Celebrity culture and young people’s aspirations: A resource for careers education?

Abstract

This article presents findings from the research project ‘The role of celebrity in young people’s classed and gendered aspirations’ (funded by the Economic and Social Research Council). Drawing on interviews with 148 young people in England, the project addresses concerns about the impact of celebrity culture on youth aspirations. The article presents selected findings to demonstrate how celebrity culture variously informs the ways in which young people think and talk about their futures in work, and makes some suggestions about how careers education might engage critically and generatively with celebrity.