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A Recognition-Based Study of Frustrations, Risks, and Navigation in Career Transition Among Educationally Disadvantaged Young Women

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Abstract

This study examined the career transition journey of educationally disadvantaged young women from a recognition perspective in the context of risk society. By means of purposive sampling, 12 young women aged between 18 and 24 who had dropped out from junior or senior secondary school were sampled basing on their social status and family’s socioeconomic status. With the use of thematic analysis, the study thoroughly examined 12 transcripts collected from individual interviews. The results showed the career transition journey of the participants in five distinctive aspects, namely, (1) striving for recognition, confronting and managing misrecognition, and sustaining life other than seeking recognition or managing misrecognition; (2) experiencing misrecognition encompassing deprivation of social support, victimization, agency undermining, esteem diminution, and distorted/manipulative recognition; (3) using recognition-based strategies to navigate career transition including social support based on satisfying affective and tangible needs, respect on the basis of equal rights and duties, and expanding sources of esteem by resuming schooling, attending interest-aligned training, caring for others, and/or excelling at work; (4) keeping a distance from manipulative or distorted recognition givers as being helpful to manage misrecognition; and (5) seeking survival, fun, exposure or sensation may help sustain life or attract more devastating risks. The findings of this study provide empirical evidence to inform the delivery of well-targeted career support services for young women with educational disadvantage.

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Acknowledgements

We thank all participants for joining this study. Special thanks go to Mr. Oscar Siu and Mr. William Chan, junior alumni of the University of Hong Kong, for their volunteer work of translating the verbatim quotes of the participants from Chinese into English.

Funding

This work was supported by the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong (HKBU/GRF/12407814).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Applied Social Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, 11 Yuk Choi Road, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR

    Xuebing Su

  2. Department of Social Work, Hong Kong Baptist University, 15 Baptist University Road, Kowloon Tong, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR

    Victor Wong

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  1. Xuebing Su
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  2. Victor Wong
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Correspondence to Victor Wong.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the Research Ethics Committee of Hong Kong Baptist University. All participants were well informed about the objectives of the research and signed a consent form before joining the research.

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Su, X., Wong, V. A Recognition-Based Study of Frustrations, Risks, and Navigation in Career Transition Among Educationally Disadvantaged Young Women. Child Adolesc Soc Work J 41, 467–483 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10560-022-00874-0

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