Abstract
This article examines the experiences of youth transitioning from education to work, within the specific context of rural–urban migration in Nepal. This context is chosen as, compared to developed countries, experiences in developing ones have remained under-researched in the transition studies literature. The study is informed by a biographical research approach, using qualitative longitudinal life (hi)story methods, with a view to revealing local transition patterns and the life events influencing these. The study identifies four different patterns reflecting the education-to-work transitions of young rural–urban migrants in Nepal. These patterns encompass different pathways involving education, migration, work, and mandatory waiting periods. The analysis of these transition patterns highlights how migration for education and work from rural to urban settings, taken together with mandatory waiting periods, exerts key influence on the overall life trajectories of young rural–urban migrants in Nepal’s capital.
Highlights
Several studies have noted that the transition period from youth to adulthood has been extended and the routes young people are taking have become unpredictable (see, for Journal of Applied Youth Studies (2020) 3:331–344 example, Allen 2016; Gale and Parker 2014; Cuervo and Wyn 2014). Dwyer and Wyn (2004) argue that patterns of education-to-work transition among youth have changed from linear to non-linear routes
Drawing on qualitative longitudinal data obtained from twenty-four rural–urban migrants working at call centres, this study examines the different patterns of education-to-work transition among young rural–urban migrants in Nepal
This article discussed the education-to-work transition patterns that exist for rural– urban migrant youth in Nepal drawing on longitudinal research with youth in call centres
Summary
Several studies have noted that the transition period from youth to adulthood has been extended and the routes young people are taking have become unpredictable (see, for Journal of Applied Youth Studies (2020) 3:331–344 example, Allen 2016; Gale and Parker 2014; Cuervo and Wyn 2014). Dwyer and Wyn (2004) argue that patterns of education-to-work transition among youth have changed from linear to non-linear routes. In order to address this diversity, transition studies have taken a biographical approach (Moen et al 1994; Thomson et al 2002; Neale 2015) This approach contends that young people’s biographies are structured by ‘critical moments’ (Thomson et al 2002). Honwana’s (2014) work on waithood as a process of active engagement and reflection and Jeffery’s (2010) work on waiting periods as life temporalities are used to understand the importance of waiting Both authors show how experiences of waiting form a prominent life event in youth education-to-work transition. Honwana (2014) uses the concept of waithood to understand the prolonged period of suspension in young people’s life in Ghana when their social adulthood is either delayed or denied She argues that temporalities such as waiting do not form a situation of youth being stuck.
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