽcant using standard
statistical tests can (as usual) be interpreted as indicating that there are real differences in the
respective populations. All differences referred to in the text were initially identiŽed as signiŽcant
at least at the P , 0.05 level, as a basis for further inquiry and analysis using the full set of data
sources.
Occasionally , the setting samples have been combined within area. This is valid for comparative
purposes, where the aim is to identify relative response differences that may be attributed to the
external features of the labour market or national differences, but the composite samples must not
be taken as representative of the city populations.

Factor Analysis
For the factor analysis, we used the classical factor analytical model, in which variables in the
analysis have both common variance (communality) and unique variance, and in which the Žrst
estimate of communality is derived from the squared multiple correlation. In other words, we used
principal axis factoring for the factor extraction. We then wanted to rotate these initial factors to give
factors that could be easily labelled. To achieve this, we chose orthogonal rather than correlated
Agency in Young Adult Transitions 269

factors (to make the respective factors distinct) and chose a method of rotation (VARIMAX) that
minimizes the number of variables having a high loading on a factor. Factor scales used in the
analysis had reliabilitie s (alphas) ranging between 0.6 and 0.9. The comparisons of factor score means
were used principally to identify areas for further analysis using the full set of data sources.

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