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Different Social Class Dimensions Play Different Roles in the Transition to Adulthood

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Families in an Era of Increasing Inequality

Part of the book series: National Symposium on Family Issues ((NSFI,volume 5))

Abstract

Rightfully pushing us to go beyond duality in conceptualizing the transition to adulthood as optimal or suboptimal, Schoon (Chap. 9) artfully considers the interweaving of social forces such as gender , race, ethnicity, and social class with the transition to adulthood. Given the complex interpenetrations of the transition to adulthood and social class, this chapter argues that carefully aligning dimensions of social class with distinct domains within the transition to adulthood may help us unravel the complexities and move beyond dualistic notions (e.g., optimal versus suboptimal, fast versus slow). Because the postsecondary transition (PST) is illustrative of how social class shapes the transition to adulthood, the PST is explored in depth here. The chapter concludes with recommendations for carefully aligning distinct measures of social class with distinct domains of the transition to adulthood , in order to advance scholarly understanding and policy instruments to foster successful transitions.

In January 2015, the author's affiliation will be School of Education, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.

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Correspondence to Matthew A. Diemer .

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Diemer, M.A. (2015). Different Social Class Dimensions Play Different Roles in the Transition to Adulthood. In: Amato, P., Booth, A., McHale, S., Van Hook, J. (eds) Families in an Era of Increasing Inequality. National Symposium on Family Issues, vol 5. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-08308-7_12

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